G4 mini sees neighbor's WLAN, but not mine?

Kar98 · Jul 5, 2006

Dunno when this happened, but I noticed this after the 10.4.7 update. The mini can see the neighbor's WLAN fine, but obviously it would be rude of me to just connect to that one. Also, it's slower than mine and password-protected. :dummy:

My Dell Axim sees both and connects just fine to my own.

Thus, I think, we've removed both hardware failures as well as network failures from the equation. What _is_ the problem here?

mynameis · Jul 5, 2006

What kind of router are you using? I didn't have any issues with my Linksys access points when I went to 10.4.7

dtravis7 · Jul 5, 2006

Ditto on this end. My G4 mini does not have the WiFi but my iBook does and it works perfectally since the 10.4.7 update.

Kar98 · Jul 5, 2006

Well, I'm not saying it _was_ the update, that's just when I noticed it.

My setup is a couple Linksys Wap11 (one as access point plugged into the Netopia DSL modem, the other on as repeater at the other end of the house).

The neighbor has a Siemens Speedstream 4100.

The mini has whatever was built in stock right before the G4 1.5 stealth upgrade.

Graphite · Jul 5, 2006

Reset your WLAN. I had that problem with an airport express, one mac would see it the other wouldn't, reset the WLAN and it fixed it... as odd as that sounds, I was surprised it worked, and honestly I would be surprised if it worked again.

baggss · Jul 5, 2006

My iBook used to see more local wireless LANs than my G4 ever did. The G4 was 802.11B, the iBook is 802.22G...

Kar98 · Jul 6, 2006

Hmmm, place the repeater pretty much next to the mini and it can see my own WLAN just fine. Guess the neighbor's stronger signal overlaid mine or sumfin.

dtravis7 · Jul 6, 2006

Kar98 said:
Hmmm, place the repeater pretty much next to the mini and it can see my own WLAN just fine. Guess the neighbor's stronger signal overlaid mine or sumfin.

If that is the problem, are you both on the same channel? If so change your channel. If not and it worked before the update, something has happened.

Also, did you try what Graphite suggested?

Kar98 · Jul 6, 2006

dtravis7 said:
If that is the problem, are you both on the same channel?

Nah, he's on 11 (g) and I'm on 3 (b)

If not and it worked before the update, something has happened.

Well, it works now that I've placed the repeater much closer (same room, instead of downstairs, and 3 rooms away) to the mini.

Also, did you try what Graphite suggested?

Yeah, one of the switches was blinking red (collision).
So now I'm not sure /what/ the problem was, and what fixed it. About par for the course.

In case you're wondering what kind of weird setup I've got:
DSL connection is maintained by Netopia Cayman 3546. One Linksys WAP11 plugged into it directly, one LS switch plugged into it to spread 100Mbps CAT5 throughout the house (3 Windows PCs, one Mac mini). The two LS WAP11s, one configured as access point, the other as repeater at the other end of the house, to provide free wireless internet access for guests throughout the house.
= one fast and secure LAN for our own use, one 11Mbps WLAN for guests. Neither of them connects to the other one in any way, other than the fact that both networks connect to to the 'Net. With the neighbor's new Siemens Speedstream 4100 blasting away at full power, I guess things got a little messed up. All sorted out now, thx for the help.