[desertmac]

I have had a series of issues with airport since upgrading to Tiger, mostly related to erratic signal reception and dropped network connections. I have read posts on this and other forums (MacFixit, the Apple Discussion Boards, and others) of folks reporting similar problems. I am trying to decide the best course of action right now.

Here are my questions:

1. Are you having a problem with reception or dropped network connections since upgrading to Tiger?

2. If no:
a. Did you do a simple upgrade, an archive and install, or a clean install?
b. What wi-fi equipment are you using? (AIrport Extreme, Airport Express, or other)

3. If yes:
a. Did you do a simple upgrade, an archive and install, or a clean install?
b. What wi-fi equipment are you using? (AIrport Extreme, Airport Express, or other)
c. Have you found a work around? If so, what was it?

Thanks very much for your help here. I am trying to decide my best course of action.

[sahara]

My Airport reception has improved dramatically with Tiger. I did an archive an install. Using Airport Extreme on an 800mhz iBook. Only thing I can add is that I deactivated everything except Airport in Network Port Configurations because it is the only one I use.

[Grrr]

Ugh, really, a look around would have found you some posts regarding this subject already, particularly in the networking forum.

The short of it is, the reception is no different. I've tested it before and after 10.4 on 2 different Macs using APgrapher. It is identical. What has changed though, is the way Apple have calibrated the meter. Thats all.

[Maflynn]

Originally Posted by desertmac

I have had a series of issues with airport since upgrading to Tiger, mostly related to erratic signal reception and dropped network connections. I have read posts on this and other forums (MacFixit, the Apple Discussion Boards, and others) of folks reporting similar problems. I am trying to decide the best course of action right now.

Here are my questions:

1. Are you having a problem with reception or dropped network connections since upgrading to Tiger?

2. If no:
a. Did you do a simple upgrade, an archive and install, or a clean install?
b. What wi-fi equipment are you using? (AIrport Extreme, Airport Express, or other)

1. Nope
2.
a. Archive and install.
b. linksys wireless G router.

[desertmac]

Originally Posted by sahara

My Airport reception has improved dramatically with Tiger. I did an archive an install. Using Airport Extreme on an 800mhz iBook. Only thing I can add is that I deactivated everything except Airport in Network Port Configurations because it is the only one I use.

Thanks for the quick reply. Really appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Grr

Ugh, really, a look around would have found you some posts regarding this subject already, particularly in the networking forum.

The short of it is, the reception is no different. I've tested it before and after 10.4 on 2 different Macs using APgrapher. It is identical. What has changed though, is the way Apple have calibrated the meter. Thats all.

I appreciate the response, but my experience is quite different, as are many others on the boards I've checked. Namely: erratic signal and frequent network connection drops. The purpose of this thread is to try to see if I (and others who are drawn to it) can discern some patterns in the experiences.

[bbales]

His question wasn't on the strength of the signal but the "iffy"-ness of it. Since upgrading, things originally went well, except for the failure to reconnect automatically after waking my PB from sleep. I did an arvhive and install, and have Airport Extreme with a D-Link router. I will say there was quite a lag sometimes in reconnecting -- and I would say there were dropped signals as well, which I had only rarely before that.

In my quest to solve the automatic reconnecting problem, I reset my AEBS and now have a host of problems, all in the printing comonent. I'm not really sure what I did and I'm not sure how to fix it, but am going to give it another go today. I will say, until I did the hard reset, printing was absolutely no problem at all.

[Grrr]

Originally Posted by desertmac

Thanks for the quick reply. Really appreciate it.




I appreciate the response, but my experience is quite different, as are many others on the boards I've checked. Namely: erratic signal and frequent network connection drops. The purpose of this thread is to try to see if I (and others who are drawn to it) can discern some patterns in the experiences.

