MacOS

[keka]

Ok a friend of mine came over with his Ibook and got signal from a local WIFI in the area,maby one of my neighbors.
I dont get anything on my powerbook.
My powerbook is about 3 years old and his Ibook is about 3 weeks old.
Are the Airport cards in the newer macs stronger?

[tietjen]

Does your Power book have anairport card? They weren't standard then. Also you may have to search for the network. Are you using OSX?

[keka]

yea it has an Airport.

It usualy finds the network on it own,when im near a WIFI.

He doesnt get much signal,so im thinking maby mine is just old?

[offramp]

My Powerbook is four years old (Pismo 400), with the Airport card from a three-year-old iBook in it, and I get signal from about four sources just fine.

[keka]

Maby the newer Airports just pick up singal better?
When im right near a WIFI I have not troubles.

[where02190]

Is Airport turned on?

[keka]

yup .

I took it over my cousins house today and it finds his connection fine.

[Polaris20]

The original Airport cards are B. The Airport Extreme cards are G, which are faster and have greater range.

[jaronensley]

Not to mention that if you're using an original PowerBook, the titanium prevents some Airport reception.

My trusty old 400Mhz G4 doesn't reach as far as either one of the iBooks.

Jer

[keka]

Yea i got a Ti667

I wonder if I can upgrade my airport?

[kptkarl]

The Airport Extreme cards will not work in older machines. However you can useone of these

[keka]

sweet, thanks

[lipids]

The reason your friend gets a better signal is due to better antenna reception. The antenna placement has undergone may revisions taking on a more prominent role in the design due to the proliferation of wireless networks.

The "G" networks are backwards compatible and will not boost your connection speed to the Internet. Maybe on a local network. The speed is 54mpbs on g and 12 on b. Not many people out there have Internet connections faster than 12mbps. So, your current Airport card should suffice.

If you get some Airport extreme thing your are not guaranteed to pick up your neighbors signal. I would suggest getting an external antenna to boost the signal.

[keka]

Originally posted by lipids
The reason your friend gets a better signal is due to better antenna reception. The antenna placement has undergone may revisions taking on a more prominent role in the design due to the proliferation of wireless networks.

The "G" networks are backwards compatible and will not boost your connection speed to the Internet. Maybe on a local network. The speed is 54mpbs on g and 12 on b. Not many people out there have Internet connections faster than 12mbps. So, your current Airport card should suffice.

If you get some Airport extreme thing your are not guaranteed to pick up your neighbors signal. I would suggest getting an external antenna to boost the signal.

External antenna? What like from an old TV or should I just wrap it in Tin foil? Do they make these for computers?
I actualy think the signal is comming from a school that is right down the street from my house.
After work im thinking about running down too the school with my Tibook and seeing if I get anything.It would be great if I could get it from my room
Tell me more about this external antenna...

[lipids]

Originally posted by keka


External antenna? What like from an old TV or should I just wrap it in Tin foil? Do they make these for computers?
I actualy think the signal is comming from a school that is right down the street from my house.
After work im thinking about running down too the school with my Tibook and seeing if I get anything.It would be great if I could get it from my room
Tell me more about this external antenna...

Yes, almost exactly like from an old TV. Tin Foil works surprisingly well inside a Pringles can. Here is website that has tons of info.

http://seattlewireless.net/index.cgi/HardwareComparison

[Lancaster]

Originally posted by lipids


Yes, almost exactly like from an old TV. Tin Foil works surprisingly well inside a Pringles can.

Makes nice hats, too.

[keka]

Nice site..I hope there is some info on how I can attach too my Airport.Ill have too check this out after I eat

[lipids]

Originally posted by multitrack mind


Makes nice hats, too.

The best part is you can always reshape and repair your hats. Mine has just grown over the years because the mind control rays from space keep burning holes in it.