# Slow Wireless on PowerBook fast on iBook



## rsjm (Jul 6, 2005)

I have the D-Link 514 wireless router. The thing works great with my old clamshell iBook which surfs the web at least three times as fast as my brand new PowerBook G4 which is equally as fast as the laptop it replaced (PowerBook Wall Street). What gives? 

The only difference I know is the Airport vs. Airport Extreme but that shouldn't affect things right? 

Anybody have some hints for router settings or anything to get the PowerBook up to speed?


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## LeeWhitt (Jul 6, 2005)

A shot in the dark, but in the "Energy Saver" options in "System Preferences" for the Powerbook, you have multiple performance optimization defaults.

If, by chance, you have the Powerbook set for optimal battery usage, the Powerbook will cut processor speeds to extend the battery life.

Additionally, in the Airport menubar icon, if you have "Use interface robustness" on, the Powerbook will sacrifice WiFi speed for connection stability.


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## rsjm (Jul 6, 2005)

Both of those were "off". Thanks though. 

Anyone else have any ideas?


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## owen-b (Jul 18, 2005)

I have the exact same problem - my iBook G3 600 MHz with regular Airport connects perfectly well to our new DG834G Netgear router wirelessly, but my girlfriend's brand spanking new 15" Powerbook running 10.3.9 and Airport Extreme is running very slowly, dropping bars down to 1 at times, but never making it to full. MacStumbler shows it as having at most 40 for connection, whereas my iBook gets up to 90 most of the time.

Her 'robustness' is off but no difference made. Will check her 'battery optimum' now...

Nope, made no difference as far as I could see.

We've swapped channels from 11 to 10, 9 and 1, nothing changed.

Owen


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## owen-b (Jul 31, 2005)

Sorry to bump this up but it seemed more sense than starting a new thread. Still having the same problem with the Powerbook. Any suggestions, gurus!


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## frog_always (Jul 31, 2005)

I don't know if you've tried this but if you go under System Pref and Network,
make sure that airport is at the top of the list in Network port Configurations. I know it helps for Me.


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## owen-b (Jul 31, 2005)

Okay will give that a try... It was at the very bottom of that list so I've moved it to the top but no instant leap in bars on her reception indicator.

How does that work, then? Surely being at the bottom of a list doesn't prioritise reception, especially when the airport is the only receiver of internet on the machine (no ethernet etc connected)?

Owen


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## ElDiabloConCaca (Jul 31, 2005)

No, but it does prioritize the order in which network interfaces are "looked at" when a network request is made... first gets looked at first, second... second, etc.  If your AirPort is at the bottom of the list, then the slowness could be due to the computer having to look through all the other network interfaces before it tries wireless, but I don't think that's going to affect things THAT much...

If you do a steady download of a large file with some program that reports kb/sec rates, does the PowerBook download slower (less throughput), or does it just take longer to "ramp up" to a fast speed (more latency)?  If the latter, changing the order of network interfaces may help... if the former, I don't think network interface order is the problem...


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## owen-b (Jul 31, 2005)

It's more that sitting side by side, the Powerbook struggles to get a full signal while the iBook get's full. Go next door and the Powerbook get's NOTHING and all internet applications show an error message, while the iBook is at full. 

Used MacStumbler and the iBook is operating at 80-90 reception with about 20-30 noise, while the Powerbook is operating at best 40 reception with no noise.

Owen


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## matthewT (Aug 9, 2005)

the problem is due to the metal casing that is used in the powerbook...
from what i hear the only way to fix this is to buy an external wireless card...
i have yet to do so, but a classmate of mine also has a 15" pb g4 and he bought one and now gets amazing reception while i, sitting right next to him, get at most one bar...which usually fades out


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## owen-b (Aug 9, 2005)

I'd heard rumours about this - what a shocking oversight on Apple's part not to have done something about this? What's the point making a superfast Airport card if you house it in something that dampens the signal? That's like Superman making his windows out of lead!


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## Jason (Aug 14, 2005)

It's plainly just the difference between the two's build materials...


