Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

geekwagon · Apr 19, 2003, 01:36 AM

I've got a 17" Powerbook, and today I bought the Netgear WG62, which is their 802.11g wireless AP (Fry's had a sale..)

Has anyone else with a 12" or 17" had problems with Airport not working when your internal Bluetooth is on? It's not something you would necessarily notice while browsing the web, but while doing file transfers I find I am getting less performance than I was with my old 802.11b access point. However, if I switch off the internal bluetooth, speeds become much more impressive. Basically when BT is on, a 200mb file takes about 28 minutes to transfer and when off, it takes about 3-4 minutes.

The transfers kind of go in fits and starts, pause, transfer, pause, etc. so I thought it was interference. I tried all 11 channels. When I have the BT off in the powerbook though, everything is smooth and fast, even with my Powermac sitting 3 feet away with an active connection via bluetooth to my T68i.

Just wondering if anyone else has had the same problem. I am not above blaming the AP, so I wouldn't mind hearing success stories from people who are using Apple's AEBS. This thing was just such a deal at $99 though...

jamez bond · Apr 19, 2003, 03:46 AM

I heard someone saying that bluetooth and airport interferred with each other...but I did not believe it. Looks like you are having the problem though...

Good luck anyway, I have not got a clue about this one...

Mohammed Al-Sabah · Apr 19, 2003, 04:27 AM

wow for real? that would really suck if that was the case!! not sure tho still havent got my pb17 yet.. will try it when i do get it !!

BWhaler · Apr 19, 2003, 09:19 AM

Well, it's theoretically possible since they both operate in the 2.4 GHz band. The optimist in me says they forsaw this issue and engineered for it, however. I've never heard of anyone complaining, also.(Just had my tea, and it's the weekend, so I'm assuming the best.)

eevyl · Apr 19, 2003, 09:40 AM

If I understand correctly how my PowerBok G4 12" operates, when you use Bluetooth and Airport Extreme at the same time, one antenna is for Bluetooth and the other for Airport Extreme. So it is expected to see some impact on speed in both protocols.

However, I use both from time to time with no problems at home.

porsche993 · Apr 19, 2003, 12:06 PM

I've had no issues in the last week of using both my MS bluetooth mouse and Airport Extreme.

If you do have problems though, you can change the frequency the bluetooth device uses....Grin.

sean

icruise · Apr 19, 2003, 12:25 PM

I use both without any noticable probelms, but I don't do any transferring of large files via wireless network (and my bsae station is only 802.11b in any case). Hmmm.

AssassyN · Apr 19, 2003, 12:58 PM

Yikes...well while have Bluetooth enabled (though not in use) while *using* AirPort Extreme (through my AirPort Extreme Base Station set to 802.11"g" only) I've noticed no differences from when I have Bluetooth disabled.

This may be an undiscovered issue that could really hamper Apple's promises...you might want to send this into Apple so they might take a look at it for 10.2.6 or 10.3 or something. Good luck w/ it man, and sorry to hear of your troubles.

geekwagon · Apr 19, 2003, 04:52 PM

What's wierd is that I am not even doing any communication via Bluetooth, it is just on. Right now, I just tried turning off being "discoverable" and that didn't help either.

I am still within my 90 days (I haven't bought AppleCare *yet*) so I think I will give them a call. Hopefully they won't blow me off because I'm not using an Apple BS.

Target Practice · Apr 19, 2003, 05:11 PM

I've had a lot of problems with my Airport BaseStation Extreme dropping the connection randomly. And, I'm using bluetooth for my T68i -- in fact, my apartment has a 12" AlBook, 15" TiBook, 2 cell phones, and a G4 Tower with Bluetooth. I'm hoping the 5.0.4 firmware update will help.

I live in an apartment in NYC and have been assuming some 2.4GHz interference from phones or other access points. But, after reading this thread I did a Google search for "bluetooth 802.11 interference" and found number of articles. Looks like there are some issues.

