Tuning in the wireless - 09/27/09 08:16 PM
I don’t think there’s anyplace to put this but the Lounge.
I just spent two full days setting up a new wireless modem/router in a household network which includes an old beige G3 that has the sole function of sustaining a SCSI-connected scanner, a G5 PowerMac which is used for work and is maintained to the highest possible spec (10.5.8, maximum RAM), and a fairly new MacBook, which has wi-fi capabilities.
The G3 and G5 had been hard-wired to a Netgear modem/router, but I wanted to take advantage of the MacBook’s wi-fi. (What the heck does wi-fi even mean? Wireless fidelity doesn’t sound right.) Anyway, I decided that the easiest route for me to take was to buy another Netgear product. The Airport Extreme priced itself out of my reach and I just wanted one box to do everything.
I compounded my degree of difficulty by deciding that as long as I was in town, I should go to the Apple Store and buy the Snow Leopard upgrade disk and install that as well.
To start, I moved the MacBook into the same room as the two “mainframes†and plugged in the ethernet cables from the DGN2000 to the desktop computers. It was easy to log into my ADSL broadband account and the router immediately assigned IP addresses to the two computers. I switched on the wi-fi button on the modem and my laptop was immediately connected! I ran a speed test and was impressed: the laptop was achieving the same speeds as the cable-connected Macs. It all went downhill after that.
I thought as this was so easy, I’d now install Snow Leopard. This also went without a hitch, but now I could not connect to the wi-fi. I stuck in an ethernet cable and internet connection was restored, but I couldn’t get wi-fi back.
Lesson One. Don’t make too many modifications at the same time.
The SL update was made as an update to a previous 10.5.8 install. I decided to erase the hard disk and do a clean install. (What the heck, I’ve got a lot of free time on my hands.) Again, it went as smoothly as possible. But, I still couldn’t access the wi-fi.
I reset the DGN2000 and started from scratch. I finally made a connection with the MacBook. However, when I moved the MacBook from the office to the other side of the house, problems resurfaced. I found that as well as picking up my modem, I was also picking up the wi-fi from the pub next door! The irony was, I was getting a better signal from the pub!
As disturbed as I was by my lack of signal, I was more disturbed by the fact that I was running an unsecured network. This caused me the biggest headache, time-wise.
I took my laptop to the pub. I could get 6.2 Mb/s access to my broadband from the pub, but so could everybody else! I had to make my connection secure.
Netgear’s instructions were confusing. To me. I found that googling my problem provided the best solutions. Clearly, I was not the only one to have trouble sorting this out. I don’t want this story to take as long as it took to sort my problem, so I’ll try to cut this short.
I was offered too many options by the Netgear router help section. I didn’t know if I should use WEP 40, 64 or 128 encryption. Or any of the other four encryption possibilities. I tried them all. I tried so many variables and reset the DGN2000 so many times, I was afraid I’d broken it.
I’m a Mac user that has had to learn as I go to maintain my own computers. I enjoy it. But, I also cannot afford to hire anyone else to do it for me, which is the bottom line. I don’t really know any more than what I learned solving the problems that I have had to sort myself. Does that make any sense?
After two days of trial and error, I now have a network that is running perfectly, instantly and at maximum speed. And, it is secure. Well, it shows a padlock on it, anyway.
So, why this letter? I mean I don’t need any more help.
I supposed it is because I owe so much to MFI.
I was made redundant and had to go freelance during the recession of the 80’s. I bought my G3 and a Jaz drive and went freelance. I very quickly found MacFixIt and spent many, many hours here (there) – learning how to do it myself.
I would really like FTM to do well, but when I was searching for answers to my questions, this site was not much help, frankly. I think it is because you have lost the database. I think it is because this site is too immature. There are a core of top people here who are willing to help, but FTM does not pop up on google searches.
I don’t know about how to get hits on search engines, but I wonder if FTM was to make a FAQ section a priority might not be a good idea?
Anyway, wireless is fantastic! I have set my G5 to share my iTunes library and I have my MacBook plugged into my hi-fi in the living room. No drop outs, fantastic sound. Internet streaming is also super. I can’t believe I’ve had the MacBook for six months without using all it’s benefits.
