imac c2d owners.. listen up!!

[Cuckoo]

The card in the iMac C2D is the same one as in the Mac Pro. It's a Broadcom Draft 802.11N module. And I am having trouble identifying a single user for whom this module is working as expected.

The card exhibits a number of issues.
1) Inconsistent ping times.
2) Consistently changing the connection speed - as revealed by Air Traffic Control widget. Yes Wifi does renegotiate - but every 5 seconds?
3) Never ever acheiving a connection of more than 3.5megabits (460Kbytes per second).

Note that 460KB per second is a quite respectable internet connection speed. But some of us use Airport for more than browsing pr*n. Some of us want to transfer files from one machine to another (Admittedly pr*n)

My maths brain tells me that 3megabits is less than 54.

There's something missing from Airport Extreme 0x14E4,0x87 - and I am guessing that that something is a firmware fix.

C.

Well, a WIFI signal is quite complex. Although it's 54mbit, it isn't comparable to ethernet; you share your bandwidth, so the router has a 54mbit threwput which means, it tops out with a total of 54mbit. If you connect two clients, one just 'surfin p*rn' and let's say, using up 1 mbit that signal wil probably flow between 1mbit and 5...

no worries

but the other system, will as a result of this get 'the rest' so between 50 en 53mbit...

this way, every connected device eats a bit off the cake, even an connection attempt takes out a bite ...

and the founding wifi fathers thought of this concept, where there were pre-defined steps in the signal speed, 1,5,11,22,54 (or something like that)..

this results in rather large chucks of pie being handed out... and i think this CAN contribute to a lower signal than you would expect

Cuckoo

PS... i once had the weirdest problem... and after much reading and trying, the above was the only possible conclusion. I used a wireless print server, which was a b-type (11mbit) and was only capable of connecting at that speed. as a result, my other connection was always slow even when not printing (because the printserver kept connected)

 

[Chrillan]

Well, thats not the problem here I believe.

I have connected two different wifi-routers with now four different computers. The ONLY computer with the problem is the iMac. I have even connected 2 mbp and an old powerbook with and without belkin PCMCIA, and they have stable signals simultaneously. Even alone on the network, no matter if its the Belkin or the airport express base station, still the same problem with the new iMac 20". Since I assume that at least one of the mbps and the iMac have same hardware when it comes to airport, there is something fishy in the state of Denmark... I have, most definitely, narrowed it down to the iMac... Quite frustrating with a new computer... Thinking of returning it now..

My last option is to try to create an old installation of mac osx, say 10.3.9 on my iPod and see if its the os or the hardware...

/Chrillan

 

[Cuckoo]

Well, thats not the problem here I believe.

I have connected two different wifi-routers with now four different computers. The ONLY computer with the problem is the iMac. I have even connected 2 mbp and an old powerbook with and without belkin PCMCIA, and they have stable signals simultaneously. Even alone on the network, no matter if its the Belkin or the airport express base station, still the same problem with the new iMac 20". Since I assume that at least one of the mbps and the iMac have same hardware when it comes to airport, there is something fishy in the state of Denmark... I have, most definitely, narrowed it down to the iMac... Quite frustrating with a new computer... Thinking of returning it now..

My last option is to try to create an old installation of mac osx, say 10.3.9 on my iPod and see if its the os or the hardware...

/Chrillan

There are some airport developers tools.... in the past i played with them, they let you debug all wifi information. I downloaded it on the support site of apple, i think using google with a query like "site:apple.com aiport extreme debug" without the quotes should point you to the tool. This might save you the time of doing a reinstall.

it could be a faulty card, driver, firmware.... but knowing for sure why it disconnects and slows down makes a better case!

goodluck....

 

[Chrillan]

Another test....

Installed bootcamp with winxp on my imac and a brand new mbp... My iMac dropps to 11mbps connection within seconds, while the mbp stays at a stable 54Mbps.... Im starting to wonder if it isn't the card after all...

Thank you for all feedback.. will try to find the dev-tools.

-Stay Mac

 

[EM87]

I was connected to my neighbors wireless just before on my iMac and the signal starts off at full strength but drops two bars at a time until there is only one bar left and it is slower than dial up. Is this the problem that you are all talking about?

 

[Chrillan]

No not quite, some seems to have problems with lousy reception on their iMacs, much like many mbp-owners. Not related to interference or range... Read the a few posts earlier to catch up.

 

[Cuckoo]

No not quite, some seems to have problems with lousy reception on their iMacs, much like many mbp-owners. Not related to interference or range... Read the a few posts earlier to catch up.

