AirPort Extreme on iBook: weak reception?

jan dvorak

I recently bought an Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station for use at home.

My wife and I have both iBooks - she has an older G3/500MHz with AirPort in it, I have a newer G4/1GHz with AirPort Extreme it it (I have also the BTO Bluetooth module).



After setting up the Base Station, I noticed that my wife's iBook has splendid reception all over our flat, whereas my iBook is noticeably worse off, with no reception in one room (where my wife's iBook gets 3 or 4 bars). I attributed this to my iBook having AirPort Extreme, and my wife's AirPort "only" (and I think I read somewhere that the older AirPort has a wider range). BTW, our flat is not that big - 60 m2 (1 bedroom, 1 kitchen, 1 living room, plus the rest). Also, I don't use AirPort and Bluetooth simultanously.



Last week I had somebody in my office who has a similir iBook (G4/1.2GHz), also with AirPort Extreme (and the BTO Bluetooth module). Why he was at my office, he started AirPort on his machine, only to find a wireless network in the area. We assumed it comes from the neighboring office building - funnily enough, that wireless network was openly accessible, with no passwords set (and called "default"!).



Now I started wondering: I couldn't access (even find) that neighboring wireless network, and I have this not ideal reception at home.

Is something wrong with my AirPort, and if so, what could it be (judging from the symptoms I have described above)? How to find out?

(I have run the "Apple Hardware Test", didn't tell me anything about this)



Thanks for any suggestions/similar experiences.

adamr

The most likely explanation is that the antenna connection on your airport extreme card is not seated correctly. Remove the card (under the keyboard) and push the antenna connection cable in hard. It is common for it not to be seated correctly.



I note, however, that the ibook doesn't get as good reception as my HP laptop at work. However, as that is about twice the size and weight, it wouldn't surprise me if the antenna was a lot bigger.



Regards

neutrino23

If your iBook is still under warranty check with Apple support. Possibly there is a hardware problem. I had a similar problem with a PowerBook. Reception was really terrible. I sent it back and they repaired a problem with the antenna cable.



The previous advice was also good. Check that the connection to the card is good. If you are near an Apple store you can go there and have them check it. The connection can be a little tricky. The connector is very small and it fits very snugly.

jan dvorak

Quote:

Originally posted by adamr

The most likely explanation is that the antenna connection on your airport extreme card is not seated correctly. Remove the card (under the keyboard) and push the antenna connection cable in hard. It is common for it not to be seated correctly.

Incidentally, this is what I did this last Sunday morning - and since it didn't help, I posted here.



HOWEVER, since you "insisted" this might be the most likely case ("it is common"), I did the procedure again this morning - THIS TIME, however, I took the AirPort card and put it vertically onto the surface that's on the right hand side of the left loudspeaker (I hope I'm not too confusing), and with the card standing firmly on some stable ground, I pushed the cable with the connection really hard. And, lo and behold, it slid in just that tiny little bit more! Now I have full reception at home, and at work I have just downloaded something over that "default" wireless network (just to try it out...). Thank you for your advice!



I notice that your AirPort still works, even if you don't have it properly connected. Is this good? If I didn't have seen that other guy with his iBook (same specs as mine) having a much better reception than I have, it probably would have never occured to me that my AirPort card wasn't working "fully".

Also, after "installing" the card for a few times now, I discovered that the best way to do this installation is to put your card vertically on stable ground (eg. that surface next to the speaker, in the iBook's case), and push the connector from above. THEN it works, guaranteed... :-)



Again, thanks for being hepful - as I said in my initial post, I wanted any suggestions/similar experiences.

mystfynyou

i tried to press my antenna back in by hand about a thousand times and it felt all the way in. i took it out and pressed it on the comp next to the speaker like you said and it went in much further. im now at 4 bars instead of 2. so thanks!