I have been struggling already for a couple of days to install a
wireless Internet connection at home, and I wonder whether anyone might have a tip that could help me.
I have since years a working ADSL connection. I just bought a new
Philips wireless ADSL modem which can convert the analog signal from the phone line to an Internet signal either over Ethernet or over 802.11g/b wireless. The Ethernet connection works fine: when I plug it into my
PowerMac G4 (running OS X 10.4.7), downloading files is fast and effortless. However, since I need to move my computer to the attic room which is far from all phone or ethernet cables, I need a wireless connection. For that I bought a
D-link DWL-G122 USB adapter which I can plug in directly into the backside of my Mac, or via a USB extender that allows me to find the best position and orientation for the internal antenna to capture the wireless signal.
I have installed the software that came with the modem and with the USB adapter, and both seem to work fine. In my Systems Preferences, I can select the wireless adapter and then I get a list of the available networks (normally only my own modem, though I also once got an encrypted network from a neighbour). When I select and connect to that network, I get an indication of the strength of the signal. So far, so good...
The first indication of problems is that the
signal strength randomly goes up and down (between 99% and about 50%), independently of where I position modem or USB adapter. Worse, from time to time it drops to zero, meaning that the network gets disconnected. Even worse is that when I try to establish an Internet connection over the "Ethernet adaptor" channel that has been added by the software to my Network Systems Preference, it sometimes fails to find the provider, even when the wireless signal seems OK. The worst is that even when it supposedly is connected to the provider, most of the time my Internet applications don't seem to work, telling me that I am not connected to the Internet.
If I couldn't connect at all, I would assume a software bug or hardware malfunctioning. But from time to time, a webpage does come in, and when it does, it goes fast. This seems to indicate that the radio signal is weak or perturbed, so that transmission fluctuates a lot.
But I get the same problem even when I position the USB receiver just next to the modem antenna that broadcasts the signal, in which case the signal could hardly be weak. This leaves me with the hypothesis that in my neighborhood there are some weird electromagnetic perturbations that strongly interfere with WiFi broadcasts. Perhaps my living near to a railway may have something to do with that?
Anyway, I have run out of ideas to solve the problem ( I have already upgraded the firmware of the modem to the latest version, and tried several positions for modem and/or receiver).
Can anyone suggest any tips or ways to help me out with this?
(perhaps I should try each of them systematically).I have also switched off my cordless phone, again without improvement. 
Top
