04-12-2008, 06:19 AM

I have a linksys compact router, linked to a westell 2200 modem and I'm using Verizon DSL as my internet source. The airport strength indicator on my 20" iMac flucuates between 2 and 4 bars (strenght indicators) and the router is located directly next to the iMac. My wife has an MacPro notebook and we both have iTouch's so that's the purpose of the router. When 4 bars are indicated, the downloads flash by, with 3 or 2 bars, they are slow or even stop. My real question is, what dictates the airport indicators strength. The router, the modem or the phone line possibility. Oh yes the linksys router is an inexpensive "compact" model but it being located less than a foot from the iMac removes router location from the equation. Your help is appreciated.

04-12-2008, 07:22 AM

My wife has an iMac and it, too, is located directly next to the router. Due to its proximity to the router, I have it hardwired in to the router and have airport disabled. This eliminates any wifi issues with her machine and, of course, her connection is faster than my 801.11g wifi I get.

04-18-2008, 10:12 PM

Wifi signal gets a lot of interference from many sources, check for any radiation emitting appliances (electric motors, loudspeakers, other antennas, etc) by the way your mac is one of them, so maybe if you put your router a few feet away it will work better.

04-19-2008, 03:13 AM

Originally Posted by jiarizti

Wifi signal gets a lot of interference from many sources, check for any radiation emitting appliances (electric motors, loudspeakers, other antennas, etc) by the way your mac is one of them, so maybe if you put your router a few feet away it will work better.

This is correct, however, I direct you to my reply. If the router is sitting that close to the iMac, what's the point of running WIFI in the first place? You would benefit more by being hardwired to the router in two ways:

1. Higher speeds gained,
2. Shutting off WIFI eliminates any threats from the outside of hacking into the WIFI.

04-19-2008, 06:05 AM

*moved thread to appropriate forum - This is Hardware -> Airport not for an Apple Desktop*