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MOTHERWELL · Jun 8, 2004, 06:21 PM

I recently purchased a Buffalo AirStation. I head that it works great, very compatible, etc.

It works with my powerbook
It works with the PS2
but it WONT work with the iBook.

The iBook is my mothers and she won't stop yelling at me to fix the )#$*() computer, so I am freaking out. Her ibook is NOT an extreme, but my powerbook is. I thought that could be the problem, but the Buffalo is supposed to be able to use both AE and regular airport.

Please help!

Landos Mustache · Jun 8, 2004, 06:34 PM

Is there a setting to use both a and g?

Do you use WEP or anything?

MOTHERWELL · Jun 8, 2004, 06:43 PM

Originally posted by Landos Mustache:
Is there a setting to use both a and g?

Do you use WEP or anything?

I dont know...

Is it either on b or g? Can both be connected at once? I thought the point of being compatible with both was so everyone could be working at the same time....

neon_duke · Jun 9, 2004, 11:06 AM

I have both .b and .g machines running concurrently on a pair of AEBSs with no problems. The only issue is that if you put a .b machine on the network it slows the transfer rate to .b speeds for all machines so it can keep up.

Now, I have to ask a stupid question, and please don't be offended: does the iBook even have an AirPort card installed? I've never owned one and so I'm not familiar with the spec. That's rather akin to asking if the car that won't start has gas in it, I know...

In return, I'll ask you: what did you have to do to get the PS2 online, and how well does it work? What do you use it for? Thanks.

MOTHERWELL · Jun 9, 2004, 02:55 PM

Originally posted by neon_duke:

Now, I have to ask a stupid question, and please don't be offended: does the iBook even have an AirPort card installed? I've never owned one and so I'm not familiar with the spec. That's rather akin to asking if the car that won't start has gas in it, I know...

It would be a sad day for me if that was the solution to my problem. I would probably ban myself from MacNN entirely!

I fixed the problem, finally. There were some weird issues going on with the wireless bridging...very flaky. I tried setting the main airstation and the repeaters and reconfiged everything. Now everytihng works great.

I have my PS2 hooked into my repeater -- much like an Airport Express.

tooki · Jun 10, 2004, 02:49 AM

Originally posted by neon_duke:
I have both .b and .g machines running concurrently on a pair of AEBSs with no problems. The only issue is that if you put a .b machine on the network it slows the transfer rate to .b speeds for all machines so it can keep up.

That's not how it works. B and G use different radio transmission modes, and there's overhead in switching between them. When a B client and a G client are communicating at the same time, the access point must switch modes constantly, which causes the massive overhead that causes the slowdown. If only one client or the other is communicating, there is no mode switching, and no slowdown.

tooki

neon_duke · Jun 10, 2004, 10:09 AM

Originally posted by tooki:
That's not how it works. B and G use different radio transmission modes, and there's overhead in switching between them. When a B client and a G client are communicating at the same time, the access point must switch modes constantly, which causes the massive overhead that causes the slowdown. If only one client or the other is communicating, there is no mode switching, and no slowdown.

Ah, thanks for clearing that up... I appreciate it. But it engenders a few new questions:

1) If an older machine is connected to the AEBS via an ethernet cable, does that constitute a .b machine? I have a G4/450 ethernet cabled to the main AEBS (AP card slot is broken - long annoying story) and this machine is the one most often used for browsing and general work. Next up is a PB17 that is using its AE card to connect wirelessly ( .g of course). If these two machines are both active, will that cause the network slowdown you describe?

2) I also have a 15" robot iMac upstairs ( .b Airport card, unless I'm mistaken) which is usually asleep. Do the desktop machines ping the network often enough (or at all) while sleeping to cause a slowdown?

Thanks!

MOTHERWELL · Jun 10, 2004, 11:11 AM

Originally posted by tooki:
That's not how it works. B and G use different radio transmission modes, and there's overhead in switching between them. When a B client and a G client are communicating at the same time, the access point must switch modes constantly, which causes the massive overhead that causes the slowdown. If only one client or the other is communicating, there is no mode switching, and no slowdown.

tooki

I noticed this last night. My parents were looking at something on the iBook while I was attempting to show them the trailer for Farhrenheit 9/11 on my powerbook. My download took way longer than normal.