On Apr 12, 2012, at 7:36 PM, Andy Lee wrote:
> Can anyone recommend a USB WiFi antenna?
>
> I bought an iMac a couple of weeks ago and the WiFi connection keeps dropping
> and/or slowing way down. If I reboot, I get broadband speeds for a while but
> eventually it drops to dialup speeds -- plus the connection drops
> intermittently.
>
> Googling "iMac WiFi" turns up a lot of similar complaints, some blaming
> hardware (bad antennas) and some blaming software (in particular, the 10.7.3
> update). Some people have said the problem is triggered by waking from sleep.
>
> I've tried various suggested solutions and none of them work. At this point,
> I'm willing to try one of those USB WiFi antennas in case it's a hardware
> problem. It's stupid to have to spend money on this, but bringing the Mac
> back to the store for repair, exchange, or even refund is more hassle than I
> want to deal with right now.
>
> Suggestions?
The last USB WiFi Antenna unit I knew of that worked with Mac broke after Tiger.
You could have a lot of things going on. Your home AP could be colliding with
a neighbor's AP on the same channel. It could be a signal strength problem on
either unit. The router itself (not the radio part) could be jamming itself up.
If you hold the option key down when selecting the Airport symbol in the menu,
it will tell you what channel each AP is running on. If you have a collision
in the neighborhood, change your router's channel. It will also show you what
the RSSI of the signal for any AP is. -80 is a rule of thumb boundary -- if
you are getting -50, that's a very strong signal; if you are getting -84,
you're probably about to drop out. Does this number change with time? Some
routers will show you this number with respect to each LAN device; does that
change with time? If it's a signal strength problem, at least this will tell
you in which direction (though it won't tell you whether the weak unit is a
transmitter on one end or a receiver on the other). Then you can see if you
get the same results with another computer; then (if you have one) you can see
if you get the same results with another router.
If all the data agrees that the problem is that you are just too far away, or
have too many walls, then you either need a stronger/more directional radio on
your router, a stronger/more directional radio on your computer, or both.
Don't bother with the USB-based stuff. Put an Engenius 1650 (<$50) in the
troublesome room, configure it as a bridge device, hook your Mac to it with an
ethernet cable, and shut off your Airport card.
--
Macs R We -- Personal Macintosh Service and Support
in the Wickenburg and far Northwest Valley Areas.
http://macsrwe.com
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