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General discussion

Hmm... Now I can blame it on Leopard

Feb 6, 2008 2:06PM PST
This reminds me of the situation that I have been dealing with. Maybe it's the same, LOL. I know the old MBP I had would act similarly before they replaced it, so it was part of the problem, but now it's just the software it may seem. Right now, I have everything working, but it does drop the signal occasionally, usually after it wakes from sleep. But then it hops right back on. Big improvement there. It only drops when the Mac is in a period of inactivity. The lease time on the router is set to forever, so I don't get it.

If 10.5.2 is really close to release as a lot of people have said, then hopefully it will fix the problem. I really don't want to have to replace anything, but you never know... I could use a new modem with a faster connection though.
Anyone want to guess when that update could show? I say it'll take a week or two still. I hope it'll be bundled with the iPhone/iPod SDK. Grin

-BMF

Discussion is locked

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That is happening to you?
Feb 6, 2008 11:20PM PST

Time to send it back again. Or were you just trying to find someone with an issue? Let me share I just completed a long issue like that. Bottomline? The router was funky. The router worked with some laptops, but not theirs. I recognized the signs and swapped the router out. Yes the owner was adamant it wasn't the router but the issue vanished with the router. While it may not seem to be the same issue my point is that I'm finding this make to be far more solid than something from Redmond. And what to do with that old router but bless some other soul with it? In fact the owner gave it to a friend and we wonder if they'll be posting on forums about their mac problems.

Bob

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... Would it be the router if its predecessor
Feb 7, 2008 7:09AM PST

behaved similarly? The router I had before did similar things. I guess I could have had two incompatible routers, though I don't see how that could be true. They were both different brands... At least it is not the Mac this time around. The other one gave me a lot of trouble, but this one doesn't. Just when I'm not using the internet for a moment, AirPort goes from five bars to four and disconnects. No way I'm sending this one back though. It's perfect, I'm sure, and it does everything else just like it should. The new 8x Superdrive is great. I burned a small CD in less than 30 seconds...

If the router(s) is/are the case, then I guess I will be picking up an AirPort Base Station. I just wish they had one with FireWire on board. I heard that attaching a drive via USB doesn't work very well.
It'll work with other AirPort products, so do you think that the Base Station could make a difference?
-BMF

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No.
Feb 7, 2008 7:18AM PST

Sorry, just like a science experiment when you change the components you may not get the same results. The area of router troubles is quite fun for me. It's part science, part settings and all about using your noggin.

Keep in mind I have spares to send with "Tech" so the usual owner will make assumptions that it can't be this or that while we've seen it all. As to your issue, the top post doesn't appear to be your issue so all this is just batter.

Bob

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It seems to be
Feb 7, 2008 7:43AM PST

or at least that's what it looks like. People running a brand new Mac will have WiFi issues when they wake it from sleep or leave it alone. That's what I have. Though nobody seems to have an Apple router...

Silly I've used my head and I've changed a bunch of stuff. So far there have been no positive results. Not much of an experiment there Sad.

-BMF

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The box says
Feb 7, 2008 7:57AM PST

it is Mac compatible. And if the old D-Link I had before had similar issues, then buying yet another router wouldn't make much sense. Unless they put the wrong sticker on it Silly. If the manufacturer says it's compatible and a different branded router exhibited similar problems with Macs, how could it be the router's fault? If there was something interfering with the signal, it doesn't make sense why it would only affect my Mac, and not anyone else's computers.

-BMF

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I have another weapon.
Feb 7, 2008 10:17AM PST

I have a spare bridge. It gets us off the wifi, sort of. The Netgear WGPS606 lets me use the ethernet port of the suspect laptop so I can discern if there is a wifi card or software issue.

Like I noted above, those better techs have their ways to discern where the issue is. You could have a defective wifi card. I don't think Apple would be to blame for that one since it's a generic part and with all the variations you could have a dud.

