[GLLUG] Anyone with experience with Macs and AirPort Extreme?

Eduardo Cesconetto eduardo at cesconetto.com
Mon Jul 7 22:24:31 EDT 2008 

Again, you are setting yourself for failure. The WRT54GL is buggy,  
even worse when used with DDWRT.
Give up and get a descent router. My recomendation is an Airport  
Extreme, but if you'd like to save some cash, get a cheap Netgear N  
router...

On Jul 7, 2008, at 4:01 PM, Michael George wrote:

> Well, for anyone who cares about this thread, the "fix" didn't.  It  
> helped
> a bit, but the connection would just drop without reason.  We moved  
> the
> computer to the other side of the room to hopefully get better  
> reception,
> but it is still unreliable at best.
>
> We could sit there with a fill signal indicated and start browsing  
> and the
> signal would drop to nothing and get dropped.  It might not  
> reconnect for
> hours, no matter what I did.  Sometimes I'd come home from work and my
> wife would be mad that she couldn't get on all day and I'll wake it  
> up and
> it'll have full strength signal and stay like that for hours.
>
> The iBook, on the other hand (with an original airport card) will  
> connect
> readily from anywhere in the house and maintain that awesome  
> signal.  So
> it's not interference or a flakey WAP.  The only thing it *could* be  
> is
> that 802.11b is more reliable than the 802.11g.
>
> So, I've given up.  Newegg has a special on Linksys WRT54GL routers  
> (free
> shipping, $50, and a $10 rebate on top of that) so I'm just getting
> another one.  I'll put that one in place to see if that might be the
> issue, but I doubt it is.  After that test, I'll use one of them as  
> the
> WAP and router and the other as a bridge.  It's $10 more than trying  
> an
> 802.11 USB key, but it also gives me a second router on hand in case  
> the
> primary should fail and another unit to use for firmware updates.
>
> On Mon, June 16, 2008 3:03 pm, Michael George wrote:
>> Tried turning off the authentication.  Didn't help.
>>
>> I found a fix, though!  In reading and reading and reading, I saw a
>> reference to how some people "fixed" the problem by activating and  
>> then
>> deactivating IPv6.  I figured it was worth a try...  and it did!
>>
>> On Mon, June 16, 2008 2:53 pm, Sean O'Malley wrote:
>>> My bad. I read what you said incorrectly about the intermittant
>>> connections. :)
>>>
>>> From what I just read it appears it is an authentication/ 
>>> authorization
>>> issue and there are firmware upgrades from linksys.. dd-wrt probably
>>> hasnt
>>> fixed it yet.
>>>
>>> If you turn off auth on the router, it supposedly works.
>>>
>>> *shrugs*
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, 16 Jun 2008, Michael George wrote:
>>>
>>>> The GL has more RAM than the current G's do, not less.
>>>>
>>>> I haven't had *any* problems at all with 10.4, only with 10.5.
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, June 16, 2008 11:43 am, Sean O'Malley wrote:
>>>>> Im cheap I guess. I would try changing the firmware on the router
>>>> first.
>>>>>
>>>>> Weren't those the routers that had like 1/2 as much ram as the G
>>>> series
>>>>> and a few other shortcuts to drop the price?
>>>>>
>>>>> I am just thinking if you are trying to squeeze a gui and  
>>>>> software on
>>>> a
>>>>> smaller space, you might actually drop a few things along the way
>>>> just
>>>> to
>>>>> squeeze it on.
>>>>>
>>>>> The fact it doesnt really work with 10.4 (it is flaky) and it  
>>>>> doesnt
>>>> work
>>>>> at all with 10.5 and other people are just having flaky issues  
>>>>> with
>>>> 10.5,
>>>>> leads me to think something else might be wrong. I would triple  
>>>>> check
>>>> my
>>>>> configs and make sure im running the latest known to work  
>>>>> version of
>>>> the
>>>>> firmware.
>>>>>
>>>>> I have also heard of numerous issues with dd-wrt and people have
>>>> switched
>>>>> to openwrt.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Mon, 16 Jun 2008, Michael George wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> That is actually what I'm leaning towards.  I just hadn't looked
>>>> into
>>>>>> which ones were compatible with 10.5 yet.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Mon, June 16, 2008 7:33 am, Eduardo Cesconetto wrote:
>>>>>>> another solution is to use a USB wireless adapter, Blekin and
>>>> DLink
>>>>>>> both make Mac compatible a/b/g cards