Fair enough.. Ive seen the erratic signal on both my Macs too since 10.4. But again, checking with APgrapher showed the signal was as stable as it had always been. According to someone's post in the Networking forum, Apples pie chart Airport strength meter thing, now works differently. Instead of showing signal strength, it now shows actual usability of the signal instead. Like potential throughput for example (not sure if thats true, but seems plausible to me).
As for connection drop outs, I have had this also, But only on my powerbook, and not my G5 iMac. But for me at least, it was just the same under 10.3. So no changes..
My wireless does suffer from the dreaded cordless phone interference issue from the neighbours though. And this causes all kinds of annoying problems. Drop outs being just one of them.
Using a Netgear wireless ADSL modem/router here.

[TheTraveller]

It seems better to me. Here at my house, I connect to a 2Wire Home Portal, that's actually in the guest cottage behind the main house here. With Panther, it took its sweet time establishing a connection - I'd have to turn airport on and off several times, occasionally, to get it to connect. With Tiger, it establishes the connection within seconds of waking from sleep. Much better.

[Taipan]

Hi!

For me AirPort reception has become worse. I'm using a PowerMac G5 1,8DP with AirPort Extreme. The AirPort indicator in the menubar has been showing 2 bars most of the timee, but sometimes dropping to zero, disconnecting me from my router. There's two things I have tried so far that helped:

1. Setting the router to 802.11b only improved overall reception a bit.
2. Having changed the channel from 13 to 1 in the router prefs, I have three or four bars most of the time. Sometimes it still drops to two bars all of a sudden, but I never get disconnected anymore.
Hope this helps for you, too.

[desertmac]

Really appreciate the responses so far. I have just looked over at MacFixit. One suggestion was to delete and then reestablish the KeyChain. I have done that now. We'll see if this helps. Would love to continue to hear others' experiences. Not seeing any patterns yet.

[desertmac]

FWIW, the deletion of the Keychain didn't help. Same erratic behavior reappearing tonight.

[MrForgetable]

Originally Posted by desertmac

Here are my questions:

1. Are you having a problem with reception or dropped network connections since upgrading to Tiger?

3. If yes:
a. Did you do a simple upgrade, an archive and install, or a clean install?
b. What wi-fi equipment are you using? (AIrport Extreme, Airport Express, or other)
c. Have you found a work around? If so, what was it?

1. Yes, kind of. I don't know if it is just me but I was getting around 2.5mbps the night before I installed Tiger, and when I installed Tiger, Software Update was slow, pages are not loading as fast, pages are stalling, I now only get around 100-150Kb/s downloads (IF I'M LUCKY!) from fast servers where I got as high as 280Kb/s before I installed Tiger.

3a. Archive and Install
3b. I have an Airport Extreme card in my Powerbook and my base station is a D-Link DI-614+ 802.11b wireless router. I have heard some people who haven't gotten the base station to work with Tiger. So I'm pretty happy that is still does work, but unhappy that I'm noticing a big drop off in internet speed since I installed Tiger (which was supposed to be an upgrade?). I'll wait for 10.4.1 or 10.4.2 to make my final decision though.
3c. No. After Tiger I became 192.168.0.103 instead of .100, not sure why though, so I just changed some of my settings in the router but to no avail.

[AuPhalanx]

desertmac!

I read your post and I AM having problems with the AirPort on one of my Macs. I did an archive & install on my G3 iBook, and since doing that, it will NOT even see the network. I have to take the iBook to within a few feet of the AEB to get a signal. As soon as I start moving away, the signal drops rapidly. Now, this is in a house where I would get four bars of reception ANYWHERE. It's also the iBook that would pickup signals where ever I travelled with it. Now, it can't even see my home network.

I merely upgraded my PowerBook, though, and much like others, I see improved reception and performance with its reception.

I spoke with Apple Tech about the iBook. Basically, they acknowledged that something is going on with Tiger and that the next patch should fix the problem. That's pretty much all I have to offer. I hope it helps somewhat. If you can, though, please call Apple and at least let them log the situation and hopefully get it on some high priority list. I miss having my iBook's amazing reception. Man, I could tell you some stories about picking up open networks in some strange places. It was really wicked amazing. Oh, well.