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## owen-b (Aug 14, 2005)

Well it's not that plain. It's the last thing I'd have thought of. See my previous post on the ridiculousness of building a machine with materials that dampen the signal of the wireless card that it, proudly, ships built in.

Stupid Apple.


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## cnk_coleman (Aug 16, 2005)

There are many things that can cause wireless slowdowns.

Distance from the node. It has to do a checksum to make sure all the packets got through. If they fail then they have to be resent. The further you get away the worse it will get. Even if you are close to the node walls and other physical obsticales can cause problems. Walls with rebar are the worst.

WEP or WPN security will slow down a system. This just taks more time to send data. If you turn it off you will see the system speed up.

If you have selected signal rubustness this will have a big hit on performance.

And last but not least the Apple computers look real nice but form does not always equate to function. The wireless antennas in the Apple laptops really suck. They are either not tuned or there is interference in the metals near the antenna. My G4 Tibook is not even close to the performance of my older Pismo (Titanium versus plastics).

Chuck


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## cnk_coleman (Aug 16, 2005)

owen-b said:
			
		

> Okay will give that a try... It was at the very bottom of that list so I've moved it to the top but no instant leap in bars on her reception indicator.
> 
> How does that work, then? Surely being at the bottom of a list doesn't prioritise reception, especially when the airport is the only receiver of internet on the machine (no ethernet etc connected)?
> 
> Owen



The position on the list just tells the system where to look first for a connection. I use Ethernet, Airport and then modem. From fastest to slowest.

It has nothing to do with speed.


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## texanpenguin (Aug 16, 2005)

This might sound like an odd suggestion, but perhaps if you rotated the PowerBook by 90°?

The reason being, the PowerBook G4 has two little plastic sections on the vertical section of the screen (you can see them along the side) for the AirPort antennae, and it can receive significantly stronger signal through those than through the Aluminium.

Another idea is to make sure you have the latest AirPort drivers (since they all tend to increase signal strength). I also have a Netgear DG834G and it went from 1-3 bars fluctuating to constant 5 bars with the AirPort 4.2 update.


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## TommyWillB (Aug 16, 2005)

Are they each configured the same way:

1) Are both using static or DHCP IP addresses?
2) Do both have the same DNS servers listed in the same order?

DNS lookups definately can slow things down if the first couple servers listed are not working...


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## TommyWillB (Aug 16, 2005)

Also note that if you run and AirPort and AirPort Exteme machine at the same time the Airport (router) itself will slow down to AirPort speeds... However it might have to do extra negotiation with the AirPort Exterme enabled machine to get it to communicate at the slower speed. The Airport machine will do that by default and not need the extra negotiation.


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## karly (Aug 16, 2005)

The metal case cetainly may be the issue, but here's another suggestion.

 802.11b (airport) and 802.11g (extreme) share the same frequency, so might be interfering with each other.  If you can put the router into 802.11g only mode, try it and see if the exterme connection gets a lot better (of course, the airport connection will go away, but this is just a test).  If this improves things, I'd check with the router manufacturer to see if they have suggestions.

also, some cellular phones, and microwaves can interfere with thse devices, but since you are seeing consistently bad connections, this probably isn't the issue.

-karl


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## Carlo (Aug 17, 2005)

If you have a 802.11g Access Point it will runa t B too but it does this on the same channel as G. It wont cause interferance as its the same network.. 

When you run 802.11g, as soon as a 802.11b computer joins the fun the whole network does slow down quite a bit. Which kinda sucks. I wish apple supported 802.11a as its a much better protocol.

if you have seperate ap's for 802.11b and 802.11g then you should definatly be running then at different channels. and make sure their is no overlap in the chanells. All you can really use is 1 6 and 12 (in australia anyway)..

I would walk right up to the access point and see what your signal is like.. Then start walking away and what if it goes down quickly. It might be that there is something causing reflection of the signal which was not effecting the lower speed 802.11b.


