Airport Extreme signal reception

I'm wondering if anyone can suggest a solution to a problem I'm having
getting wireless Internet reception with new G5 iMac.

The set-up is this:

In Room A, I have a Netgear wireless router (WGR614), connected by Ethernet
to a G3 iMac.

In Room B (about 2 metres (6 feet) from Room A), there is a Wintel machine
with a Netgear wireless card.

In Room C (about 10 metres (30 feeet) from Room A), is the new G5 iMac with
an Airport Extreme Card.

The G5 network connection will not work in Room B or C, but does work in
Room A. I made sure the aerial connection in the G5 to the card, was
properly in p;ace, but that did not help. I also changed the channels, but
that did not help either.

The Wintel machine works perfectly in Room C, with the signal showing up as
³very strong² to ³excellent².

My conclusions are:

(1) as the G5 will connect in Room A, the settings must be correct, and
there is no incompatibility between the Netgear router and the Airport
Extreme card.

(2) As the Wintel machine will connect in Room C, the router must be sending
a good signal to Room C.

(3) Therefore, the fault must be in the reception by the Airport card,
either because it simply is not as effective at picking up the signal as the
Netgear card, or because the Airport card or its aerial is faulty.

Does anyone have any comments or suggestions (other than to try a
repeater)?

Kind regards

Allan Passmore

Allan Passmore <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> I'm wondering if anyone can suggest a solution to a problem I'm having
> getting wireless Internet reception with new G5 iMac.
>
> The set-up is this:
>
> In Room A, I have a Netgear wireless router (WGR614), connected by Ethernet
> to a G3 iMac.
>
> In Room B (about 2 metres (6 feet) from Room A), there is a Wintel machine
> with a Netgear wireless card.
>
> In Room C (about 10 metres (30 feeet) from Room A), is the new G5 iMac with
> an Airport Extreme Card.
>
> The G5 network connection will not work in Room B or C, but does work in
> Room A. I made sure the aerial connection in the G5 to the card, was
> properly in p;ace, but that did not help. I also changed the channels, but
> that did not help either.
>
> The Wintel machine works perfectly in Room C, with the signal showing up as
> "very strong" to "excellent".
>
> My conclusions are:
>
> (1) as the G5 will connect in Room A, the settings must be correct, and
> there is no incompatibility between the Netgear router and the Airport
> Extreme card.
>
> (2) As the Wintel machine will connect in Room C, the router must be sending
> a good signal to Room C.
>
> (3) Therefore, the fault must be in the reception by the Airport card,
> either because it simply is not as effective at picking up the signal as the
> Netgear card, or because the Airport card or its aerial is faulty.
>
> Does anyone have any comments or suggestions (other than to try a
> repeater)?

Your conclusion is correct. The iMac's wireless reception is
unacceptable. At two meters, you should definitely have a usable signal.
The most likely cause is a defective antenna, but it could be the
AirPort card itself. You might try using one of the stumbler apps
(MacStumbler, iStumbler, etc) to get some relative signal strength
numbers for the iMac in each room. Before you buy a repeater, use what
you've already got: a warranty. Call AppleCare.

Neill Massello <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> Your conclusion is correct. The iMac's wireless reception is
> unacceptable. At two meters, you should definitely have a usable signal.
> The most likely cause is a defective antenna, but it could be the
> AirPort card itself. You might try using one of the stumbler apps
> (MacStumbler, iStumbler, etc) to get some relative signal strength
> numbers for the iMac in each room. Before you buy a repeater, use what
> you've already got: a warranty. Call AppleCare.

Is that an internal card and antenna? Maybe it's as simple as the antenna
not being connected to the card?

--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8,-122.5

On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 10:52:00 GMT, (E-Mail Removed) (Neill
Massello) wrote:

>Your conclusion is correct. The iMac's wireless reception is
>unacceptable. At two meters, you should definitely have a usable signal.
>The most likely cause is a defective antenna, but it could be the
>AirPort card itself.

My guess(tm) is a defective connector from the internal antenna and
the wireless card in the iMac. The connector is very fragile and
seems to be easily crunched. You'll need a magnifying glass or
microscope to see the damage.
http://www.lincomatic.com/wireless/orinocoant.html



--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 AE6KS 831-336-2558