Hi Scott,
Some people have been reporting AirPort Connectivity issues in
connection with the OS X 10.4.5 upgrade according to the MacFixIt
site. However, in response to your more general question of
wireless reception and orientation of the AirportExpress, I found
there are changes in reception quality depending on how your
AirportExpress module and laptop are oriented. Generally this
is not a very noticeable effect, but can make a difference when
you are at the edge of your range. I don't know whether this is
still an issue since you are now trying a regular AirPort model.
I haven't seen any differences in how well the wireless connection
holds up for my PowerBook over Windows laptops (IBM ThinkPads)
using the AirPort Express as the main wireless source, and that
includes going down to the basement level of a split-level house --
at a guess, working about 40 feet from the AirPort Express
and through the stairway wall.
There is a useful AirPort Management Tool, the AirPort Client
Monitor, that can be used to check reception, as described in the
"Take Control of Your AirPort Network" Guide. Annoyingly,
the output of the program, which monitors wireless reception
at the location of your machine, is not in accessible format, but
produces a graphical plot of signal strength sampled over time.
(It would be useful if there could either be digital data output or
a general statistics summary of average signal strength and
its variation.) Here's the description of the AirPort Client Monitor
from Apple's page titled "AirPort Extreme on Campus" :
"Easy Planning
To make sure that your wireless network delivers the best
possible performance, you need to determine where to place
your base stations for the widest and most effective coverage.
With the AirPort Client Monitor, you have a powerful tool to help
you do just that ? quickly and easily. The AirPort Client Monitor
shows transmission rates and signal quality of your base stations,
so you can easily create an accurate map of their coverage and
establish the best settings and locations for each one of them."
For each wireless source you connect to, the machine running the
AirPort Client Monitor produces two plots sampled over time:
(1) signal strength and associated noise and (2) data transmission
rate. The easy way to check coverage is to run the AirPort Client
Monitor on a laptop, and move to different locations. Wait for
about a minute at each location, then screen capture the output
with command-shift-3, and rename the output file for the location.
This at least allows you to keep a record of wireless signal at
the locations where you lose signal to the laptops. If you no longer
have your work Mac laptop, you could move your wife's mini to
the location.
The AirPort Client Monitor is available from Apple's AirPort Support
page under a link for AirPort Management Tools under Additional
Resources. Here's the direct link to the disk image:
http://download.info.apple.com/Mac_OS_X/061-1087.20040419.AptmG/2Z/
AirPortManagementTools.dmg
I highly recommend the Take Control ebooks. In most cases the
Apple AirPort setup is simple, and you won't need this, especially
if you check the iFelix web pages on using AirPort and AirPort
Extreme at:
http://www.ifelix.co.uk/tech/airport.html
for troubleshooting. However, if you want more information about
bridging wireless access points, using wireless equipment from
different manufacturers together with AirPort, or more in depth
information
about AirPort wireless operation, the Take Control guides are good.
They are downloadable in pdf format, and you are always able to
download updated versions. (In fact, there is a link to the cover of
the pdf guide that checks for whether there are updates). The
Take Control guides were also recommended in the discuss list postings
last October for good reference sources on the Mac (along with
David Pogue's Mac OS X the Missing Manual Tiger Edition at
bookshare.org that Joe -- aka Kafka's Daytime -- also recommended).
If you're a .Mac member the Members Only section will give you a
30% discount on any of the Take Control ebooks.
Hope this helps. And I think accessible output from the
Apple Client Monitor is another request to add to the accessibility
list.
Cheers,
Esther
On Saturday, February 25, 2006, at 04:23PM, Scott Howell
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Folks, was over at the Compusa where there's an Apple store inside. I
was talking to the rep Bryan who is very helpful and really knows his
stuff. In any event, I was telling him how I was trying to understand
why my AirPort seemed to really be a bummer. I was having no real
problems with the Macs staying connected for the most part, but
having a real problem with the windows machines. I have my kid's box
and my laptop from work. He explained the radiation pattern of the
router and its like a cone so is omnidirectional, but most
importantly its only 2Db gain from the built-in antenna. So for $65
(owch) I got an antenna that is external and has the omnidirectional
radiation pattern, but best of all offers 7Db gain. Now that seems to
have helped at least for the laptop which is sitting right near where
the antenna is. I'll try my son's box and see what that does.
Scott
On Saturday, February 25, 2006, at 02:17AM, Scott Howell
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Actually my son's windows box is a half level down. Yeah sounds
crazy, but my house is a split level so the levels aren't exactly an
entire 7 to 10 foot drop between each floor. I was considering an
external antena or get the Express and extend the range plus get the
airtunes benefit, but need to figure out why the work laptop which is
a windows machine will drop even within 4 feet of the base station.
Very crazy behavior and I'd have expected as solid a connection with
the Apple router as I got with the Linksys. The Apple is the same
modle they'd use in a school or commercial environment and I'd figure
compatibility would be a must.
Scott
On Feb 24, 2006, at 11:15 PM, Travis Siegel wrote:
It's likely that reorienting the antenna would help if your units
were up/down stairs from your base station, but seeing as how
they're right next to it, changing it's orientation will have no
effect. Interestingly enough though, My mini has a habbit of
dropping the wireless connection from time to time. It always says
I'm still connected, but nothing goes in or out until I reboot.
Even restarting the wireless services has no affect. According to
the apple technical support study guide, this is supposed to fix
any issues. Beats me why it behaves this way, but it does all the
same.
On Feb 24, 2006, at 11:06 PM, Scott Howell wrote:
You know I was just thinking and I read this in the manual, but
can't put my hands on that item at the minute. I was wondering if
connectivity issues could be based on the antenna in the unit
itself. The Linksys like many routers have vertical antennas and
I'm not sure exactly how the one is in the AirPort Extreme base
station. I imagine they are all omnidirectional so that shouldn't'
matter. I wonder if it would make any sense to hang the router so
its not lying flat on the desk, but instead perpendicular to the
desktop and if this would change its radiation pattern greatly;
maybe improving transmission and reception.
Maybe I'm just nuts.
tnx
Scott
