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.

Comments

It works!

[NivenHuH]

I installed the update and can confirm that my signal strength is back to what it normally is..

The drop in signal strength was worrisome

[ObviousGuy]

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!

Works fine here

[jabex]

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

Re:Bad Apple Updates

[logicat2001]

Rather than complaining about your or Apple's "bad luck" why not post some details as I've personally not had any troublesome updates recently. Maybe you've got a terrible case of "user error"? I know I've had that before and it feels much worse than catching the flu.

One thing I am sure to do, especially with OS updates, is Repair Permissions on my system volume before installing the update. I have no hard proof, but I've written shell scripts before and I'd speculate that incorrect file/folder permissions could derail a less-than-elegant installer.

Also, major updates typically include a reminder that one should have a current backup at hand before installing and although I usually scoff at such advice myself, a current backup will minimize any post-install troubles.

Actually, having a current backup will minimize most technological troubles whether from a faulty software install or from having that laptop run over unexpectedly by a large vehicle.

Food for thought?
Logicat

All working fine here..

[ItMustBeEsoteric]

...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!

OH NO!

[teamhasnoi]

I installed this update and now my cats are clawing their eyes out, my freezer defrosted, and my chair is on fire.

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)

I'm waiting . . .

[grolaw]

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.

Re:I'm waiting . . .

[thatguywhoiam]

Because I have learned my lesson: don't live on the bleeding edge if you have real work to get done.

I know what you mean, man. When my signal strength is down, posting to Slashdot is a real bitch.

no problems here...

[NateTech]

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...

Re:no problems here...

[Textbook Error]

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... ;-)

Conversely I had the AP located 40cm away from the PowerBook, passing through 3cm of wood, and got repeated loss of signal (I'd still be joined to the network, but would be unable to pass IP traffic anywhere: even to ping the base station).

This was a 1.25Ghz AlBook connecting to an original Graphite base station. A G3 iBook connecting to the exact same base station from 2 rooms away was absolutely fine with the update installed, but the AlBook was lucky to last 5 minutes before losing the connection.

The physics of RF at 2.4 GHz haven't changed any recently, last I checked.

Although a lot of people complained about the signal strength dropping, there were definitely other problems with the previous release. I was still getting 5 bars, yet was unable to make a stable connection - absolutely nothing else changed on the Mac or the AP apart from this update, and since rolling it back I haven't lost the connection once.

Big improvement

[onebuttonmouse]

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.