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## owen-b (Aug 17, 2005)

Okay, I've updated the Powerbook to Airport 4.2 and that seemed to coincide with the signal going up to 5 bars in the same room as the Netgear DG834G. However, in other rooms, that are about 3 or 4 paces outside the main room, the signal disappears almost completely with the Powerbook, while the iBook still goes perfectly strong.

Oddly, the Powerbook is still able to recognise someone's Belkin54g router somewhere in the building. I don't know whose it is - maybe downstairs? Either the Belkin is sending out a MUCH stronger signal, or the signal through floors is much less weak than the signal through walls...


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## owen-b (Aug 17, 2005)

I'm not sure - will look it up when I get home.

However, would that affect signal strength in different locations? It looks to me now that my iBook simply has better reception than the Powerbook, what with that daft metal casing on the PB... Seriously, one room away, just through a wall, even with all doors open, the PB signal dies. iBook in same location, clear as a bell.


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## owen-b (Aug 17, 2005)

Right, I've moved the Netgear into a more central position in our flat - the front hall, from which all rooms are one door away. Now the PB gets a very intermittent signal in all rooms (as much off as it is on) as opposed to a strong signal in the front room where the netgear was initially based. The iBook, predictably, gets full signal everywhere.

I'm angry with Apple. My girlfriend paid £1,500 for a portable internet accessible computer that accesses the internet considerably less reliably than a 3 year old machine that cost me less than a quarter of that amount.

Has anyone considered calling Apple to complain? I'm going to.

Owen


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## MrNivit1 (Aug 17, 2005)

Random thought... Did you have the airport card installed or did you do it yourself?  It may be that the antena connection to the airport card is lose or not connected.  It's not that hard to get to (under the battery, behind a little flip down door).  See if reconnecting the antena will help...

See http://www.pbfixit.com/Guide/54.3.1.html for a guide to get to it.


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## owen-b (Aug 17, 2005)

A thought I pursued this evening to great lengths... But this PB doesn't have that flap - I popped the battery out and it's not there. The PB came with it installed so maybe that's why?


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## texanpenguin (Aug 18, 2005)

It *DOES* have the flap. It's never not there. Look again (with the battery out, it's a slot toward the screen from memory).


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## owen-b (Aug 18, 2005)

I swear to God it's not there. I took the battery out. Looking at the resulting rectangular hole, there is the battery pins and battery release studs on the left hand side, the spring-loaded battery connector on the right hand side, a label bearing the serial number etc on the long edge nearest me and the opposite long edge is totally featureless. No slot, flap, groove, clip, screw... Nothing. To confirm - I am looking at battey compartment for the latest revision of 15" G5 Powerbooks.

What's underneath the rectangluar panel in the centre of the underside, closed with 4 tiny screws?


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## DrSkrud (Aug 18, 2005)

I think I'm experiencing a similar problem ...

And on my 15" AlBook, there's no such airport card slot ...

^^ Under that little cover with the four screws is your RAM.


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## owen-b (Aug 19, 2005)

Thought so... Well I think they must have removed the slot on PBs that have the Airport card built in at purchase. 

Thing is, at my previous address (a houseshare) we had an identical router, which was on an entirely different floor of the house (top floor) and her Powerbook got a signal even when we were on the ground floor (3 floors away). Now we live in a flat (apartment!) and it dies one room away, despite the iBook having no problems.

Maybe the Powerbook aerial got damaged in transit? Maybe the walls are made of something that dampens Powerbook signals but not iBook??? Maybe this router (it's same model, just different router) is running on a different channel that Powerbooks don't like? (Have switched it to channel 1).

If it wasn't for the iBook's continuous signal I'd be worried about the router.


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## abulloch (Sep 5, 2005)

Is there any way to extend/supplement the antenna itself (hardware), and increase sensitivity that way?

I'm interested in this also for my PB G3 (firewire)....


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## owen-b (Sep 6, 2005)

The latest is that (having now actually bought the same machine as my girlfriend has) I've updated to Airport 4.2, updated the router firmware and moved its position (very slightly) in the house and reception has improved marginally in one of the other rooms and not so much in another so I thought what the heck and ran an ethernet cable into that particular room...


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