HELP! AirPort Signal "Suddenly" Sporadic on iMac G4
 

Thank you, I will try these suggestions. I am starting to wonder myself if the Airport Update 2005-001 is actually what is causing the problem. I did wonder myself before about this, but when I called Apple, and asked if this particular update would cause a problem in a network that did not have an AirPort Extreme Base Station or any clients that did not have AirPort Extreme cards, the person that I spoke with at Apple told me that no, it would not be an issue. I am starting to wonder now, though. I don't think this is the case. Please, if you would, provide an update here on what happens with you, letting me know if what you did does in fact seem to solve the problem. In advance, as always, thank you.

-D.G.

HELP! AirPort Signal "Suddenly" Sporadic on iMac G4
 

ktilford ..
Have you had a chance to observe for a length of time yet, to see if your solution worked? For those not sure of what I am talking about, see the suggestion here:

http://forums.macosxhints.com/showpo...3&postcount=40

I spent most of Saturday Evening (01/07/2006) trying the procedure, although, without any luck. I do need to go back carefully using Pacifist and see if all of the elements from the AirPort 2005-01 Update have been eliminated. I was careful in my procedure though, on Saturday Evening, and I am not sure that anything else related to the above suggestion will work for me. I do hope, however, that it will work for you.

Can someone tell me, if possible, a way to completely un-install all AirPort-related software? I would like to do this, and then, starting from scratch, re-install only the AirPort Software Installations that I need. Perhaps this would solve my problem. Also, relating to the AirPort Software ... can someone point me to links that would give me a fresh install for AirPort Software? I would appreciate this, if anyone could point me to links that would give me a new install for all AirPort Software (omitting of course, anything related to the AirPort Extreme and Express models).

I do believe, as ktilford mentions, that it is related to the Update for AirPort 2005-01. For those of us that were not careful enough to read "AirPort Extreme" required (although in December when I did call Apple about this issue, a gentleman there did tell me that the Software Update for AirPort 2005-01 would not be an issue, and would not cause any problems), I am hoping that it has affected enough users that Apple will address this sometime soon, in an issued Software Update. I await 10.4.4, hoping to see it soon. :(

iMac gets signal every time it wakes up
 

This is Erick Blackwelder from the Apple discussion board.

Now my iMac 800 mhz is getting 100% signal every time it wakes up from sleep, but only for less than 10 minutes, then the signal drops.

The iMac is sitting three feet away from the ABS.

I'll be interested to see if Apple addresses this in 10.4.4.

In the mean time, there is an Apple retail store with a Genius Bar just 20 minutes from my house. I'm going to take the iMac up there and plop it in their laps for a while and see what the Geniuses at the Bar will do.

I'll take notes.

Some experiences
 

Picking up #24 and #38, I did a card swap and isolated the cause of my problem; it was a faulty airport card in the ABS, not 10.4.3.

First I replaced the suspect card in the ABS and tested the connection under 10.4.3, the problem was fixed. I installed 10.4.4 and still had a good connection. Replaced the good card in the iMac with the suspect card, (originally from the ABS) and the sporadic connection returned!

Some notes you may find useful:

1) A sporadic signal can be symptomatic of a card failure
(DG, I suspect the Airport card in your iMac is dying)

2) A Torx8/small crosshead screw drivers will get you into a Snow ABS

3) Replacing the card in an ABS takes about 30 mins. Nothing difficult and with reasonable care you will not damage anything.

4) Replacing the card in the iMac takes 2mins

5) Beware buying a second-hand airport card, it may only work for a couple of hours!

6) Original Airport cards are no longer in production and there are no upgrades. See http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106777

Anyway, I'm off to investgate 802.11a/g dongles, a new one is a quarter of the price of a used airport card. take care all!

HELP! AirPort Signal "Suddenly" Sporadic on iMac G4
 

Has anything changed for anyone experiencing this problem? Has anyone that performed the update for 10.4.4 had the problem disappear? I have still had no success, and am still experiencing the same problem. I stilll believe the problem to be software related, as the problem began after performing the update to 10.4.3. I also think it may be machine specific, affecting only certain machines (I have use an iMac G4 / 800 Mhz.). I am still in need of any help that anyone can provide me with. This problem will have reached 3 months in about 10 days from now. :( As always, thank you to anyone that can provide any help and/or assistance.

