TiBook Airport Reception

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AJaX

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Does anyone know of any quickfixes for a TiBooks horrible airport reception? Any way to route the antenna differently or something?? I can't even go two rooms away with out it going out. Thanks for your help.

Alex:D
 
There are no fixes, because the problem with reception lies in the material used for the case - Titanium.

Bad Airport reception is the achilles heel of an otherwise great machine. My TiBook probably gets about 75-80 feet away from the base before I lose useful reception. An iBook will get about 100-125.

The only possible fix I could think of would be to get an external USB 802.11b adapter. I have the Linksys for my PC, and it works great. The only problem is I don't know of any that have Mac drivers just yet. But with an external solution, you might be able to bypass the case interference that is causing the bad reception.

I really hope Apple can solve this problem with the next PowerBook version. I like Titanium for it's strength and lightweight, but bad Airport reception and paint that flakes off rather easily (and quickly) drive me NUTS.
 
This may sound stupid, but check which side of the TiBook faces towards the base station!

If I go to the garden and I place my TiBook so that it faces with either the back or the front towards the base station, I have nearly no or completely no reception. But when I turn it so that the two plastic "windows" on the side of the TiBook, in which the antenna are, face towards the station, I get between two and three bars of reception....compared to no reception that's quite interesting I think....

btw: I know it sounds crazy, and if somebody else would tell me this, I'd say he does something wrong, but it's really true...
 
That doesn't sound crazy -- in one orientation the antenna is being obstructed by metal, the other orientation the antenna is being obstructed by plastic. The AirPort docs even mention that metal will inhibit the signal.
 
my tibook does the same thing when turned side to side. i bought a range extender for my airport, and it has helped some simply because the signal is stronger and gets through the building better (although apple and others claim that walls make no difference, they do). you have to take the airport apart, but it's and easy job and now i can go anywhere in the house without a problem.
 
I get really bad range with my TiBook too, but part of the problem might be the fact that I'm upstairs and my Linksys router is the in BASEMENT. My mom's Dell/Hell works fine though upstairs. Oh well, maybe Apple will get it right next time. Maybe the whole case can be the antenna? :)
 
here is the one i bought:

http://www.orinocowireless.com/template.html?page=110

i spoke with the guy there for a while. he told me that it would send the signal out with more strength, but if my laptop wasn't strong enough to send a signal back, then it wouldn't help. i have noticed a difference in range. it's made by lucent and you can get them for around 80 bucks. if i have some time in the next couple of weeks i could do some more scientific testing with the thing and get back to you.
 
Originally posted by ksuther
I get really bad range with my TiBook too, but part of the problem might be the fact that I'm upstairs and my Linksys router is the in BASEMENT. My mom's Dell/Hell works fine though upstairs. Oh well, maybe Apple will get it right next time. Maybe the whole case can be the antenna? :)
Click to expand...

offtopic, but interesting. German based company Siemens - together with a UK professor - developed a special kind of plastic for cell phones which turns the whole casing into the antenna...should I send Apple the phone number of Siemens??? :D
 
Originally posted by frgee
here is the one i bought:

http://www.orinocowireless.com/template.html?page=110

i spoke with the guy there for a while. he told me that it would send the signal out with more strength, but if my laptop wasn't strong enough to send a signal back, then it wouldn't help. i have noticed a difference in range. it's made by lucent and you can get them for around 80 bucks. if i have some time in the next couple of weeks i could do some more scientific testing with the thing and get back to you.
Click to expand...

that would be great! Tell me what you're experience is cause I am really interested in increasing the range of my base station...
 
I have done the mods to the airport base station to use the wavelan antenna. Works great. Be aware that the wavelan extender is also directional, I have to "re adjust" my direction almost everday because the cat uses it's location as a launch pad. I've also noticed "teeth marks" on it, but that's a different story (she maybe using as a scratching post too... who knows ?)

:)


At work we have linksys basestation and get get probably twice the range from that and better throughput. The airport basestation is not the greatest on the planet for range anyway.
 
So you mean I should get some kind of perimeter defense for that thing so that my cat can't get close.... :D
 
Thanks for all the great input! Can someone explain the installation process of these new antennas? Thanks!!
 
the install is simple:

just take apart the base station and you will see the wavelan card inside. there is a little plastic cap cover that gets removed from the card with a pen knife and the antennae plugs right in. if you want, you can cut a hole into the airport and reassemble it. i have chosen to leave mine apart behind a bookcase and the antennae rests on top of the bookcase. takes about five minutes for the whole job.
 
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