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Hani · Mar 19, 2005, 09:57 AM

hello all

just got my new 15" 1.67 powerbook, everything seems to be amazing, no problems whatsoever with any of the issues circulating around, but my problem comes with my connection to airport express. Even when i am 5 cm away from Airport express, my signal doesnt take up all the blue bars, 2 remain unlit, so that means there is no 100% although i am only 5cms away. What can be the problem, when i move away to another room, the bars go less than half, can anyone let me know whether this is a problem, or its normal, or maybe its from my Airport Express

thank you very much

chabig · Mar 19, 2005, 10:06 AM

That doesn't sound normal, but I wouldn't worry about the number of bars as long as you are getting a solid connection. If you actually have connection problems, you should make sure that the Airport Extreme card is fully seated (consider removing and reseating it) and that the antenna pigtail is plugged in securely.

Chris

Hani · Mar 19, 2005, 10:21 AM

my airport is built in, im still new to macs, so i dont know what to remove or if i can, concerning the connection it doesnt look too stable, 2 rooms away and i feel like the connection is choking. could there be a problem with my airport express unit instead of the builtin powerbook airport unit? any owners of the new powerbook have problems with their airport range?

Detrius · Mar 19, 2005, 11:14 AM

On the 15" model, the airport card goes into the battery compartment. Shut the machine down, disconnect the power and the battery. There is a little door that opens up. In there is the card. If the card is recognized, and your machine isn't crashing, it should be seated properly. However, you may want to make sure the antenna is plugged all the way in.

Also, you can check the signal strength setting on the base station through the Airport base station software.

amazing · Mar 19, 2005, 12:04 PM

On the new 15" PB, the airport card is no longer accessible to the user. You can't check the antenna connection, Apple has to do it. That stinks: You can't access the HD or the AE card, compared to the ease with which the Titanium worked. The revD 12" still has the AE access in the battery compartment, but the 15" and 17" are now inside.

To verify this, download either iStumbler or MacStumbler from versiontracker.com and note down the numbers up close and further away. You can use these when you call applecare. When macintouch.com first got their new 15" they also noted the not-so-good wireless signal.

This does sound like a loose antenna connection, and it also sounds like something that calls for contacting Apple. They'll send you a box to overnight the PB, you should have it back in 3 days. Just be very, very sure that you have everything backed up, and given how picky some Apple repair centers have been about 3rd party RAM, I'd also take out any 3rd party RAM if you put any in.

Hani · Mar 19, 2005, 01:14 PM

the problem is that i am in lebanon now, and my friend purchased my powerbook from amazon and brought it with him, so it will be a hassle to send it back, in the meantime i stoodd 5 cms away from the airport express unit, and got these results on istumbler and macstumbler, maybe u guys can help me out

the results on macstubmler looked like this
channel:6
signal: 70
noise: 0
wep: yes
vendor: unknow

the results from istumbler
secure: wep
mode: managed
signal: 61
noise: 8
channel: 6
samples: 78

f1000 · Mar 19, 2005, 01:32 PM

Do you have any gigahertz frequency cordless phones in the room with you? You might just be experiencing interference.

You could also be experiencing some kind of dead spot caused by destructive interference.

benwhanlee · Mar 19, 2005, 01:36 PM

you can also just check the signal level using internet connect. for some reason istumbler and macstumbler give me really low readings on my signal in my aluminum (but not my titanium). those programs would read at like 50 or lower, but the bar graph in internet connect would show that the signal was more like two-thirds or three-quarters of full strength. it may just be my computer but i stopped using those programs, only because they made me think there was a problem when there wasn't. the guy at the genius bar also told me that since airport is basically a radio signal, it's going to be really hard to ever get a 100% strength reading, depending on interference and other stuff.

it is too bad they changed the setup so the airport extreme card is now inside the chassis instead of in the battery comparment. otherwise you'd be able to just swap the card with someone else's and see if the card is the problem or if the connection to the antenna is loose. the guys at the genius bar were openly stumped about why they changed that one...

Hani · Mar 19, 2005, 02:30 PM

i stopped macstumbler and istumbler and then i stood 5 cms away from the airport express unit and opened my internet connect window and it showed 13 out of the 15 bars lit, still it feels weird that im standing so close and still the signal is relatively week

chabig · Mar 19, 2005, 02:45 PM

You think 13 out of 15 is weak? I don't think you have anything to worry about at that signal strength.

Also, 5cm is probably too close to get a good reading. With antennas, closer is not always better. Try evaluating the signal at 5-10 feet.

Chris

benwhanlee · Mar 19, 2005, 05:54 PM

Originally posted by chabig:
You think 13 out of 15 is weak? I don't think you have anything to worry about at that signal strength.
Chris

i too think that's a pretty good signal...if i put my powerbook right next to my aebs then it'll often show that same reading. sometimes it will go all the way, often it will show 13/15. but i'd love to hear whether there are others that basically always get 15/15 and from how far.

chabig · Mar 19, 2005, 10:16 PM

I'm about 8 feet from my base station right now. The icon in the menu bar shows four bars. Internet Connect shows 13 out of 15. I'm happy.

Chris

romeosc · Mar 19, 2005, 10:27 PM

Originally posted by chabig:
I'm about 8 feet from my base station right now. The icon in the menu bar shows four bars. Internet Connect shows 13 out of 15. I'm happy.

Chris

I'm 35 feet from original basestation and a TIPB500 through 2 palster and wire mesh walls and I still have full in menu bar and 13 in internet connect.
If I go 10 feet on the other side of basestation, It drops in half.... and a Ti is the worst PB for reception!