I wonder how many other people are out there who could use a tutorial or two?
Cheers.
I just spent two full days setting up a new wireless modem/router in a household network which includes an old beige G3 that has the sole function of sustaining a SCSI-connected scanner, a G5 PowerMac which is used for work and is maintained to the highest possible spec (10.5.8, maximum RAM), and a fairly new MacBook, which has wi-fi capabilities.
The G3 and G5 had been hard-wired to a Netgear modem/router, but I wanted to take advantage of the MacBook’s wi-fi. (What the heck does wi-fi even mean? Wireless fidelity doesn’t sound right.) Anyway, I decided that the easiest route for me to take was to buy another Netgear product. The Airport Extreme priced itself out of my reach and I just wanted one box to do everything.
I compounded my degree of difficulty by deciding that as long as I was in town, I should go to the Apple Store and buy the Snow Leopard upgrade disk and install that as well.
To start, I moved the MacBook into the same room as the two “mainframes†and plugged in the ethernet cables from the DGN2000 to the desktop computers. It was easy to log into my ADSL broadband account and the router immediately assigned IP addresses to the two computers. I switched on the wi-fi button on the modem and my laptop was immediately connected! I ran a speed test and was impressed: the laptop was achieving the same speeds as the cable-connected Macs. It all went downhill after that.
I thought as this was so easy, I’d now install Snow Leopard. This also went without a hitch, but now I could not connect to the wi-fi. I stuck in an ethernet cable and internet connection was restored, but I couldn’t get wi-fi back.
Lesson One. Don’t make too many modifications at the same time.
The SL update was made as an update to a previous 10.5.8 install. I decided to erase the hard disk and do a clean install. (What the heck, I’ve got a lot of free time on my hands.) Again, it went as smoothly as possible. But, I still couldn’t access the wi-fi.
I reset the DGN2000 and started from scratch. I finally made a connection with the MacBook. However, when I moved the MacBook from the office to the other side of the house, problems resurfaced. I found that as well as picking up my modem, I was also picking up the wi-fi from the pub next door! The irony was, I was getting a better signal from the pub!
As disturbed as I was by my lack of signal, I was more disturbed by the fact that I was running an unsecured network. This caused me the biggest headache, time-wise.
I took my laptop to the pub. I could get 6.2 Mb/s access to my broadband from the pub, but so could everybody else! I had to make my connection secure.
Netgear’s instructions were confusing. To me. I found that googling my problem provided the best solutions. Clearly, I was not the only one to have trouble sorting this out. I don’t want this story to take as long as it took to sort my problem, so I’ll try to cut this short.
I was offered too many options by the Netgear router help section. I didn’t know if I should use WEP 40, 64 or 128 encryption. Or any of the other four encryption possibilities. I tried them all. I tried so many variables and reset the DGN2000 so many times, I was afraid I’d broken it.
I’m a Mac user that has had to learn as I go to maintain my own computers. I enjoy it. But, I also cannot afford to hire anyone else to do it for me, which is the bottom line. I don’t really know any more than what I learned solving the problems that I have had to sort myself. Does that make any sense?
After two days of trial and error, I now have a network that is running perfectly, instantly and at maximum speed. And, it is secure. Well, it shows a padlock on it, anyway.
So, why this letter? I mean I don’t need any more help.
I supposed it is because I owe so much to MFI.
I was made redundant and had to go freelance during the recession of the 80’s. I bought my G3 and a Jaz drive and went freelance. I very quickly found MacFixIt and spent many, many hours here (there) – learning how to do it myself.
I would really like FTM to do well, but when I was searching for answers to my questions, this site was not much help, frankly. I think it is because you have lost the database. I think it is because this site is too immature. There are a core of top people here who are willing to help, but FTM does not pop up on google searches.
I don’t know about how to get hits on search engines, but I wonder if FTM was to make a FAQ section a priority might not be a good idea?
Anyway, wireless is fantastic! I have set my G5 to share my iTunes library and I have my MacBook plugged into my hi-fi in the living room. No drop outs, fantastic sound. Internet streaming is also super. I can’t believe I’ve had the MacBook for six months without using all it’s benefits.
I wonder how many other people are out there who could use a tutorial or two?
Cheers.