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drainyoo · Dec 28, 2007, 08:01 PM

Whenever I wake my iMac Intel 2.4 GHz from sleep my Airport network is extremely slow. The top bar in the Airport Icon in the top menu is grayed out and to get the network working normally again I have to turn the Airport off and then back on.

Anyone have this issue and know how to fix it?

ghporter · Dec 29, 2007, 08:48 AM

First off, this sounds like the notorious "wake after sleep AirPort" issue. Basically, the AirPort card doesn't start looking for the wireless network when it wakes up and thus doesn't reconnect, so you have to do it manually. This is kind of annoying, but it's workable. The first thing to do is see how your AirPort card is configured-is it set to "By default, join 'Automatic'"? If not, and you're looking for a specified network, changing to Automatic may be the fix you need. Otherwise, we'd need to know a lot more about your network-like what sort of security you're using, what channel you have selected, and so on.

drainyoo · Dec 29, 2007, 02:55 PM

But the Airport does connect after sleep, it's just slow. Where do I check the configuration of my Airport card? The security I'm using is WPA Personal.

ghporter · Dec 29, 2007, 05:20 PM

If it's taking a while to connect, but doing it without your help, you may have some nearby wireless networks that the card has to sort through to find yours. But you said you have to turn the card off and back on to get it to connect-very different issues.

Settings for your AirPort card are under Network preferences. Just select "AirPort from the "Show" menu, and you'll get right to the "By default, join..." option. Your security is good-very good. And it's unlikely to be a problem (but other types, such as using WPA with AES, can be a hassle to get set up correctly.

drainyoo · Dec 30, 2007, 02:02 AM

I don't think I was clear with my issue. When I wake the comp from sleep, the connection to my network is made immediately but it is very slow. For it to work fast again I have to shut it off and then turn it back on and its back to normal. The issue isn't making the connection to my wireless network, it's the performance.

Cold Warrior · Dec 30, 2007, 12:19 PM

what brand and model is your wifi router?

ghporter · Dec 30, 2007, 08:07 PM

No, I hadn't understood your original post to be that. And of course that's a different issue altogether.

drainyoo · Dec 30, 2007, 09:14 PM

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior

what brand and model is your wifi router?

Apple Basestation with an Express extending the range.

Cold Warrior · Dec 30, 2007, 09:48 PM

Check to see if your base station and express operate on the same or an adjacent channel. Change it if that's the case, just to eliminate it as a possibility.

Also, does the problem persist if it connects to both wifi points after a sleep, or just to one of them?

drainyoo · Jan 2, 2008, 11:25 AM

I'll check to see if it still happens with just one of them but where do I check about the channels?

Cold Warrior · Jan 2, 2008, 11:51 AM

Use a utility like airmoose to scan for wifi points and see relevant tech info on them.

AirMoose 1.0 - MacUpdate

drainyoo · Jan 3, 2008, 01:22 AM

Thanks.

ghporter · Jan 3, 2008, 08:36 AM

What you want is for your own network to be at least a few channels away from any others around you. For B/G WiFi, the common practice is "at least 3 channels apart." This is not necessarily backed up by a scientific analysis of the frequency hopping patterns of the various channels, but it does seem to work. At the very least, avoid channels 6 and 7, which are the default, factory settings that wireless routers come with out of the factory-and many people simply leave in place, like their default passwords and network names. As Cold Warrior points out, it's good to make sure that you have your own hardware set to different channels so one piece doesn't interfere with another.