Can anyone point me at a decent Apple Mac forum?

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BoomAM

Diamond Member
Sep 25, 2001
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Hi.
No im not "defecting".
I got an iBook yesterday, and while its working pretty well, the Airport card refuses to connect to my router.
And i can`t seem to get any decent answers here as its heavily PC bias.
So im looking for a decent MAC site that has a good forum as well.

Thanks.
 
Kadarin

Kadarin

Lifer
Nov 23, 2001
44,296
16
81
Is the problem that your airport card cannot "see" your router's wireless network, or that it sees it but can't connect to it? What kind of router? What kind of encryption is enabled?
 
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BoomAM

Diamond Member
Sep 25, 2001
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BullsOnParade

Golden Member
Apr 7, 2003
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man every mac forum i've visited has like 2 or 3 gurus and a whole load of
of idiot wannabe's who pass off disinformation. Anyone else notice this phenomenon.
I hate mac USERS !!!!
 
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BoomAM

Diamond Member
Sep 25, 2001
4,546
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A small, off topic update;
Ive managed to get my iBook connected to the network, and using the net, but the top of the screen (on the iBook), is less than 0.5m away from the router, yet im still getting sub 50% signal strength, and its still limited to my desk area only.
Any tips for increasing the range?
 
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AFB

Lifer
Jan 10, 2004
10,718
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Originally posted by: BoomAM
A small, off topic update;
Ive managed to get my iBook connected to the network, and using the net, but the top of the screen (on the iBook), is less than 0.5m away from the router, yet im still getting sub 50% signal strength, and its still limited to my desk area only.
Any tips for increasing the range?
Click to expand...

I get only 39%. Go about 25ft away and ping the router and post the results.
 
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BoomAM

Diamond Member
Sep 25, 2001
4,546
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I`ll try it in a min, but i think that as soon as the ibook leaves the desk, that it`ll lose the connection.
 
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BoomAM

Diamond Member
Sep 25, 2001
4,546
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No luck.
As i stepped 1m away from the router, it went from 8/15 to 4/15. As i walked downstairs it went to 0 and lost the connection, and in the room directely below the router, still no connection.
However on the up side, it reclaimed the connection when i entered my room again, so at least the settings are correct. All i need to know now is why its got such a crappy range.
 
Kadarin

Kadarin

Lifer
Nov 23, 2001
44,296
16
81
Your signal strength should be significantly higher than that. Do you have any other wireless PCs that can compare the signal strenth? In other words, any way to determine whether the problem lies with the router/access point or with the receiving antenna? Have you tried changing channels, in the case that interference is the problem?

How is WEP configured on the router? Mine will allow me to set it such that I have to have the client type in a text password, which is translated into a hex key, or such that the client has to type a hex key manually.
 
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BoomAM

Diamond Member
Sep 25, 2001
4,546
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0
The WEP on my router, i think, is setup similarly to yours.
I have 13 channels to choose from. Will changing them mess up the setting on the iBook? Or doesnt it go by channels, and just by the network name and what it picks up?
 
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BoomAM

Diamond Member
Sep 25, 2001
4,546
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0
Forgot, no other wireless devices to test with.
& i just DLed a small update to the Airport software, so i`ll just see if it reconnects now.

---------
##EDIT## It does.
 
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AFB

Lifer
Jan 10, 2004
10,718
3
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What channel is it on ? Try using them all till you find one that works well.
 
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BoomAM

Diamond Member
Sep 25, 2001
4,546
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0
Channel 8.
Shall i try all 13 of them? I`ll probably do it in the morning though. 2am atm.
 
Eug

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
24,165
1,809
126
For what it's worth, the Linksys 802.11b wireless router I tried sucks royally. It has much worse range than the 4 or 5 other brand wireless routers I've tried so far. With several brands I've tried I can be several rooms away with walls in between and get full strength signal.

With that Linksys, the signal strength starts to drop after about 2 metres from the router.
 
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BoomAM

Diamond Member
Sep 25, 2001
4,546
0
0
Already done that twice Kermy.
So if none of the channels on it provide a better signal, then as ive had it less than a week, i should be able to return the router should i not?
 
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wyvrn

Lifer
Feb 15, 2000
10,074
0
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I am using an Ibook with Airport card and it gets excellent range with my Dlink router. Also, my university uses Linksys routers and I can basically walk all over the business building without any problems. It is either your router or Airport card being defective. Only way to know for sure is to try another computer with another card, and then try a different router. GL!
 
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AFB

Lifer
Jan 10, 2004
10,718
3
0
Originally posted by: BoomAM
Already done that twice Kermy.
So if none of the channels on it provide a better signal, then as ive had it less than a week, i should be able to return the router should i not?
Click to expand...

Yes.
 
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BoomAM

Diamond Member
Sep 25, 2001
4,546
0
0
Tryed all 13 Channels. No luck whatsoever.
Also tryed switching off WEP, cos in another thread i was told that it can reduce a wireless signal by upto 50%. Still no luck.

 
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wyvrn

Lifer
Feb 15, 2000
10,074
0
0
Originally posted by: BoomAM
Tryed all 13 Channels. No luck whatsoever.
Also tryed switching off WEP, cos in another thread i was told that it can reduce a wireless signal by upto 50%. Still no luck.
Click to expand...

I use WEP and don't notice any signal loss. I pretty much have same range with Airport as I did with my pc and Orinoco cards.

 
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BoomAM

Diamond Member
Sep 25, 2001
4,546
0
0
Im confident that either the Airport card or the router is knackered.
Im at college tommorrow, so ive asked my father to drop into the shop where i got them from. And ask for either;
A) Replacement Parts. IE; An exchange for the airport card, and a new, different wifi router.
or
B) My money back.

Not sure which to go for to be honest.
 
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