PBG4 Airport Antenna Question

simX

simX

Unofficial Mac Genius
This is my problem (or my dad's rather):

He recently got a TiBook 667 MHz with a combo drive (damned nice). Of course, he got the Airport card preinstalled with this model.

We have an airport network at home, and my G4 cube constantly gets 100% (4 bar in the menu extra) signal strength. My mom's iBook also gets 100% signal strength wherever she is in the house. My dad's TiBook, however, frequently gets 0-25% (0-1 bars) signal strength downstairs. This makes it practically unusable.

So my question is: should this happen, and is this a problem with my dad's PowerBook? Or is this a flaw in the implementation of the TiBook's airport antenna, and can't be fixed? This is the one thing that he constantly has problems with -- otherwise, it's an awesome computer.

I keep urging him to go to our local Apple Store, but since he's so busy he can't find time -- so hopefully someone on here can clue me in.
 
The Airport card uses the PC card connection on one end, and a small antenna connection on the other. I'm not sure how this is implemented on the powerbook, but you should check that the antenna connector is securely plugged into the card.
 
Also...

The only problem with buying a TiBook. I hear that because of the Titanium casing, the AirPort reception is not as good. Notice that on the left and right side of the PowerBook case, there are little slits a few cm long. These are the antenna "windows." Believe it or not, it might help to "aim" the airport windows at the base station. Also, (and I was not expecting this), it might even help to angle it a little. In fact, try every angle you can think of. Hell, turn the damn thing upside down. Try to find the best position/signal combination.

Sorry, I know my answer isn't scientific, but I assure you, you're not the only one with TiBook reception problems. A
 
I think the range problem is the TiBook's biggest problem. Mine has fairly bad range too. My mom's Dell is fine almost anywhere in the house, but the TiBook gets consistently worse range than hers. Something Apple still has to fix I guess...
 
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