My fantastic wireless...

Joined
Feb 25, 2004
Messages
475
Reaction score
3
Points
18
Location
Portland, OR
Your Mac's Specs
15" MacBook Pro, 13" MacBook Black, 15" iMac G4, 24" iMac (soon!)
My Powerbook gets some amazing wireless reception. Right now I'm sitting roughly 30 feet away from my wireless access point, with a clear line of sight view to it...and I'm getting 2 bars of reception (out of 4). Sometimes when I'm standing right next to it, I'll get 3 out of 4. When I get any more than 150 feet or so away, it completely dies.

My buddy brought over his iBook to test if it was my laptop, or maybe interference in the house or something. His reception was GREAT...even on the other side of the house. And so...my Powerbook's wireless sucks. I expected better from a third generation 1.33 GHz AlBook.

Anyone have a similar story?
 
P

prozach1576

Guest
Yeah, my wireless reception is pretty weak. I've been experimenting with getting on my school's wireless network in my chemistry lecture. All semester, my friend and I have been moving around the hall to test different spots. His Dell laptop with integrated wireless gets enough signal to be completely functional everywhere in the lecture hall. So far, I haven't found a spot yet with strong enough signal for me to log on.
 
H

heyclement

Guest
are you guys serious?? I've just ordered a G4 powerbook. it hasn't come yet, but now i'm really worried over all these problems powerbooks are having.
 
P

prozach1576

Guest
heyclement said:
are you guys serious?? I've just ordered a G4 powerbook. it hasn't come yet, but now i'm really worried over all these problems powerbooks are having.

I think you'll be fine. I should clarify. I usually have no reception problems at all. This is a strange room. I'm just angry that a Dell piece of crap can pull twice the signal I can in there.
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2004
Messages
55
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
Santa Fe, NM
Your Mac's Specs
12" G4 Powerbook & 80g iPod classic
I live in a brownstone in Brooklyn. I have a 12 inch PB and I am pirating some wonderful person's wireless signal from somewhere in my building, or maybe a neighbor. Thank you to everyone who doesn't encrypt thier signals, your generosity will come back to you! My wireless works great at home, at school and at random hotspots.
 
OP
Osiris22x
Joined
Feb 25, 2004
Messages
475
Reaction score
3
Points
18
Location
Portland, OR
Your Mac's Specs
15" MacBook Pro, 13" MacBook Black, 15" iMac G4, 24" iMac (soon!)
Well don't get too worked up. The wireless works well enough that I can access most all public hotspots, the university network, etc. It's not bad, or broken by any means...it's just not great. The reason is that the Powerbook is made of metal, thus shielding the antenna from getting a good signal. So Apple put a grey plastic strip around the border of the screen, to help let in some of the signal, and thus the new AlBooks actually have better reception than the Titaniums. Still...it's not great.

I do have to say though that my Powerbook's reception is better than my Dell Inspiron, which used a PCMCIA external wireless card. So while it was an upgrade...it certainly could be better in that department.




heyclement said:
are you guys serious?? I've just ordered a G4 powerbook. it hasn't come yet, but now i'm really worried over all these problems powerbooks are having.
 
Joined
Aug 5, 2003
Messages
1,246
Reaction score
0
Points
36
Location
I'm slowly sinking in the posts of Mac-forums
Your Mac's Specs
PowerBook 12" Combo Drive/867 MHz/256 MB RAM/40 GB hard drive/Mac OS X 10.3.5/AirPort Extreme it sux
What OS was he running?

For some reason, I get better signal strengths in Jaguar than in Panther. In Jaguar, I get a solid 4 bars next to the station, and 3-4 in my living room. In Panther, I get 3-4 next to the base station and 1-3 in my living room.
 
Joined
Sep 14, 2004
Messages
125
Reaction score
0
Points
16
Location
Milwaukee, WI
Your Mac's Specs
Aluminum 12" 1.33ghz PowerBook G4 w/ 1280mb RAM, 80gb 5400rpm HD, 64mb vid RAM
I've had a few problems, but I've found that if you quit from any programs that use the internet before you turn your airport card on and then re-start them once you are connected to the wireless, then it should work. iChat is a perfect example... if I sleep my PB and unplug the ethernet and then bring it into a wireless area and wake it up, it will show that I have however many bars of wireless but it won't connect. But if I quit iChat and then start it again, it will log in just fine.
Otherwise, I get fine reception... in the middle of one of my lecture halls i get somewhere between 2/4 and 4/4 and if I'm in the student center or certain places of the library, i get 3/4 or 4/4 for sure.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top