Wireless woes

[MotionMan]

In a public room of my house, away from the room that houses my Airport Extreme, I had a Shuttle SD11G5 (currently for sale, BTW) with a Linksys Wireless-N USB Network Adapter (WUSB600N). I just replaced the Shuttle with a Mac Mini with a 802.11 a/b/g internal Airport Extreme. Unfortunately, it cannot find my network from there (it works fine when closer to the AE).

I found this link which is an old how-to regarding getting a WUSB600N to work on a Mac.

Has anyone ever done this? As a Mac-noob, I have to ask if the instructions at the above-mentioned site are as complicated as they look?

Is there another, zero or low cost option (other than relocating the AE or Mini)?

Thanks.

MotionMan

 

[magicrat03]

Are you on N only 5Ghz or N with b/g compatibility 2.4Ghz with your Extreme(Or is it an older model)? This should work unless there is a lot of interference in your area. Are there a lot of other 2.4Ghz wireless networks in your area or something else to interfere with your signal?

I have heard a rumor about that exact Mini that worked on the first floor with an older D-Link wireless G only router in the basement with nary a problem. There is only one other wireless network in that area besides the D-Link.

 

[sourceninja]

I had a problem where my monitor was killing my connection. If I was hooked into my monitor I couldn't connect to wireless. If I unplugged my monitor it would work. Changing the channel on my Ap fixed it.

 

[MotionMan]

Are you on N only 5Ghz or N with b/g compatibility 2.4Ghz with your Extreme(Or is it an older model)?

This Extreme is only a few months old.

The Mini works when it is near the Extreme, so I would think it has b/g compatibility on. How exactly would I check this?

This should work unless there is a lot of interference in your area. Are there a lot of other 2.4Ghz wireless networks in your area or something else to interfere with your signal?

There is only one other network I can see - the next door neighbor's.

MotionMan

 

[MotionMan]

I had a problem where my monitor was killing my connection. If I was hooked into my monitor I couldn't connect to wireless. If I unplugged my monitor it would work. Changing the channel on my Ap fixed it.

How do I do that?

MotionMan

 

[sourceninja]

pen the AirPort Admin utility (found in the Utilities folder within the Applications folder).
Select your base station in the resulting window and click Configure. If asked to, enter the password.
Click the AirPort tab and choose a new channel from the Channel pop-up menu and click Update.

 

[magicrat03]

Any luck?

How far away would you guess the router is away from the mini?
How many walls in between?
Does the mini see the neighbors wireless any better?
I suppose using the Linksys usb adapter is no go with the mini?
I wonder if there is anyway to add a better antenna to the mini.

 

[MotionMan]

Any luck?

How far away would you guess the router is away from the mini?
How many walls in between?
Does the mini see the neighbors wireless any better?
I suppose using the Linksys usb adapter is no go with the mini?
I wonder if there is anyway to add a better antenna to the mini.

After manually changing the channel on the Airport from 1 to 7, the Mini was able to see the network, but with a very low signal and was not able to get onto the network. It cannot see any other networks.

The distance is about 30 feet with three walls in between.

I have not yet tried the Lynksys adapter beyond just plugging it in, which was a non-starter.


Should I try more/different channels?

MotionMan

 

[MotionMan]

After a little more research, I found this link which provided very similar instructions as the previously mentioned link. Using the best of both sites, and after delving into TextWrangler, I was able to get the WUSB600N to work. However, the wireless network connection is really, really flaky. I will try to play with it some more when I get a chance.

I am also looking into getting some sort of wireless signal repeater (like an old Airport Express), but I want to find something cheap, cheap, cheap.

The story continues...

MotionMan