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Jun 15, 2008, at 9:31 PM, Michael George wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Well, what I found is that there are a lot of networking  
>>>>>>>> problems
>>>>>> with
>>>>>>>> 10.5.  Most of what I found had to do with extremely poor
>>>> performance
>>>>>>>> and continuously dropped connections.  One post in particular
>>>> said
>>>>>>>> that
>>>>>>>> the Airport Extreme devices were no longer playing well with
>>>> Cicso
>>>>>>>> WAPs.
>>>>>>>> Whether the "cisco problem" extends into their Linksys
>>>>>>>> acquisitions, I
>>>>>>>> do not know.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> My router is working fine, and I don't have any plans to change
>>>> it.
>>>>>>>> If
>>>>>>>> I had a greater need for the Mini to work I might try  
>>>>>>>> OpenWRT, or
>>>>>> even
>>>>>>>> go back to the Linksys Firmware for the WRT54G...
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Given that the 10.4 systems and WinXP were no-effort  
>>>>>>>> connections,
>>>> I
>>>>>> am
>>>>>>>> inclined to blame Apple and I am hoping that a future update
>>>> might
>>>>>>>> resolve the issue.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Karl Schuttler wrote:
>>>>>>>>> It might be worthwhile to see if the problem exists in  
>>>>>>>>> OpenWRT,
>>>>>>>>> another linux firmware for the WRT line. OpenWRT isn't tough,
>>>>>>>>> especially if you've done any networking in linux, but it is
>>>> mostly
>>>>>>>>> command line (no web gui out of the box). It may be the  
>>>>>>>>> easiest
>>>>>>>>> migration to make it work, if you find that others aren't
>>>> running
>>>>>>>>> into
>>>>>>>>> this issue.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> On Sun, Jun 15, 2008 at 6:18 AM, Michael George
>>>>>>>>> <george at idealso.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> Yes, those bastards.  This is not an isolated dd-wrt issue,  
>>>>>>>>>> it
>>>> has
>>>>>>>>>> been
>>>>>>>>>> happening to many people with the Airport Extreme devices  
>>>>>>>>>> under
>>>>>>>>>> 10.5.
>>>>>>>>>> It was a problem at 10.5.1 (but not under 10.4) and still is
>>>> now.
>>>>>>>>>> They
>>>>>>>>>> aren't giving it attention because they made it work with  
>>>>>>>>>> their
>>>>>>>>>> WAPs.
>>>>>>>>>> If it doesn't work with Ciscos, they don't seem to care.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> I have connected my iBook (10.4) with no hesitation.  I have
>>>>>>>>>> connected
>>>>>>>>>> Windows XP with no problem.  The software running in dd-wrt  
>>>>>>>>>> is
>>>> in
>>>>>>>>>> very
>>>>>>>>>> wide use and I'm sure if there were problems with it meeting
>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>> standards of 802.11b/g, they would get fixed.  However, Apple
>>>>>>>>>> adopted an
>>>>>>>>>> unfinished (beta) spec (802.11n) and put it into production
>>>>>>>>>> hardware.
>>>>>>>>>> Internal to the computer, no less.  When it isn't backwards
>>>>>>>>>> compatible
>>>>>>>>>> their best answer (not that they gave one) is "spend several
>>>>>>>>>> hundred $$
>>>>>>>>>> and get one of *our* WAPs".
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> If you think dd-wrt is such junk, then why don't you download
>>>> the
>>>>>>>>>> latest
>>>>>>>>>> linksys firmware and install it on your router?  When you do,
>>>>>> please
>>>>>>>>>> tell me if your problem goes away...
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Eduardo Cesconetto wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>> Those bastards? I blame your crappy Open Source driven  
>>>>>>>>>>> router,
>>>> I
>>>>>>>>>>> have
>>>>>>>>>>> the same issue with my WRT54GL w/ DD-WRT is junk too... You
>>>> get
>>>>>>>>>>> what u
>>>>>>>>>>> pay for...
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> On Jun 14, 2008, at 9:20 PM, Michael George wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Well, no go on either of these.  I can set up an ad-hoc
>>>> network
>>>>>>>>>>>> with my
>>>>>>>>>>>> iBook and an original AirPort card (802.11b?), but it keeps
>>>>>>>>>>>> getting
>>>>>>>>>>>> connection timeouts to the Linksys/dd-wrt WAP.  I am not
>>>> about
>>>>>>>>>>>> to spend
>>>>>>>>>>>> $300 for a Apple WAP to connect this thing.  Those bastards
>>>> make
>>>>>>>>>>>> incompatible hard/firmware and expect me to spend more $$  
>>>>>>>>>>>> on
>>>>>>>>>>>> them?  No
>>>>>>>>>>>> way.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> Sean O'Malley wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>> It doesnt really seem to be a related issue, but the early
