MacBook - problems with wireless internet

jh3530 · jh3530 #1 (**permalink**)

07-08-2009, 02:58 PM

I have a 3 year old Macbook (version 1.1 I believe) and am having major problems with wireless internet signal stuff.

Anywhere inside 25 feet radius of my router, and I can get and maintain an internet connection just fine. Things are great. Unfortunately, if I go 40 feet away from the router, the radar signal goes down, istumbler goes below 50% and I can't get on the internet.

The worst thing is that it's sort of hit and miss. Sometimes it works fine (for about 15 minutes) when I'm in another room in the house. Give it some time and eventually I lose the signal. Wouldn't you know it, when I went to the Apple store, it was working relatively fine.

The genius said I should check my router for firmware upgrades (none are available). I also use a pc notebook and it has no trouble with catching a signal. There's no phone, microwave or baby monitor interference. It's a tiny house too!

I've been combing the forums for a month trying to find out if someone has a solution, but I haven't found anything.

Could something be fried or messed up on the inside of my macbook? Can anything be replaced? I'm totally at a loss and could use some help. Even pointing me to some other post would be a huge help.

Thanks,
John

bobtomay · bobtomay #2 (**permalink**)

07-08-2009, 03:47 PM

What router do you have?

Check a couple of things. Set your network to WPA2 only if it's not already.

Change the channel to as far as you can get from the ones any of your neighbors are using.

(Just got around to troubleshooting mine yesterday after 2 plus weeks of slow page loads and then noticed my Audible downloads were chugging along at 65KB. Found one of the neighbors had changed their channel - so moved mine again and my Audible download immediately jumped to 250KB.)

zakkates · zakkates #3 (**permalink**)

09-12-2009, 08:49 AM

HEY!

I have the same problem! My MacBook is now about 3 years old and now the internet comes in and out as it pleases. My MacBook is literally less than 10 feet from my router. When the problem first started I bought a brand-new router, the problem persisted. I then also figured "hey, it's a three year old computer, maybe the AirPort card needs replacing", I bought a new AirPort card, replaced it and the same problem!

I don't know what to do now! It's very frustrating... P.S. When I use my other computer or my iPhone the WiFi is perfect! .... as i write right now my signal is bouncing from 1 bar to 4 bars and I'm sitting stationary.

Thanks to whomever can help us!

Zak

bobtomay · bobtomay #4 (**permalink**)

09-12-2009, 09:48 AM

Which specific Mac do you have and which version of the OS?

Yours is about the same age as mine. If it has the same airport card as mine - there were some driver issues with it. Mine worked and didn't work throughout the Tiger updates according to which point update I was using. It seems to have been finally solved with the 10.5.2 update on my machine.

littlestranger · littlestranger #5 (**permalink**)

09-25-2009, 03:03 PM

This is the same exact problem I've been having. My macbook is a little older than 3 years, and I noticed that my wireless wasn't working as well as it should be a couple months ago. It is definitely not a router/interference thing. I'm a college student, and I was living at my parents' over the summer. Their router is in the basement, and the wireless works for everyone else all over the house, but only works for me in in the room directly above the router. At school, I live in a co op. I'm not sure how far away the router is, but my roommate gets a full signal in our room, and mine is intermittent (every 2-3 hours it'll show up for half an hour and go away again. The weirdest part about it is that when I manage to get internet, I get it at full bars). I've also noticed it not working at the school library, which definitely has WiFi. I just updated directly from Tiger to Snow Leopard and absolutely nothing changed.

crows8 · crows8 #6 (**permalink**)

10-21-2009, 12:42 PM

got my white 13" macbook in late 2006 and now the wireless has gone to crap. i have the same problem where i have to be right next to the router. this has been happening for the past 6 months with EVERY router i have come in contact with (my school campus, my apt., my parents house, even starbucks!)

