04-27-2004, 04:54 PM

Did I just see correctly in my software updates.

Just yesterday I went through the whole hassle of downgrading to 3.3.1 and now 3.4.1 is out??

I'm a little hesitant to install. Has anyone else installed it and had any experiences?? Signal strength ok? What about drops, has anyone had any yet?

Post your experiences...

04-27-2004, 05:40 PM

Originally Posted by MacFixIt

Apple posts AirPort 3.4.1: Most problems resolved, some resurface

Apple has posted an AirPort 3.4.1 updater, alleviating a number of the problems users experienced with version 3.4.

MacFixIt reader Matt Carrell writes "Airport v3.4.1 fixed my 12" PowerBook G4 (867 MHz) to slightly better than pre-3.4 levels of reception. Signal to noise is improved according to the Airport Client Utility. My actual throughput is one setting consistently better than under 3.2 or 3.3. Bar level indication from the Airport menu icon is consistent with v3.2 and 3.3 again. Actual real world results show restored and perhaps slightly improved performance. My shadiest reception zone which would typically achieve only 1-2 Mbps throughput in Airport Client Utility measurements now gets 1-5.5 Mbps consistent throughput depending on antenna alignment (position of the powerbook relative to the base station."

Documentation, version reading the same Unfortunately, Apple has simply rehashed the documentation from AirPort 3.4 for the 3.4.1 release.

Additionally, the Airport Admin utility still reads 3.4, so it is difficult to tell when a system has the new release installed.

Problems Despite the overwhelming success of most readers with improved signal strength and fewer dropped connections with the AirPort 3.4.1 update, a handful of readers who downgraded to AirPort 3.3.1 are experiencing the same problems after applying the 3.4.1 release that they were with the initial 3.4 release:

Robert Ameeti writes "My 17" Powerbook is acting worse after doing the 3.4.1 update. I had previously updated to 3.4 but had to go back to 3.3.1 to maintain any decent connection. And even after having gone back to 3.3.1, I wasn't having the best of luck catching and staying on the my network, but with 3.4.1 the signal drops to nothing and comes back full strong even more frequently than 3.3.1 after the 3.4 initial problem. Before the 3.4 update I had great consistent attachment to my network.

"I am 12 ft from an Apple Base Station, and 20 ft from a D-Link access point. I'll have 4 arcs in the menu after connecting to a signal and then 20 seconds later, my AirPort will drop off completely and I won't be finding *any* signal. If I turn off the AirPort via the menu bar, and turn it back on, I can then again see the AirPort signal and get back on my network but it will drop off again within minutes or seconds. It comes back after a few minutes only to fall off again. So frustrating. Thankfully I keep a 50 ft Cat-5 cable handy."

More signal strength bars, but more dropped connections Richard Berg writes "I was using 3.4 version reasonably successfully. The low airport signal strength was a pain, to be sure. But at least I didn't have a problem with dropped connections. The connections stuck pretty well (but 3.3.1 was better!).

"I was looking forward to the 3.4.1 update, hoping that the 3.3.1 performance would return. It does not! After applying the 3.4.1 update (via the software update mechanism), I now have more bars on the menu bar icon meter display, but now the machine will drop airport connections every few of minutes, apparently no matter how close I am to the base station. I can reconnect using the menu bar airport icon (and when I do need to reconnect, my local airport base station initially cannot be seen - but after a few seconds it comes back and I can then reconnect to it ). I takes maybe 30 seconds to get reconnnected. This is a major, major pain in the rear since it happens all too frequently. Often I VPN into the office and use MS Outlook to view my office e-mails (under classic). Well, Outlook goes crazy if it l looses its connection to our Exchange server, so this 3.4.1 self-disconnect behavior is going to cause me major, major headaches. I am thinking very seriously about going back to 3.3.1.

Barry Grimes adds "After applying the new 3.4.1 upgrade I cannot see nor connect to my airport base station via the AirPort Admin Utility. Signal strength is up and the network registers to clients (cards) but the Base Station no longer appears in utility via my hardwired network."

Saw this is morning.

04-27-2004, 08:38 PM

I updated. It works.

04-27-2004, 09:21 PM

I'm not sure whether I should just leave well enough alone, or try the update. :confused:

04-27-2004, 09:26 PM

Do it! It works great! Check Apple's boards.

04-27-2004, 10:27 PM

Originally Posted by Absolute Zero

Do it! It works great! Check Apple's boards.

Yeah, I read through some of the posts about it on the Apple site and decided to give it a try. I can't say that I notice any improvements, but at least I don't notice any problems either.

04-28-2004, 03:36 AM

Yeah no problems here.

04-28-2004, 11:01 PM

thats weird cause when i go to apple discusions people are saying they have been having more problems since they updated. they say it worked breifly but then things got worse.

http://discussions.info.apple.com/We...ib.3@.68924154

04-28-2004, 11:07 PM

Im still not having any problems... Im not having the blackouts that I saw reported elsewhere.. everything works just peachy

04-29-2004, 01:16 AM

there are a couple of forums about it on apple.com. The bigger one praises it a lot. The smaller is more mixed....

I havne't been having any problems...haven't really noticed anything different from 3.3.1, but definently haven't been experiencing any problems.

04-29-2004, 07:59 AM

i just upgraded to 3.4.1 on evry1s advice and all of my dropouts have ceased, and computers are seen on the network continually rather than being there one minute, gone the next... im very happy with it. save the hassles and just DO IT!!!

Uni/.

04-29-2004, 01:48 PM

Have any of you guys noticed after doing the latest airport update the wireless network you are connecting to does NOT scroll anymore near the signal strength indicator? I havent found an option to enable/disable that feature either. Anyone else have this problem? It was ONLY after updating to the latest re-released airport 3.4.1, this is a very minor thing but I thought it was cool btw, the new release fixes all my wireless connection problems that were driving me mad (thought it was my router).

04-29-2004, 02:34 PM

Actually mine scrolls right when it's starting up, but that's about it.

04-30-2004, 03:24 PM

3.4 pretty much killed my signal...from 3 bars, down to 1 consistently. 3.4.1 did nothing to help. where i used to have 3 bars in my bedroom, i'm actually getting one at best now. sometimes it drops the signal all together. also, i haven't been able to connect to shared computers since the update. how do i go back? i should probably go back 2 versions to what?...3.3?
any help?

05-03-2004, 10:16 PM

I really wished I'd stayed with 3.3. When I updated to 3.4 I experienced the same decrease in signal as most ppl experienced. Then when 3.4.1 came out, I waited b4 I did the update to review what other ppl's experiences were. I guess I should've waited a little longer than I did cuz I updated it thinking it was the answer to 3.4's probs. But the other day I experienced a dropped signal to my AEBS. I'd never had that happen with 3.3 or 3.4 (even tho 3.4's signal sucked).
Hmmpfff! I hope this Airport situation improves in the near future.