# >>Airport SUCKS!!!<<



## Langley (Aug 28, 2003)

I have an Airport Extreme, PB12" and a DP867 set up as a home network.  The computers and the Airport are within 4 meters and line of sight (no conflicting signals etc).  I have cable Broadband.

1.Airport signal drops out
2.network settings disappear on random
3.ISP says im connected but I cannot browse once a day.
4.Apple says there is no fault after inspection.

At least one of these problems happen once a day.  Im so tired of this junk item.  I have gone back to a cable....BAH!

P.S I have all the updates and even after 45mins with Apple tech support......BAH!


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## seann (Aug 28, 2003)

try changing your base station channel.
I had mine set at 6, and after changing from Channel 1, to 11, I found out that channel 11 dropped the least packets.

ping -c 200 192.168.1.1

where 192.168.1.1 is my base stations ip address, and -c 200 says "200 packets"

This is done in the terminal.
I'd change my channel to 1
turn off airport, turn on airport, select base station
ping -c 200 192.168.1.1

I'd change my channel to 1
turn off airport, turn on airport, select base station
ping -c 200 192.168.1.1

I'd change my channel to 2
turn off airport, turn on airport, select base station
ping -c 200 192.168.1.1
....
I'd change my channel to 9
turn off airport, turn on airport, select base station
ping -c 200 192.168.1.1

I'd change my channel to 10
turn off airport, turn on airport, select base station
ping -c 200 192.168.1.1

I'd change my channel to 11
turn off airport, turn on airport, select base station
ping -c 200 192.168.1.1


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## Cat (Aug 28, 2003)

Never had any problems with Airport & my 12" PB.
Are you really sure everything is properly configured and you have the latest patches/firmware installed/uploaded? 

Indeed try different channels to see if one works better than the others. There could be inferences you do not know about (neighbors, other nearby signals).

When your connection drops, try connecting through a cable, check if everything works, then plug it back in the station and restart it. The working settings should be uploaded again automatically AFAIK.

I hope something works out for you...


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## lurk (Aug 28, 2003)

Another thing that can be a problem is if you or your neighbor has a 2.4 GHz phone.  Ours would just kill the airport.  I bought a 900MHz one and have been happy since.


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## lurk (Aug 28, 2003)

Oops I didn't read the extream the first time so 2.4GHz is not your problem.  But the same principle applies to the 5.?GHz spectrum.


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## Langley (Aug 28, 2003)

I have a 900mhz phone.

I have all the updates

I have spent hours with apple over the phone to make sure sittings are fine.

The Apple service centre says hardware is fine.

And chanding stations will only fix the reception proplem.  How about network setttings disappearing and the other points.

I have taken this issue as far as I can take it.

Macworld Australia (3/7/03) says this product was released far to early.........


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## Ripcord (Aug 28, 2003)

Interference is definitely my major problem at home - though it doesn't help that I have at least 4 neighbors in my apartment complex with 802.11b/g wireless, two 2.4ghz portable phones, we have two mobile phones in the apartment, 3 bluetooth stations, and I'm sure the neighbors have 2.4ghz wireless phones as well (and at least one seems to have 2.4ghz wireless speakers.

_Especially since I tend to have the laptop right on my lap, with that 1.6ghz processor chugging away, who wants to place a bet on whether or not I'll ever have kids?_

Usually when I have connection problems it's due to interference.  Switching channels, which I have to do every few months or so, seems to always fix the problem.

The only reason I might consider going to 802.11a is because it's less congested airspace...  (And I don't use wireless with the Macs)

As far as your other problems, you're not really giving us much opportunity to help, are you?  It's obviously not a common thing...


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## Cat (Aug 29, 2003)

The disappearing network settings sound very strange to me... as I said, I too have Airport Extreme and a 12" PB, but never had any of the problems you mentioned. Could you give some more details?
Have you tried locking the settings? Do you access different networks with your PB (e.g. at work, at school) that may overwrite/reset/change your settings?

Also, concerning the ISP, it states clearly that some ISP's are not compatible with Airport, this could be the problem, although I wouldn't know why exactly.
 Maybe if one of your computers is connected, it will not let the other connect, or when the other connects it drops the former... Could you tell us what you are doing when it disconnects?

You say that the ISP says you are connected, but you cannot browse:

Can you see lights flashing on you base station? (check eventual error codes in maual)
What is the level of your Airport signal?
Check the mark "show time connected" and "show status while connecting": what do they say?
Can you ping your own computers when the internet connection is down?

Are you sure you have the same settings on both computers?

Could there be a problem with the internet connection itself? Not Apple things, but broken cable, broken modem/router?

If you already tried/examined all these things with AppleSupport, I'm sorry, but I cannot help you without knowing more details.


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## Randman (Aug 29, 2003)

Have you tried moving the station? It could be getting interference if it's right up against a wall, or very, very close to an electrical outlet. 
  I've had one for about 2 years with 2 different iBooks and never had any problem. The station site right atop the top shelf on the living room book case, with about 6 inches of seperation between it and the wall.


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## Langley (Aug 29, 2003)

Thanks for the help.  I have been through most of these through Apple.

I will check my ISP and let you know how I go.  Did not know that some ISP don't support Airport......


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## Ripcord (Aug 30, 2003)

What do you mean when you say that "ISP says Im connected"?  You spoke to your ISP?  Or you're reading this as information somewhere?  Remember that there are probably several "links" involved here:

- Airport card to Airport base station
- Airport base station to (possibly) another router/switch
- Airport base station or other router/switch to cable or DSL modem
- Cable or DSL model to ISP
- ISP to Internet

If any one of these links is having a problem, you won't be able to get to the Internet.