Have fun... Tony.

[Lefkop]

When I upgraded my 2 day old new powerbook (G4 1.5) to Tiger all hell broke loose. My computer after boot up, would slowly within a few operations grind to a halt. It was totally unusable. BTW I mirrored my old 667 that had panther loaded with all upgrades. After a re-installation (with earsing) of os X.3, my system was back to normal, the internet connections worked flawlessly as it did before. Then the upgrade to X.4. The internet and auto configuration stopped working and it took me hours to get back on line. After much frustration the answer lay in a manual IP address and log on to my router to find the ip address's of my system. Additionally my imac G5 20 inch, had the same problem and it was hard wired to the router. The manual ip address allowed the internet to work. However, the wireless portion was very slow even when configured for an all g network (I have all G components) meanwhile the Imac's speed was fast as it was hard wired.

The issue I believe was the router, it does not seem to play nicely with Tiger (the router was a microsoft b and g device). I replaced the microsoft router with a netgear 108 MPS and the laptop instantly took on a new IP address and self configured. The imac also responeded well to the change and self configuration was restored. Speed wise everything is back to where is should be.

It seems Tiger does not play well with some routers and this may be the reason for poor internet quality, mixed signal strength and configuration issues.

Paul

[kymacman]

Originally Posted by desertmac

Here are my questions:

1. Are you having a problem with reception or dropped network connections since upgrading to Tiger?

2. If no:
a. Did you do a simple upgrade, an archive and install, or a clean install?
b. What wi-fi equipment are you using? (AIrport Extreme, Airport Express, or other)

3. If yes:
a. Did you do a simple upgrade, an archive and install, or a clean install?
b. What wi-fi equipment are you using? (AIrport Extreme, Airport Express, or other)
c. Have you found a work around? If so, what was it?

Thanks very much for your help here. I am trying to decide my best course of action.

1. No problems, in fact, it may be better.

2. Simple upgrade.

3. Linksys wireless router (I have two Dell desktop PCs on this same network,one wired and one wireless--everything works as it should, and I can see the PCs and transfer files with my powerbook).

I might add that I am running a 4th gen. 15" powerbook with no "third party" shareware or utilities. It is a purely stock machine, with only Office 2004 as added software.

Hope this helps.

[Since EBCDIC]

archive / install
800 MHz Ti PB (DVI)

now can't see ANY signal at all (at least with the two Belkin WiFi routers I've installed). It was working perfectly with Panther. Coincidence? I guess I have to go to a cafe and see what's up.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by desertmac

1. Are you having a problem with reception or dropped network connections since upgrading to Tiger?

2. If no:
a. Did you do a simple upgrade, an archive and install, or a clean install?
b. What wi-fi equipment are you using? (AIrport Extreme, Airport Express, or other)

3. If yes:
a. Did you do a simple upgrade, an archive and install, or a clean install?
b. What wi-fi equipment are you using? (AIrport Extreme, Airport Express, or other)
c. Have you found a work around? If so, what was it?

Thanks very much for your help here. I am trying to decide my best course of action.

1) Yes, more dropped network connections, but more reception bars ?!?! WTF ?

3a) I did archive and install.
3b) Used a SMC 7004AWBR Barricade, now changed to Linksys BEFW11S4. Linksys has much better reception and data throughput. Can't say anything yet abouyt reliability.
3c) Trying to find out if it's my SMC router.

-t

[foamy]

No problems with dropped connections here, but I did notice the fake new signal indicator. Before if I had 2 bars I was solid. Now if I have 2 bars it is like having one or zero before the upgrade.

I did a upgrade install b/c I don't have space for a archive install.