Swap the Airport Cards between your PowerBook and iMac. It's quick and easy to do. I'm 90% certain you will find that the problem will transfer to your PowerBook.

ooooohhh ...
 

seems i have the same problem guys. i removed my battery the other day, since then the airport (in titanium powerbook 1 GHZ) went off and on as it liked. putting battery back in, no change.

all the software thingies, the *.plist removals, " complete system installs...
i opened my book, controlled all cables, replaced card (unfortunately i got no working one to test it it is the card or the antenna that is f**cked) ...

*sigh* nothing.

i will try this cooling thing. cause sometimes after not working on the book for a while it worked. hahaha .. desparate.

anyway: any suggestions for this dongle stuart ? i would love to try it :)

an yes digital guy, open your book and try another card. its eeeeeaasy :)
http://www.apple.com/support/powerbo...yourself/15ti/
(just search the apple support for your type of books)

good luck !!

NEW INFO.: HELP! AirPort Signal "Suddenly" Sporadic on iMac G4
 

I hope this isn't too late to mention ...

I just noticed that the problem is NOT with the communication between the iMac and the AirPort. In the menu/status bar, what I will refer to as the "Baseball Diamond" AirPort Signal Indicator is dimmed (as if no signal is present); but, it says in the menu below, that the AirPort is "On". The problem I am having, it appears (and this has been the case all along), is that it does not see the in-home network that I have created and have always been connecting to. Another point of interest .. sometimes, the AirPort Signal Indicator in the menu/status bar will appear dimmed, but I can see my in-home network in the list of available networks. For some reason, sometimes when this is the case, I need to manually select that network to make a connection.

Is the AirPort Signal Indicator in the menu/status bar reporting erroneous? Is there actually a signal between the iMac and the AirPort as it notes, but there is some reason that it cannot connect with or locate the in-home network that I have created? Is there a way to test to see if there is actually a connection taking place between the AirPort Base Station and the iMac, and if the AirPort Signal Indicator in the menu/status bar is accurate?

Erroneous Signal
 

DG,

The indicator is good when all the hardware is working, but I don't think you can trust it otherwise. For example, it is quite possible that the network identity could be captured and displayed, but no connection be established due to the intermittant nature of the fault.

With respect, I think you are putting too much energy into looking for a software problem when you haven't eliminated that it could simply be a failing Airport Card. I strongly suggest you swap cards, this will give you some solid information. You know your powerbook is working, so the iMac Card should work in it too; if it works, it points to an iMac problem; if it doesn't it points to card problem.

Brei,

The 'cooling thing' was just part of what I did to isolate the problem for me. Do not put your powerbook in the fridge!

I haven't done a great deal of research on wifi dongles yet. Search this site some people have done some already. For the little research I have done it appears that a driver is needed for the dongle. Make sure you can source a driver for the dongle you choose and get as many recommendations as you can before you buy.

Manufacturers use one of a the few wifi chipset manufacturers, RAlink is one of the leaders. They maintain a set of drivers on their website:

http://www.ralinktech.com/supp-1.htm

hope this helps

Processor Speed Effect connection speeds?
 

This may be unrelated to this thread, but it seems to be an active discussion. My cable provider advertises "up to 5Mbps" download speeds, and I knew I wasn't getting that on the ibook I use (366 SE). I used various online tests, and the best I saw was 1.5. After attempting to use my ibook to troubleshoot with roadrunner, their site was very unmac usable, I switched to a PC (1Ghz HP, used rarely, mostly to view web design in IE) Anyway, after direct connecting to the machine and bypassing the AE Base Station, I saw 4.4Mbps on that. I reconnected everything as was, and still saw those speeds on the Windows box. However, my old 333Mhz imac an the ibook see speeds half of that. (If that)
So my question is this, are my older machines just not capable of the speed my cable company provides, or can there be some software issues slowing down my macs?

HELP! AirPort Signal "Suddenly" Sporadic on iMac G4 - Problem Solved.
 

Sorry about the long time since my last posting about this question here. I have been able to fix the problem. I found a new 802.11b AirPort card for sale, and bought it. I installed it in the iMac, and there has not been a problem since. I still do not understand how or why the original card would fail. I am now wondering if I should be concerned about the 802.11b AirPort card I have in my PowerBook G3 :confused: , or if the AirPort card in the iMac going bad is only something that happens infrequently. I would like to hear from anyone with any ideas or thoughts (about purchasing another 802.11b AirPort card for my PowerBook "just in case" :confused: ).

Thank you to everyone that helped me with this issue. All of your advice and suggestions are appreciated.

Glad you fixed it and thanks for reporting, it's nice to have positive feedback.

Stuff breaks occasionally.
Bad solder joints, components drifting out of spec...

I wouldn't worry about the other AirPort card.