iBook (G3 14") + D-link 802.11g USB adapter (DWL-G122)

I know this is technically a wifi and networking question but it is peculiar to my mac laptop.

I've got the above wifi usb stick (which is both PC and Mac compatible) and use it without problems with my pc, I have a constant strong connection with it.. however when I use the same device with my iBook my connection keeps dropping out, it starts off with a great signal but it drops out after roughly 1-2 minutes. I've checked with a USB1 port on my PC and it's not a USB1/USB2 issue which is causing the problem. It's not a range issue either as I've tried various distances both closer and further away from my wifi router.

I know this iBook is old but if I can get a decent wifi connection on it, it will prolong it's useful lifespan dramatically!! I want to be able to surf/email/sort out digital photos on the move and it would be perfect for the job. I'm running OSX Tiger on it and have it fully updated.

I'm pretty new to networking on macs so if anyone can shed any light on this for me I'd be most grateful!!

 

I solved the problem in probably the most expensive way possible!

I bought a new 2gHz Core 2 Duo 13" MacBook...

..well my excuse is that the old iBook was getting on a bit and was rather slow for Photoshop... plus it's about time I had an up to date laptop for my business.. got to keep moving with the times and all that lol

in 8days my new one should arrive... til then I'll use an ethernet cable on the old iBook.. job done problem solved!!

 

nice! I was going to say, is it possible your ibook is only enabling 802.11B capability due to it's slower bus speed, possibly even the driver itself restricts your speed. You may have been seeing interference from other networks, or perhaps you were directly near a microwave/fridge/tv or other electonic device which disrupted the signal path. Or maybe you really did need that Macbook.. hmm...lets go with the last one! =) congrats

Anyhow, you can check your routers settings to see if it's wireless B and G enabled, and if it has anyother settings checked or selected that could filter out wireless B signals. You could also try opening the router wide open temporarily, with no encryption (wep or wpa) and make sure the ID is broadcasting. The final thing you can do is this.. Download iStumbler and observe the "channel" your router is on, in addition to your neighbors. If your router is on the same channel ( 1 through 11) you must change it to a number no one else is using, and preferably as far away as possible. This can also cause interference if it's not set correctly

 

thanks for the info and the tips Jimy I'll check out iStumbler tonight. I've had a lot of experience with PCs and wifi networking but the usb wifi stick I'm trying to use on the iBook had me stumped.. still the iBook was a freebie hand-me-down and was my first mac so it's been a good intro and helped me choose a MacBook over a PC laptop. At least with the new MacBook the wifi is built in so should work fine with my setup.

It's amazing what can be justified and made a necessity with a little bit of effort lol..

 

no problem, glad to help. Networking is basically the same on the mac except it's usually a little more automatic. If you need to tinker though, you can configure manually the ip, dns, etc. There are other monitoring apps/add-ons out there too besides istumbler. good luck

 

nice face jimy. full of expression

 

hah, I just caught that chant.. thanks for the compliment. Silly photos are easy to take with macs, so I couldn't resist. =P