Airport Extreme Question

patrick doughertypatrick dougherty
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I do not pick up as many networks as other pc's, and I am in a college dorm where my roomate picks up 5 or more, and I only pick up ours that is in the same small room as me. Why don't I pick these up and he does? Other networks are less than 100 feet from me.



Also, when I open internet connect, my wireless connection is never full, but full on the little icon on the top bar.



How can i pick up more networks?



Even when I'm at home, my uncle brings his old pc out and picks up 2 of our neighbors, and i only get mine. Whats the deal?



Thanks

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    kingofsomewherehotkingofsomewherehot Posts: 4,180member
    easy possibility:



    Do you have your prefs set-up to only find "G" networks ? (and perhaps the others are "B".)
  • Reply 2 of 5
    patrick doughertypatrick dougherty Posts: 23member
    how do I change this?
  • Reply 3 of 5
    kingofsomewherehotkingofsomewherehot Posts: 4,180member
    hmm...



    Now that you mentioned it, I've looked into it a bit.



    I can configure a base-station to accept only "G" or only "B" connections (through AirPort Admin Utility). But I don't seem to find this as an option for the card in the computer (System Prefs or Internet Connect)... I could have sworn such a thing was possible, but I can't find it anywhere.



    Sorry to have gotten your hopes up for an easy fix
  • Reply 4 of 5
    vandewaalsvandewaals Posts: 450member
    I don't think you can specify what the card connects to. If it's a "b" card it will connect to a "b" or "g" basestation, but only at 11 Mb/s. If it's a "g" card it will connect to a "b" basestation at 11 Mb/s (i.e. it switches to "b" mode). Only if you have a "g" card and a "g" basestation will you have a 54 Mb/s connection.



    What sort of computer do you have? PowerBooks were notorious for having crappy AirPort reception. One thing I have noticed with my MacBook is that the reception is WAY better. I see like 8 networks in my building, and even ones near my parents' house when I visit them. Not sure if it's better antenna placement or the Extreme card (my PowerBook was an older one with a "b" AirPort card and it generally did not do so well reception-wise).
  • Reply 5 of 5
    patrick doughertypatrick dougherty Posts: 23member
    I have a g4 powerbook



    Is there any solution?
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