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Apple Offers Update to Recent AirPort Update
Milanek writes "Apple has released new version of AirPort Update 3.4.1 which solves problems introduced by the last AirPort update, 3.4." A great many people complained about lower signal strength after the 3.4 update last week.
I installed the update and can confirm that my signal strength is back to what it normally is..
Just when you make it idiotproof, some idiot builds a better idiot.
The lack of signal strength was causing some severe crashes here and there. It's good to have both NLS and GlideSlope back up to working levels, because without them it's virtually impossible to let the system auto-handle itself (requires extensive manual control to get it to work correctly when those two utilities are down).
Good work to Apple, and don't let it happen again!
I have been pwned because my
"Apple Offers Update for the Updated Update to Recent AirPort Update Which was Updated Before by another Update previously..."
snrk. but will it help fix these problems?
Apple hasn't had the best of luck recently with their updates. Unfortunately, I update my 12" G4 PB pretty soon after they are announced here on /. Nothing too terrible has happened to me, but it would be nice if Apple was more careful or patient in releasing updates. I guess some things are hard to predict, but it definitely doesn't make people like me happy.
All is well over here with the 3.4.1 update. Now I can finally dig into those Airport Management Tools.
linkity link
Apple also put out a doc on the tools (link to PDF article)
clickity click
Like Teddy with an elephant gun.
TROLL TROLL TROLL!
Exploding batteries are not common, nor are they specific to Apple.
...on my 900MHz iBook G3 12". Better reception that 3.4 it seems, but I didn't suffer a major hit to signal when upping to 3.4.
A great way to check your strength is MacStumbler which also has some tasty war driving applications if you're so inclined.
With 3.4, I was getting a signal of as low as 81 in my room in some places (as far as 30 feet from my router), and now with 3.4.1 I'm above 100 everywhere in the room. Rock!
I'm getting bus error crashes when trying to download the patch on two different Macs, one a G5, the other a G3 iBook. The session goes something like this:
This is very repeatable for me -- it happened three times on one machine & twice on the other. I don't remember the softwareupdate command having a problem like this before.
On the other hand, I was able to use Safari to download the .dmg directly from Apple, and Safari hasn't crashed on me. And the fact that people are reporting success with this suggests that the GUI tool is working, &/or the problem is local to the download option for the command line tool.
Still, it's annoying -- I was hoping to skip downloading it over & over, and this was much more of a kludge than I had in mind...
DO NOT LEAVE IT IS NOT REAL
On a positive note, I can more easily connect to my neighbor's very weak network - it's increased in strength x2, and my signal seems to be somewhat stronger (10-15 pts. on kisMAC)
Because I have learned my lesson: don't live on the bleeding edge if you have real work to get done.
I'm fat, dumb and happy and staying with 3.3.1 for the next few weeks. I'll let others play around with this update till the bugs are worked out.
Thanks to ^Fish Sun^ for the reversion page. That saved my entire day.
Wireless ease is Apple's bread-and-butter these days, the XServe/iBook/Airport combos being shipped to schools are a BIG part of Apple's bottom-line, and offer major possibility of growth.
I definitely understand having a LOT of R&D going to this technology, it's really changing the way kids are learning and people are working.
If it weren't for the iBook's wireless abilities I'd be adminning a lab of bland Dell OptiPoopers instead of mobile airport carts full of durable kid-friendly iBooks.
"Sometimes, I think Trent just needs a cup of hot chocolate and a blankie." -Tori Amos on Nine Inch Nails
I definitely understand having a LOT of R&D going to this technology
You do know who manufacturers the wireless cards, right?
Had the supposedly "buggy" patch installed, and then got the new one. Never saw a difference in wireless signal strength. All bars lit.
;-)
Of course, the AP is located in a strategic location in the house using sound RF engineering principals to determine the location and not stuffed in a dresser underneath the clean socks, and a pie tin, as it would appear the whiners have done to themselves...
Locating it as close as possible to the client machines and strategically centered in the middle of the desired zone of coverage while moving it appropriately closer to clients that are behind walls and other objects that soak up energy at 2.4 GHz -- works very well.
Knowing the limitations of the signal and being willing to install a second AP if necessary to get the desired coverage is probably also something that helps.
If your signal strength is marginal, fix the root cause -- get better antennas (while remaining with the legal Effective Radiated Power limits) and put them in the correct locations.
The physics of RF at 2.4 GHz haven't changed any recently, last I checked.
