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

Michael George george at idealso.com
Tue Jul 8 08:18:26 EDT 2008 

Nothing says interoperability like mandated homogeneous networks.

On Mon, July 7, 2008 10:24 pm, Eduardo Cesconetto wrote:
> 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
>


-Michael George

More information about the linux-user mailing list