Well, it might be software, if you check this site:
http://www.macwireless.com/html/support/airport_radar/index.php

they refer to a library problem, so it might just be a program-issue....

and i know that macwireless doesn't know all... but it still well could be a hint

 

[netdog]

My widget on my 24" reports that I am connected at 11Mbps always (despite the fact that I am connecting to a G router). The signal is always i bar down from full on the menu bar icon on the top of my screen even though the router is 10 feet away.

It slows down, grinds to a halt, restarts suddenly in a burst. This is a mess.

 

[ascender]

I've had Airport problems with my 24" iMac and I was on the verge of asking for a refund at one point - instead I bought a wireless bridge and use the Ethernet port instead. Part of the problem seems to be that Apple are unaware its a major issue affecting a lot of people, so it really is worth everyone checking their Airport out and logging it with Apple if its faulty. It will benefit us all in the long run.

My problem was that when first turning on, the Airport would connect fine to my router. However, the response times on the web would get slower and slower, before I'd have to disconnect my airport and reconnect to the router to get a useable connection again.

 

[Chrillan]

My widget on my 24" reports that I am connected at 11Mbps always (despite the fact that I am connecting to a G router). The signal is always i bar down from full on the menu bar icon on the top of my screen even though the router is 10 feet away.

It slows down, grinds to a halt, restarts suddenly in a burst. This is a mess.

Yes, same here, quite annoying. Hoped that the latest update would have a solution to my problem, but it was about something called "security"... (funny how fast you forget stuff like that when you have switched to mac..)

Merry Christmas,
-Chrillan

 

[drcosmos]

Yes, same here, quite annoying. Hoped that the latest update would have a solution to my problem, but it was about something called "security"... (funny how fast you forget stuff like that when you have switched to mac..)

Merry Christmas,
-Chrillan

I am running a Macbook Pro C2D with huge network problems connecting to my internal network. When browsing among photos on my internal network NAS hard drive it takes 15-20 seconds to change pictures (2mb large). Now I transfer 700 mb and it estimates 5 hours.
I am running a 54 megabit wireless network and have tried various different settings. My old Linux pc worked perfect and fast to the NAS drive, so did two other PCs with Windows XP. 700 mb takes around 7 minutes to transfer.
The Macbook Pro is allright to surf the web. When downloading a file from ATI.com the speed is 340 kb/s which is a lot faster than when transferring a file on the internal network. What can be the problem? When disabling the widgets, the transfer time were around 1 second between the images until I hit picture number five. Then it took 10-15 seconds again.
I called Apple today and they claim that they can not give any support whatsoever when my NAS disk is linux based. My disk is a Maxtor Shared Storage with specification on Apple support.
I am thinking about buying a new wireless router with an Atheros based chipsed that is "talking" better with the internal Atheros pre-N card in the Macbook.
Any suggestions?

 

[Cokecoke]

Problems

I am having some serious issues with my iMac. It was fine for the first 2 months, but in the last 6 weeks it has become slower than dial-up at times.

In order to get full bars and a good connection speed I have to be within a few metres of the router. When I first had the machine, there were no problems at all, the layout of the machine to router has not changed so I can only assume it was an update.

Rubbish.

 

[balamw]

I am having some serious issues with my iMac. It was fine for the first 2 months, but in the last 6 weeks it has become slower than dial-up at times.

In order to get full bars and a good connection speed I have to be within a few metres of the router. When I first had the machine, there were no problems at all, the layout of the machine to router has not changed so I can only assume it was an update. Rubbish.

Thanks for the worthwhile comments clintob, obviously we are all paranoid and not just people who are having problems using the internet.

Sounde like an interference problem. Do you have any other WiFi devices? 2.4 GHz phone, microwave, ..., new neighbors, etc...

Turn off your router and look for networks, it may just be that you have a competing network for your channel.

B

 

[Cybergypsy]

I had the same thing....in my 24" imac...ended up selling it amd bouht a G4 imac.....and it super fast...and no issues....yea!

 

[Chrillan]

I might be a bit eager to post now, but it seems that disabling "Show AirPort status in menu bar" has solved my problems for the time being.
I have also bought a new router - a d-link with pre-n and still had the same problems before I stumbled over this particular set of settings...
Aside from this I have deleted any saved configurations for wireless setting and deleted every network on my "preferred list" in AirPort-settings. I know it sounds a bit wierd, but only connecting with "Internet Connect", using "other" when joining my network and disabling menu-bar seems to make my connection a lot more stable.. I hope that its not just a temporary coincident..

It cant hurt to try?

-Have a great 2007...

/Chrillan