>>>> 2006
>>>>>>>>>>>>> minis
>>>>>>>>>>>>> have a firmware update for them. It is called
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Apple Mac mini early 2006 SMC Firmware
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> A more related fix would be:
>>>>>>>>>>>>> ----
>>>>>>>>>>>>> from http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=4993837
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Alright, so we know that after updated to 10.5.2 people  
>>>>>>>>>>>>> were
>>>>>>>>>>>>> still
>>>>>>>>>>>>> having
>>>>>>>>>>>>> trouble with Airport. I was one of them, and I figured it
>>>> out.
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Here is
>>>>>>>>>>>>> what I did:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 1. Navigate to Library\Preferences\SystemConfiguration
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 2. Locate com.apple.airport.preferences.plist
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 3. Drag it to trash
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 4. Hit the spotlight, type in "Keychain Access"
>>>>>>>>>>>>> a) Remove all passwords to every network
>>>>>>>>>>>>> *now I don't know if that's necessary, but I did it, and  
>>>>>>>>>>>>> it
>>>>>>>>>>>>> worked*
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 5. Restart Leopard
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 6. Connect to a network and you should be problem free
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> By deleting com.apple.airport.preferences.plist and
>>>> restarting
>>>>>>>>>>>>> your
>>>>>>>>>>>>> system, you are allowing Leopard to create the new 10.5.2
>>>> file.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> My theory is, is that the two conflicted with each other  
>>>>>>>>>>>>> so
>>>> it
>>>>>>>>>>>>> wasn't
>>>>>>>>>>>>> copied properly, and thats why some people had the problem
>>>> and
>>>>>>>>>>>>> some
>>>>>>>>>>>>> didn't.
>>>>>>>>>>>>> ---
>>>>>>>>>>>>> my guess is you just need to axe the password to the
>>>> airport.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> That at least lets you start the config from scratch. :)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Sean
>>>>>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>>>>>> -M
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>> There are 10 kinds of people in this world:
>>>>>>>>>>>>   Those who can count in binary and those who cannot.
>>>>>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>>>>>>> linux-user mailing list
>>>>>>>>>>>> linux-user at egr.msu.edu
>>>>>>>>>>>> http://mailman.egr.msu.edu/mailman/listinfo/linux-user
>>>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>>>> -M
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> There are 10 kinds of people in this world:
>>>>>>>>>>      Those who can count in binary and those who cannot.
>>>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>>>>> linux-user mailing list
>>>>>>>>>> linux-user at egr.msu.edu
>>>>>>>>>> http://mailman.egr.msu.edu/mailman/listinfo/linux-user
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>>>> linux-user mailing list
>>>>>>>>> linux-user at egr.msu.edu
>>>>>>>>> http://mailman.egr.msu.edu/mailman/listinfo/linux-user
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>> -M
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> There are 10 kinds of people in this world:
>>>>>>>> 	Those who can count in binary and those who cannot.
>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>>> linux-user mailing list
>>>>>>>> linux-user at egr.msu.edu
>>>>>>>> http://mailman.egr.msu.edu/mailman/listinfo/linux-user
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -Michael George
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> linux-user mailing list
>>>>>> linux-user at egr.msu.edu
>>>>>> http://mailman.egr.msu.edu/mailman/listinfo/linux-user
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -Michael George
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> linux-user mailing list
>>>> linux-user at egr.msu.edu
>>>> http://mailman.egr.msu.edu/mailman/listinfo/linux-user
>>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> -Michael George
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> -Michael George
> _______________________________________________
> linux-user mailing list
> linux-user at egr.msu.edu
> http://mailman.egr.msu.edu/mailman/listinfo/linux-user

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