HELP! TiBook - AirPort (snow) - OSX 10.2.8 - AppleTalk

Big Al

Big Al

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My partner is about to throw his TiBook out the window if I don't fix this soon. I've been battling this issue for a year-at least.

Setup:
Cable Modem -- LinkSys router -- Airport (snow)
2 G4s (10.2.8) via Ethernet Cable
1 TiBook (10.2.8) via Airport
1 eMac (10.3.5) via Airport

(Every station uses DHCP and has an Airport IP)

The G4s run flawlessly. The eMac is upstairs and it connects to the network without any problems. The TiBook is only 20' feet away and has a hell of a time maintaining a connection, even with a direct line of site to the base station. Local Mac dudes told us the 2.5 GHz phone may be causing interference, so we upgraded our phones to 5 GHz to no avail.

The signal goes up and down, but more importantly, it throws the AppleTalk for a loop. We still need to run Quark 4 in Classic but I'm thinking I should switch the proposal writing to Word and eliminate Classic. Before the problem shows up, when you type in Quark you can see each letter show up o-n-e a-t a t-i-m-e. Then everything goes to crap. Classic seems to be the problem, I think. Not only does AppleTalk get disabled so you can see the network in Chooser, but it affect the Print Center in OS X and stops all printing. A restart will usually clear it up.

I guess I'm looking for some confirmation on my theory. I already backed up the entire TiBook, reformated (deep) and reinstalled all software from scratch. I was thinking to run an ethernet cable to that laptop to confirm it's not a hardware glitch either.

Would setting up AppleTalk manually help at all? I'm not that deep into the details of network lingo. Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,

Alex Campuzano :mad: :mad:
 
Man, I can't believe I haven't gotten at least a theory or two. SOMEBODY'S got to have an idea. Anyone?
 
How many internet connections does your ISP support? Should you use a static IP instead of DHCP?

Is your Linksys router set to broadcast at the rate at which your wireless card can receive? Make sure the Linksys is broadcasting at both "b" and "g" wireless protocols (801.g is faster than 801.b).

Check your wireless security settings on linksys. If you haven't set up some sort of password/WEP encryption it's possible someone in your area (apartment or home?) is hijacking your connection, stealing bandwidth.

Your house might have wires that aren't very well insulated, etc. Is it an older home?

I recommend AGAINST using Word for anything except typing letters to relatives. :) It's murder when you actually want to print a large document. Trust me. I've tried before on big freelance jobs. I've had to reformat word docs to quark because they just don't print well.
 
Thanks for the reply.

<<How many internet connections does your ISP support? Should you use a static IP instead of DHCP?>>

It's Comcast. When we set this up, our Mac dude put the NON-wireless Linksys so they only see a single connection. The airport handles the rest. It's beautiful!


<<Is your Linksys router set to broadcast at the rate at which your wireless card can receive? Make sure the Linksys is broadcasting at both "b" and "g" wireless protocols (801.g is faster than 801.b).>>

The Linksys is NOT wireless. Cable goes into the Linksys, then AirPort, then 3com switch for the two G4s and printer.


<<Check your wireless security settings on linksys. If you haven't set up some sort of password/WEP encryption it's possible someone in your area (apartment or home?) is hijacking your connection, stealing bandwidth.>>

This is a home office with plenty of space between house. No hijacking.


<<Your house might have wires that aren't very well insulated, etc. Is it an older home?>>

4 year old house. Everything up to date.


<<I recommend AGAINST using Word for anything except typing letters to relatives. :)>>

Word is only for simple one or two page proposals.

Interesting update. We eliminated the Classic environment from the equation and OS X still stops communicating with the printer. The laptop STILL HAS internet and e-mail just fine. Just the printer "won't respond." So, the print que stopped. He moved within 5 feet of the Airport, started the print que and it printed instantly. Why is the Airport not allowing any printing unless you're sitting next to the base station? Worst thing that should happen is slower printer, not eliminating printing altogether.

Even when the laptop went back to 20 feet away, it continued to print. What the hell?????


--Alex
 
What kind of printer?

How is it connected to your main computer?

Are you "Print Sharing" from the computer that's directly connected to the ethernet hub?
 
Well, my Mac source here tells me that looks like AppleTalk may be the culprit. He's coming over tomorrow to set the TiBook/AirPort to print using IP instead of AppleTalk. Seems Apple is moving away from AppleTalk for just this sort of flakeiness. I will post tomorrow with an update.

In response to your other questions, the printer is an HP 4550 Color Laser, PostScript, Win/Mac yadda yadda. Hard-wired via Ethernet to the switch. No computer is using printer sharing. It gets its IP from the base station.

Thanks.

--Alex
 
So, after a long-fought battle it seems the culprit was the ol' AppleTalk. My guy says AppleTalk is being phased out completely soon.

He set me up to print via IP instead of AppleTalk and my problems seem to have been solved.:D:D:D:D:D Not only solved, but printing over wireless with IP is blazingly fast. One test I did was from Quark (Classic) and it took 3 minutes before the printer made noise. Via IP it took about 15 seconds!

Anyone out there using AppleTalk over wireless take heed. Your life could be greatly improved without it. Thanks for previous replies.

--Alex
 
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