It's very unlikely that your ISP would be "incompatible" with Airport unless they have a problem with home network routers in general.  If your Airport works periodically, it makes this even less likely - this means they're not using MAC forcing or trying to detect IP sharing.  In these cases it's usually either all-or-nothing.

It's also fairly likely that your ISP won't have a clue what "Airport" is when you call...

Are you using DHCP to get all of your network settings?  If so, the disappearing settings could be due to you losing your signal (which is likely due to interference).  Have you tried setting a fixed IP address, or tried manually configuring ALL TCP/IP settings?

Re-reading your list of problems, it sounds like it's very possible that 3) is caused by 2), 2) is caused by 1), and 4) is irrelevant because of 1).  Yet you're not doing any real troubleshooting, and just getting frustrated...


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## Ripcord (Aug 30, 2003)

I also have been having a lot of problems lately with Comcast where I randomly can't reach parts, or ALL of the Internet because of internal problems on THEIR network.  (this sometimes lasts more than 15 minutes, even, particularly at night where they're doing maintenance without making sure it doesn't interrupt service)  

Next time you can't get to the Internet, make sure your local network is okay (you have signal, you have an IP address, you can ping your base station, etc), and try to run a "traceroute host.you.need.to.reach" from the Terminal, where host.you.need.to.reach is the address of the site you're trying to get to.  If it gets past your base station and at least to the first hop of your ISP's network, the problem has nothing to do with you, it's your ISP's problem.


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## bbotje (Sep 3, 2003)

Here's my story. Snow Airport (connected via phoneline to ISP) worked fine for 1,6 years until about 6 months months ago. 

Now; connection made via Int. connect, procedure seems okay, connects well with ISP, logs in, but... meanwhile No mail and No browsing and no 'direct IP address' contact possible. Meanwhile ISP and airport base station stay connected ! 

Most time unplugging and waiting 30 seconds, replugging power, connect again works. Sometimes all contact gets lost and i need to upload all settings. Weird routines for an item made for CONVENIENCE.

Hours with apple care, all settings checked and double checked. firmware reinstalled with ethernet cable, switched between all channels, provider = best in netherlands.  I don't know about phones, but 2,4Mhz is uncommon in the NL and - I own a 900 mhz which never gave any trouble in the past. (I thought the 2,4 Ghz interfered with the extreme more yhen with snow airports?)

Problems arises with two perfect working P Books. (TiBook and iBook) so it's NOT the settings or the books' hardware. Tibook 10.1.5 and Ibook 10.2, firmware Airport 4.0.8

Called my macshop (real people) they tell me they have weird airport shit too at their shop!!! THEY don't understand it. These are repairguys and can't explain it!  They think it's the latest firmware and says the best thing to do is to wait for 10.3 to arrive and pray for a patch. 

Pretty shitty, I think. something is wrong and there are more people are having this problem, I found out at a forum at Apple.com.  

Last week at friend with both books, had a non apple wireless internet; connection NO PROBLEM, just type in password network and go! Makes one think.

Apple doesn't seem to care too much, it seems.  
Suggestions welcome.

bb


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## Reality (Sep 3, 2003)

The Airport at my house never seemed to work right also. I have it plugged into the modem yet, connection was often lost or always out of range. It toke me a while but I finally experimented with it. Moved in different areas of the house. Now I get almost a full bar all the time and can go in much father distances then before. For what ever reason it's old location was just being interfered by something.


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## Langley (Sep 4, 2003)

> _Originally posted by bbotje _
> *Called my macshop (real people) they tell me they have weird airport shit too at their shop!!! THEY don't understand it. These are repairguys and can't explain it!  They think it's the latest firmware and says the best thing to do is to wait for 10.3 to arrive and pray for a patch.
> 
> Pretty shitty, I think. something is wrong and there are more people are having this problem, I found out at a forum at Apple.com.
> ...



THANK GOD U UNDERSTAND!!!

You live my pain.  Both apple and the store don't know and don't care about my problem.  You tell the exact story that I live....lol


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## Ripcord (Sep 5, 2003)

Nice.

Why bother posting if you're not going to even bother to let us try to help you?

Until then, stop whining.


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## Langley (Sep 6, 2003)

I'm glad for the advise (which has been really good)...but hey your post was really great help(sarcasism)!  If you don't like this thread...there's the door. bye.


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## bbotje (Sep 6, 2003)

Does anyone know what happens exactly (in terms of software, settings, isp, dns lease) when you switch of the current on an airport (snow in my case).  Doe that change settings in the airport or in my TiBook software/airport card? Which ones exactly?

Because if I switch of the mains for 30 sec (unplug adapter) I always can log on when restarted after a 30 sec wait. That might be an indication for what goes wrong; obviously there's something cleared/reset that's not happening when you disconnect and (Re)connect with your PB (the proper way).

Any techies with tips, : WELCOME!

Config. TiBook 10.1.5 and iBook 10.2, firmware Airport 4.0.8, Airport SNOW, Normal Airport cards. All worked until 6 months ago. Connect to best rated ISP via (well made!) phone line. NB Live in city so some interference might be there, but.... no other networks signaled by Mac Stumbler (BTW: great program to determine networks, shareware download, free trial)


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## bbotje (Sep 6, 2003)

Correction on last mail bbotje

Mac Stumbler is Freeware. But says donations via paypal are welcome...
(the maker deserves some for sure
http://www.macstumbler.com/

kr,

bb


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