Last week I bought a Duo 2.8Ghz iMac (802.11n), a Time Capsule and
upgraded a G4 PowerMac to Leopard (though still only 802.11g). Initially
I was quite pleased with the 4 bars on both iMac and PowerMac (before
then I had usually 2 bars) but after a day or two the network
deteriorated and eventually disappeared. Given that the Time Capsule
should have (at least) double the range (and so presumably a stronger
signal) of the old Air****t Extreme, that seems quite strange - the TC
was in the same position as the old base station and the distance from
the base station to Macs was about 8m (24 feet). 'Interference
robustness' made no difference.
I then used my PowerBook close to the TC to get on the network,
downloaded iStumbler and found out that the strength of the signal at
the Macs is about 25-30%, noise 15%. When I test the signal next to the
TC, it is 70-80%, noise 12-15%. Moving the PowerBook 3 feet away from
the TC decreases the signal to 65%. I also found three other networks,
one with the same channel as mine (6), so I changed the channel and got
a signal. I got 2-3 bars which looked very good but performance (loading
web pages , etc) was really bad. I moved the TC about 4 feet closer and
got 3-4 bars; performance better but still quite sluggish.
At the moment the set up is as ...
signal noise channel
my-net 32% 14% 3
SKY28223 42% 17% 11
BTVOYAGER2091-C0 25% 11% 6
NETGEAR 26% 14% 1
I don't know where the other three networks come from - our neighbour on
one side does not have wireless network (but has a SKY TV). Neighbour on
the other side is a single woman so probably also doesn't have a
wireless; all other houses around are at least 100 feet away.
I've just taken my PowerBook on a walkabout round the neighbourhood to
find where the networks were coming from and found that the signal
outside the house was better than inside (38% signal) but also picked up
2 further networks and these now stayed on the iStumbler even when back
inside (and one of them also has channel 6 as I had). So it looks like
an interference from the other networks but I had no problems for
several years....
Anyone knows whether there is a problem with Leopard or the Time
Capsule? (Apple technical sup****t didn't think there was, but what do
they know)
Would a signal booster make an appreciable difference to the performance
- and if so, any recommendations? (booster for TC or an antennae for the
Macs?)
Any other suggestions to improve things?
Changing TC to 11n only and 5MHz did not increase the signal strength
but did improve performance. Changing it to 11n only and 2.4 MHz didn't
seem to do much - which is a pity as I intend to upgrade the card on the
G4 PowerMac to 11n and unfortunately there aren't any that are 5MHz for
it (or are there?).
--
Regards,
Karel
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