Bob

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How can it be the Mac?
Feb 7, 2008 10:51AM PST

Remember this is the brand new one we are talking about. I highly doubt that it would drop connections like the previous model. This is the Santa Rosa model with the 2.4Ghz chip. I just took the battery out (had to clean it anyway) and it has not disconnected after waking from sleep so far. That's an improvement. It may be that I just had to get my settings all sorted out and adjusted, but there's no telling how long this will last. But right now it's great (again).
It worked for me in other places too, so I doubt that this new Mac could have a bad card too. That is why I have been troubleshooting with my network setup. However, I plan to eventually replace the modem and router at some point. I'm dead set on getting a Time Capsule to start, if I can find any store with them in stock Grin.

I haven't used Ethernet on it yet, not that I need to, but I know that would work. When it has a strong connection, it matches the speeds of the wired PC, so it has to be working properly. But I could be wrong.
-BMF

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A new car can have issues.
Feb 7, 2008 10:55AM PST

And if you don't deal with it, report it then you are telling them it's ok.

I am sharing some of my experiences and tools. It's a fun job to find the weird or tuff ones.

Bob

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Yes it can
Feb 7, 2008 11:16AM PST

but the same issues as an older car when the new one has brand new, and different, parts? Well technically, it's possible, but that's not my point.
It has been working consistently now, and much faster than it has been. It sleeps often to conserve battery life, and has not disconnected yet. I think this is the longest time it has worked like this Happy.
I appreciate the suggestions, but right now I have no proof that it is the laptop.
If it continues to work, I'll be extremely happy. Only time will tell.

I'm now thinking about making a video review about it, and some of these issues that I have experienced. Some of them appear to be more common than I thought, as that article I found says, but there are others that I have not encountered. Apple Defects lists a lot of those. I personally think that Apple needs to overhaul the MacBook Pro design entirely. It's great, but it's been almost exactly the same since the original PowerBook G4. Can't deny that it does look impressive though.
-BMF

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And it did it again...
Feb 7, 2008 11:47AM PST

Of course after resetting a bunch of stuff again, it comes back. Router and modem gotta go.

Here's a question: could it be that the DSL connection through the line is causing it? Or could it be that the router sends our DHCP data in regular intervals and disrupts the connection? Like I said, when it works, it works great.

-BMF

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My neighbor's 327w did such.
Feb 7, 2008 8:37PM PST

Finally it died. I had proved it was that by swapping out the 327w but even with that demo he had a hard time accepting the router caused the laptop crashes...

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I just find it extremely odd
Feb 8, 2008 6:31AM PST

that my original Mac and my original router experienced similar issues as the new Mac and the new router. The only things unchanged are the modem and the service itself, but that still doesn't account for dropping wireless signals to Macs.

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Que Mr. Rogers theme music...
Feb 8, 2008 8:46AM PST

"Won't you be my neighbor?"

Feel free to dismiss it. I can only share the stories and hope that owners never figure it out. How else will our tech continue to make his house payments?

Bob

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It might not be your hardware at all...
Feb 8, 2008 12:28PM PST

It sounds to me like you might have a problem with your service provider or your router. Have you checked that for dropped or mis-timed connections? Many times they have wrong server or router settings (like the MTU size for example) that can cause dropped connections, especially with idle systems.

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I have checked
Feb 8, 2008 12:43PM PST

and everything says that all is well. But it's not. I may have overlooked something, but I've gone through just about everything on my router and nothing has really solved it.

It may be my ISP... One thing I have noticed is the Mac gets a 130 something connection (can't remember the speed unit) while the wired PC only gets 100. That doesn't sound right to me. How can a wireless machine get a stronger connection than a wired one? The wired connection never has problems. I have considered doubling my connection speeds, but I have no idea what that will do.