On a realted note, Tiger completely ruined my laptop experience vis-a-vis airport. We have a Netgear router and pre-Tiger I would come home, open my lappy and it would automatically log into my router. Now every single time I close the lid, or the machine sleeps itself while open, I have to reconnect to the router via the menu bar. I have done everything imaginable in the sys prefs to no avail. Tiger will not connect to my airport automatically after sleeping.

[turtle777]

There is a new "Option" setting in the Network Preferences that allowes you to chose what behavior you want Airport to have upon wakeup / lost connection. Check it out, it should solve your problem.

-t

[MrForgetable]

now i'm down to ~680kbps..

[desertmac]

Really appreciating all of the responses. Thank you.

A couple of observations. Not many people are responding who have Airport Extreme. I am not seeing any pattern between archive and install, clean install, or upgrade. I did a simple upgrade and was wondering whether an archive and install would solve this. No definitive word on this yet from the responses.

Finally, last night I tried deleting the key chain. DId not work. Tonight I have tried another tip from MacFixit. Several folks said that, in their situations, changing the name of their computer (in Sharing preferences) to ONE short word solved their issues. I tried that and *so far* all is well. I have no idea why this would work, but to avoid having to reinstall the whole system, I'll try any easy fix first.

[AuPhalanx]

Originally Posted by desertmac

Really appreciating all of the responses. Thank you.

A couple of observations. Not many people are responding who have Airport Extreme. I am not seeing any pattern between archive and install, clean install, or upgrade. I did a simple upgrade and was wondering whether an archive and install would solve this. No definitive word on this yet from the responses.

Finally, last night I tried deleting the key chain. DId not work. Tonight I have tried another tip from MacFixit. Several folks said that, in their situations, changing the name of their computer (in Sharing preferences) to ONE short word solved their issues. I tried that and *so far* all is well. I have no idea why this would work, but to avoid having to reinstall the whole system, I'll try any easy fix first.

desertmac!

I'm one with an AE netowrk in my house. Like I stated, the iBook with which I did an archive & install now has very low range. I have to have to right next to the basestation for it to even see the network. Even then, it will show a fluctuating signal.

The PowerBook I did a plain ol' upgrade on shows no ill effects, except for one minor thing: When printing long documents to the wireless printer, sometimes it will hang and I must then pause and then resume printing for it to continue. I haven't had a problem like that since about 10.3.6 or so.

I think that they have some work to do on Tiger. While most things are working very well, there are quite a few of these bugs. Don't take this as I am bashing Tiger. On the contrary, I am singing it's praises; but let's face facts and say that this has not been Apple's most bug-free release.

Thanks!

Have fun... Tony.

[desertmac]

Thanks again for all the replies.

MacFixit a longer article today on the "shortening the computer name" fix. The recommendation is to change the computer name in Sharing Preferences to one word less than six letters long. I have changed mine to one word that is 6 letters long. So far the fix has worked for me. Specifically, since I have applied the fix I have not lost my network connection, though my signal strength has varied somewhat. The MacFixit article offers some possible explanations about why this fix might work.

I do now have the lesser problem of having to re-select the network after waking from sleep. So a big step forward and a small step back.

[desertmac]

Sign . . . spoke too soon. Had my first drop. I am going to try a FIVE letter computer name and see if that helps.

[AuPhalanx]

Originally Posted by desertmac

Sign . . . spoke too soon. Had my first drop. I am going to try a FIVE letter computer name and see if that helps.

desertmac!

I tried the short name a bunch of times, too. Nothing. I guess were stuck waiting for the fix.

Have fun... Tony.

[chouseal]

I'm having the same issues with an older iMac DV. No problems before doing a simple upgrade to Tiger; now my Airport connection disconnects randomly... furthermore, it doesn't remember my previous connections. I have to re-enter my wireless network name and password info to reconnect. When it's connected, signal strength appears to be fine. Using a Linksys b-band router. None of the "fixes" mentioned above seem to change anything...