Abysmal WiFi on Core Duo Mini

[lost in space]

This is a followup of sorts to an earlier thread I put up about moving my router out of the basement to the main floor for better WiFi in my shop for the Core Duo Mini I have out there. It's running SL, latest updates.

Wifi is still abysmal, though it was fine when I tested it in the house, just on the other side of a wall from the router. Now in the shop, the router is about 25 ft away, though a wall and a door. I can almost see the router from where the shop Mini now sits. I brought out our beater G4 iBook, and it's fine. The Mini drops connections every few minutes sometimes, other times it's pretty good. Is this typical for this persuasion of Mini?

[Black]

did you ever do anything inside that mini? Its very easy to leave an antenna disconnected. Also make sure nothing is on top of it.

[hal]

It's easy to knock the mini's wifi antenna wire loose when taking it apart. It'll still work as long as the router isn't too far away... did you or someone else open the thing to upgrade the memory or hard drive? Seems that you must have since those things shipped with 512mb of ram...

Could also be a dying wifi card...

[lost in space]

Black wrote:
did you ever do anything inside that mini? Its very easy to leave an antenna disconnected. Also make sure nothing is on top of it.

hal wrote:
It's easy to knock the mini's wifi antenna wire loose when taking it apart. It'll still work as long as the router isn't too far away... did you or someone else open the thing to upgrade the memory or hard drive? Seems that you must have since those things shipped with 512mb of ram...

Could also be a dying wifi card...

I did upgrade RAM and HD. I'll pop the top off and see what's going on inside.

[onthedownlow]

That Mini only has 802.11g, so that could be much of the issue now.

The 802.11n enabler will not work on that model, so I would look into upgrading the card.

Here's an old tutorial: http://www.hardmac.com/articles/74/page1

[guitarist]

Are you using your Mini as a mobile device, and need it to roam around the house picking up WiFi?

A good rule of thumb: if a computer is mobile, connect wirelessly. If it's stationary, plug it in!

I realize a lot of people, since the advent of WiFi, use wireless connectivity exclusively, having concluded wired connections are a thing of the past. Using WiFi not just as their primary home access to the internet, but as their only connection to the internet. Often it's because access to wired connection isn't nearby, it isn't practical, or possible, for the desired location of the fixed-location computer. Few have the option of wiring a home with high-speed network ports in every room. I understand there are often barriers, good reasons this isn't an option.

It's unfortunate to depend exclusively on wireless, even for fixed-location desktop systems. Unless there's absolutely no other option. Which I assume is the case.

I understand I'm in the minority, but it's a major priority for me, a deal breaker. I'd get on my hands and knees, claw through drywall with my bare hands, and manually rewire the house. Or string hundreds of feet of ethernet cable through hallways, before I'd have a stationary desktop computer depending on wireless signals as its only method of access.

Not that my wife thinks this is a good idea, of course! Or that my priorities are the same as other people. But this is my habit, my insistence on solid reliable wired high-speed connectivity, over the just okay semi-reliable variable performance of even the most robust newest-generation WiFi.

That said, I like being able to fall back on WiFi, for various reasons. I'd just hate to have to depend on WiFi 100% of the time, for all internet access.

UPDATE: another option not mentioned is the possibility of using an affordable Airport Express (around $85 refurb, older models on eBay for half that) as a secondary, complementary Base Station, to pick up and amplify a signal in different part of the house. And/or for AirTunes, or wireless printing. Those little gadgets are really useful, not uncommon for a home to have one or two of them in different parts of the house. Something to consider.

A buddy of mine just solved a problem for his father-in-law, in Chicago, this way. Their family has a really long apartment, with a lot of barriers and wireless traffic, and has never had good results with just their main Base Station. Last Christmas he set them up with a pair of brand new Airport Expresses, and it immediately solved their connection problems. And made it easy for them (being elderly and non-technical) to use the Apple Utility, from an iPad or iPhone, to monitor the connection. And as a bonus, they use the other features, too.

[lost in space]

I pulled out the upper optical/HD assembly and reconnected the antenna, and Voilá! it works! Thanks for the tips!

onthedownlow,

It's good enough to stream low-bandwidth videos, and that's good enough for my needs out in my shop.

guitarist,

I would much prefer wired, as you suggested, but it would mean running cable underground to the shop. With the antenna properly connected now, I'm happy with it now.

I love this place!

[guitarist]

lost in space wrote:

guitarist,

I would much prefer wired, as you suggested, but it would mean running cable underground to the shop. With the antenna properly connected now, I'm happy with it now.

What, you don't have a shovel? Start digging, Mister!

Gimme that shovel, I'll do it!



Glad you're back online.

[Buzz]

guitarist wrote:

What, you don't have a shovel? Start digging, Mister!

Gimme that shovel, I'll do it!

Sure, where were you when Jodi needed you and shoveling skills?



(just kidding, home she gets credit for M1)

///

[lost in space]

guitarist wrote:
[quote=lost in space]

guitarist,

I would much prefer wired, as you suggested, but it would mean running cable underground to the shop. With the antenna properly connected now, I'm happy with it now.

What, you don't have a shovel? Start digging, Mister!

Gimme that shovel, I'll do it!



Glad you're back online.
You're on! I'll supply beer and lunch!