-BMF

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Did some more searching around
Feb 8, 2008 12:33PM PST

Okay, the only Apple wireless products that I own are my MBP and my iPod. To save battery life, I always turn off wireless connections like a lot of people do. So right now, my iPod was off (WiFi was off too), and I turned off the AirPort connection on the Mac. I logged onto the router and it listed two clients on, one without a host name, my Mac, and one labeled iPod, my iPod. I think this is because it saves the IP addresses for them and as such, lists them as connected even when they are not. A quick restart and minor changes cleared out the clients. I'm not sure if it's supposed to do that, but apparently it is so.

I found one article that suggested that Xbox consoles can interfere with WiFi. Mine has a WiFi adapter, but that's unplugged. Removing the controller batteries has done nothing to improve the situation in the past. Unplugging the home phone base station does nothing (even though they also run on the 2.4Ghz band) either... I'm going to see if manually setting all of the information will work better. It hasn't before, but might as well try again. I'm going to tweak another couple of settings on the Mac and see what that does. Fun, isn't it?

-BMF

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Host names
Feb 8, 2008 12:58PM PST

Bob, is it possible that it doesn't work because the router does not detect a host name? I've seen people mention it here and there, but no one has really described how to change it.
The router displays a blank space where it should say MacBook Pro. Strange.

-BMF

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Found DHCP Client ID in Preferences
Feb 8, 2008 1:24PM PST

So I entered a name into it, and what do you know, high speed connections. I went and downloaded Webkit and got speeds up to 150Kb/s during the download. So far it has done very well.

However, the router now lists three clients all with a blank name. Two of them share the same MAC address and have no name, which I know is my Mac. The other one is the wired PC, I believe, but it has no name either, which is new. I don't know why my Mac would take up two IP addresses, as the Mac itself only lists one, but if it works, it works. Now I have to figure out what could be causing that.

-BMF

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The other test I do...
Feb 8, 2008 1:22PM PST

Use the machine at a free wifi hotspot. I can't count how many times that helps sort it out.

As to the name, your post is rather long and I can't find the details I need to figure that out here. Ask those that support you.

Bob

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I think I got it
Feb 8, 2008 1:25PM PST

and then maybe not. The router does not list any now...

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Not working again
Feb 8, 2008 1:38PM PST

I may sound like a broken record, but it just won't work with me. Hopefully replacing everything will clear it all up.
The router still detects connected things even when there are none. I'm getting an AirPort Station that should be able to talk to Macs and PCs... A new modem would help too.

-BMF

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Okay...
Feb 9, 2008 7:49AM PST

I've decided to just hard wire my Mac to the modem and bypass the router completely. That leaves the other PC useless, but might as well leave it that way. At least Ethernet works perfectly. I think I'm going to have one of my ISP's techs to come over and check out the DSL connection and all the other stuff. I heard that they still sell the same modem that I have, so there must be something else at work here.

-BMF

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All right, I think I can narrow it down some
Feb 9, 2008 10:16AM PST

Just went to a friend's place and the Mac works perfectly. No problems with WiFi whatsoever. We both have the same ISP, though my friend has double the connection speed. However, having a slower speed wouldn't affect the wireless broadcasts and how they act. So here are the possible sources of my problems:

1. The router: I still doubt that it could be this, but as I can't seem to get it to work at all now, it could be.
2. The modem: My modem seems to be the same type that my ISP has now, so I've heard, and works by itself when wired to a single computer. There may be issues with it when it tries to communicate with routers and whatnot, but I can't tell.

It could also be the phone line itself. I have DSL. I've been told that the line could have issues and it isn't the hardware. I know for a fact that one room has a lot of interference. You can't talk on the phone in there. That doesn't account for the times when the router receives and broadcasts incorrect info from the modem (while the modem itself has the correct info), but you never know. I'll have to have my ISP send a guy out to come look at it.

-BMF

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Pretty amazing stuff.
Feb 9, 2008 11:48AM PST

I can't tell you how many start to learn Voodoo at this point.