Apple has been no help at all, they reloaded tiger twice then recommended i upgrade to snow leopard, i did and no change... its like they have never seen this problem before

i think im just going to buy a new airport card and replace it myself (apple said they would charge me 350)

this problem is sooooo frustrating!

does anyone know what airport card i should get, the most powerful? what airport card is compatible with my computer?

bobtomay #2 (permalink)
Member Since: Dec 22, 2006 Location: Texas, where else? Posts: 21,796 Mac Specs: 15" MBP 2.33 C2D 256 4GB, MBA 13" i7 1.8, MB 2.0 2GB, Nano 4th, 3GS, iPad 1	07-08-2009, 03:47 PM What router do you have? Check a couple of things. Set your network to WPA2 only if it's not already. Change the channel to as far as you can get from the ones any of your neighbors are using. (Just got around to troubleshooting mine yesterday after 2 plus weeks of slow page loads and then noticed my Audible downloads were chugging along at 65KB. Found one of the neighbors had changed their channel - so moved mine again and my Audible download immediately jumped to 250KB.) I cannot be held responsible for the things that come out of my mouth. In the Windows world, most everything folks don't understand is called a virus. Place your vote for our Member of the Month Last edited by bobtomay; 07-08-2009 at 03:58 PM. Reason: spelling
	QUOTE Thanks

bobtomay #4 (permalink)
Member Since: Dec 22, 2006 Location: Texas, where else? Posts: 21,796 Mac Specs: 15" MBP 2.33 C2D 256 4GB, MBA 13" i7 1.8, MB 2.0 2GB, Nano 4th, 3GS, iPad 1	09-12-2009, 09:48 AM Which specific Mac do you have and which version of the OS? Yours is about the same age as mine. If it has the same airport card as mine - there were some driver issues with it. Mine worked and didn't work throughout the Tiger updates according to which point update I was using. It seems to have been finally solved with the 10.5.2 update on my machine. I cannot be held responsible for the things that come out of my mouth. In the Windows world, most everything folks don't understand is called a virus. Place your vote for our Member of the Month
	QUOTE Thanks

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jh3530 #1 (permalink)
Member Since: Jul 08, 2009 Posts: 1	07-08-2009, 02:58 PM I have a 3 year old Macbook (version 1.1 I believe) and am having major problems with wireless internet signal stuff. Anywhere inside 25 feet radius of my router, and I can get and maintain an internet connection just fine. Things are great. Unfortunately, if I go 40 feet away from the router, the radar signal goes down, istumbler goes below 50% and I can't get on the internet. The worst thing is that it's sort of hit and miss. Sometimes it works fine (for about 15 minutes) when I'm in another room in the house. Give it some time and eventually I lose the signal. Wouldn't you know it, when I went to the Apple store, it was working relatively fine. The genius said I should check my router for firmware upgrades (none are available). I also use a pc notebook and it has no trouble with catching a signal. There's no phone, microwave or baby monitor interference. It's a tiny house too! I've been combing the forums for a month trying to find out if someone has a solution, but I haven't found anything. Could something be fried or messed up on the inside of my macbook? Can anything be replaced? I'm totally at a loss and could use some help. Even pointing me to some other post would be a huge help. Thanks, John
	QUOTE Thanks

littlestranger #5 (permalink)
Member Since: Sep 25, 2009 Posts: 1	09-25-2009, 03:03 PM This is the same exact problem I've been having. My macbook is a little older than 3 years, and I noticed that my wireless wasn't working as well as it should be a couple months ago. It is definitely not a router/interference thing. I'm a college student, and I was living at my parents' over the summer. Their router is in the basement, and the wireless works for everyone else all over the house, but only works for me in in the room directly above the router. At school, I live in a co op. I'm not sure how far away the router is, but my roommate gets a full signal in our room, and mine is intermittent (every 2-3 hours it'll show up for half an hour and go away again. The weirdest part about it is that when I manage to get internet, I get it at full bars). I've also noticed it not working at the school library, which definitely has WiFi. I just updated directly from Tiger to Snow Leopard and absolutely nothing changed.
	QUOTE Thanks

crows8 #6 (permalink)
Member Since: Oct 21, 2009 Posts: 3	10-21-2009, 12:42 PM got my white 13" macbook in late 2006 and now the wireless has gone to crap. i have the same problem where i have to be right next to the router. this has been happening for the past 6 months with EVERY router i have come in contact with (my school campus, my apt., my parents house, even starbucks!) Apple has been no help at all, they reloaded tiger twice then recommended i upgrade to snow leopard, i did and no change... its like they have never seen this problem before i think im just going to buy a new airport card and replace it myself (apple said they would charge me 350) this problem is sooooo frustrating! does anyone know what airport card i should get, the most powerful? what airport card is compatible with my computer?
	QUOTE Thanks

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