If you're running with a single bar for signal strength you haven't designed your RF patterns/system layout correctly. Fix that. Then a silly software bug that lowers signal strength by one bar will be as *yawn* unexciting as it was here...
+++OK ATH
Apple put a lot of effort into adding new features with every release. Last time it was WPA security, this time it's signal work and syslog stuff. Along with the management tools which may or may not be officially available depending on where you look it's all good. I'm much happier with Mac stuff than dead in the water PC kit (looks at netgear crap on shelf).
Is this a firmware update or driver?
I use a powerbook but have linux installed on it. I have no idea what version the firmware is so I am reluctant to consider an update as it may effect the linux drivers. Can some one confirm that the drivers for linux will still work if this is a firmware "upgrade."
Big improvement on my 12" PB. Good thing too, it was getting really hard to pick up the neighbours' cable connection. I was about to ask them to move their AP a bit nearer.
MacBook Pro. Worst name since the Bicycle
I'll admit that wireless stuff is not great on the PC, and Windows' support for wireless is frankly abysmal, but why knock netgear stuff?
I've set up several Netgear APs, Wireless routers and what have you. I found them to be dead simple to set up and secure and they perform nicely. What's so great about the AEBS? Why is it so expensive? Am I missing out?
MacBook Pro. Worst name since the Bicycle
Anyone else experience problems with the ABS losing WAN connectivity with 3.4?
I have incoming SSH open, and I noticed that once a day (or every other day maybe) with 3.4 I would lose access from outside, and then when I got home, I noticed that I could ping the ABS but not any outside IP. The ABS still had a valid WAN address from DHCP, but somehow had lost the ability to get out through the cable modem.
Anyone else have this happen? and has it abated for you with 3.4.1?
/Oh, if only I had done nothing simply out of laziness!
Notice how the guy who you responded to said "sound RF engineering principals [sic]"?
If you knew anything about these, you'd know that there is a such thing as being TOO close to the transmitter.
There's still a lot of R&D into making the software clean, featureful, and easy-to-use. Wireless technology is a heck of a lot more than chips and antennae.
Apple puts a lot of R&D into their hardware, even though it's all built from components engineered elsewhere, you can't make a computer by tossing a CPU, video card, and hard drive into a plastic bin and shaking it, can you?
"Sometimes, I think Trent just needs a cup of hot chocolate and a blankie." -Tori Amos on Nine Inch Nails
My next purchase was a Buffalo 11g unit which didn't seem to work properly at all but luckily I managed to take it back. I bought my AEBS originally simply because I knew it would work correctly with my Macs, and had backup dialup, MAC security and USB printer access, and had been burned twice trying to get a cheaper option. Now I'm glad I did anyway, as it's been flawlessly reliable and has received constant useful updates. I don't think there's any reason to get one if you don't need a print server or any of the associated stuff, but when I was buying mine 11g was quite new and the prices weren't radically different. Maybe if I was buying without experience now I'd probably settle for a cheaper one but I've never been anything except impressed with Apple kit and service and I'm quite happy to do it again even at a premium simply because I feel I get real value for money.
This just goes to show that you always should wait at least a week before installing any updates from Apple. I myself lost a battery on an iBook 500 with 10.2.4, and my airport extreme siganl on my 12" powerbook with this airport update. This will be the last time I ever install an Apple update without scrutinizing the forums first for potential bugs.
The signal weaknesses weren't my primary concern about the 3.4 version. My problems were with actually connecting to my networks, and being blatantly dropped. Sometimes this resulted in me having to reboot my system.
With this update I could not wake from sleep and automagically get onto my home network. Other times I would be dropped, have to turn off Airport, and then turn it back on to even see the network. This didn't fix my problems a majority of the time. There is no real excuse about signal strength, as my powerbook is a foot away from the wireless router. My room mate had experienced the same problems. We both have 12" 1Ghz powerbooks.
Please, please PLEASE post your hardware when you are reporting problems/talking about recent updates. It gives the rest of us "bleeding edgers" a little more room to breathe, and also allows us to submit proper bugs to Apple if need be.
Besides an informed decision is the right decision.....
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O_o
Sounds like a pretty bad experience.
I've got the ME102 also, which I've had good luck with. If you still have it, try giving this utility a go. It lets you adjust way more stuff than netgear's utility - which i agree is poor. Another useful feature is that you can adjust the strength of the signal output, which netgear don't set to the highest setting.
I've not really checked out the AEBS, but maybe I will if I ever need 11g.
MacBook Pro. Worst name since the Bicycle