AssassyN · Apr 19, 2003, 05:12 PM

Ahh, that should definitely NOT cause any issues. My AirPort Extreme works seemless even with Bluetooth enabled, though not communicating with any devices. Give AppleCare a call & let us know whatcha find out...good luck!

Target Practice · Apr 19, 2003, 06:15 PM

Originally posted by AssassyN:
Give AppleCare a call & let us know whatcha find out...good luck!

I have. There are many people having the same problem on the Apple Support discussion boards. Unfortunately, I can't really put the 5.0.4 firmware update to the test because both PowerBooks with Airport are not home at the moment. The only Airport device around now is my TiVo.

I think the AEBS issue it due to interference from other nearby 802.11b access points... not Bluetooth. But, it is interesting to learn that Bluetooth is a potential cause of interference.

AssassyN · Apr 19, 2003, 11:49 PM

Originally posted by Target Practice:
I have. There are many people having the same problem on the Apple Support discussion boards. Unfortunately, I can't really put the 5.0.4 firmware update to the test because both PowerBooks with Airport are not home at the moment. The only Airport device around now is my TiVo.

I think the AEBS issue it due to interference from other nearby 802.11b access points... not Bluetooth. But, it is interesting to learn that Bluetooth is a potential cause of interference.

Hmmm, well when you're able to, try applying the Firmware update and trying it then. Also, try using your AEBS w/ 802.11b only, 802.11g only, and 802.11b & g on, and see if that makes any difference.

geekwagon · 02:56 AM

I think I have figured something out. I have Sony Ericsson Clicker installed on my Powerbook and my Powermac. Only one machine can publish the menu to the phone at a time, but I leave it on both of them because I control my Powerbook at work, and my Powermac at home. So, when I am at home (where my base station is) the PB is unable to publish the menu to the phone so it just sits there in the menu bar with a red screen (meaning the selected phone is not in range.)

I just tested something and found that if I shut Clicker off (even though it wasn't connected to the phone) my transfers through Airport are very fast and smooth (200mb file takes about 3 minutes) even though Bluetooth was still enabled. So, to test something, I un-published the menu on my Powermac so the PB would be able to connect to the phone. I then did a transfer and it was still fast! So, obviously the problem must be in the proximity sensor of Clicker when the phone is not in range.

I am going to shoot an email to the developer right now to see if he has any ideas. To work around it for now I will just leave it off on my Powermac as I don't use it there near as often as I do with my Powerbook.

Progress!

EDIT: Looks like others are having the same issue. I chimed in on SEC's Yahoo Group.

AssassyN · Apr 20, 2003, 09:37 AM

Originally posted by geekwagon:
I think I have figured something out. I have Sony Ericsson Clicker installed on my Powerbook and my Powermac. Only one machine can publish the menu to the phone at a time, but I leave it on both of them because I control my Powerbook at work, and my Powermac at home. So, when I am at home (where my base station is) the PB is unable to publish the menu to the phone so it just sits there in the menu bar with a red screen (meaning the selected phone is not in range.)

I just tested something and found that if I shut Clicker off (even though it wasn't connected to the phone) my transfers through Airport are very fast and smooth (200mb file takes about 3 minutes) even though Bluetooth was still enabled. So, to test something, I un-published the menu on my Powermac so the PB would be able to connect to the phone. I then did a transfer and it was still fast! So, obviously the problem must be in the proximity sensor of Clicker when the phone is not in range.

I am going to shoot an email to the developer right now to see if he has any ideas. To work around it for now I will just leave it off on my Powermac as I don't use it there near as often as I do with my Powerbook.

Progress!

EDIT: Looks like others are having the same issue. I chimed in on SEC's Yahoo Group.

Congrats!!!

Wow, you should be a techie for Apple or something! Nice job on cracking the case! I'm sure a bunch of people could run into this problem...I never even thought that two machines trying to run Clicker in the same proximity could cause issues...glad it's working now!