****ing ****ed off and fed up

[FudgeNuggets]

Ok, I ****ed up and broke the Airport card when upgrading my Yonah to a Merom and from 512MB to to 2GB. I accept responsibility for that. My solution to the issue was using a Buffalo WLI-TX4-G54HP as a bridge and using it to connect my mac to my linksys WRT54G wireless router. The solution works great except I live in an area where the power goes out frequently and this year alone I have been without power for over 3 days on 3 separate occasions, the latest, thanks to IKE.

The issue is that the Buffalo bridge gets ****ed up every time the power goes out and has to be reconfigured. Sometimes the Linksys does but not like the Buffalo. I just got electricity back today and when reconfiguring the Buffalo bridge I CANNOT GET IT TO GO BACK TO FACTORY SPEC of an ip address of 1.1.1.1

What is worse is that even though I have cable modem access, somehow I got linked up to a DSL router and may have inadvertently hacked it and changed its' ip address range :bang head:bang head:bang head Thinking that maybe the screens looked different due to a firmware update on the Buffalo.


Needless to say I am fed up with the Buffalo Router..... Right now I have CAT5 cables strung across my house so that I can have internet access. This I assure you is a TEMPORARY solution.

I AM NOT paying the price it costs to get a new aircard for the MAC, so my only alternative is to get a USB Wifi adapter.

I know Linksys makes them but what I don't know is:

1. Are their antennea strong, weak or about the same as the Aircard/ built in laptop Wifi access?

2. Is it slower because it is USB?

3. Are they worth a ****?

[burningcpu]

I really like my edimax usb wireless card. It has driver support in linux, vista, and xp. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833315075

[glock19owner]

I really like the linksys routers...but I hate there usb adapters (and cards)...

Check out some of the D-links...much better adapters IMO...

[darkcow]

I would personally get a PCI wireless card if you have a slot. One with two antenna's or something.

[gangaskan]

I would personally get a PCI wireless card if you have a slot. One with two antenna's or something.



laptop if you havent noticed :) i think ...

your speeds are only limited to what your bus can handle fudge, i think in the long run, you should replace your air card, however, refurb units for the mac extreme are only 29 dollars from the mac store, if you can part with it, and they have some available.

edit : so yeah, you're going to be limited to USB 2.0 spec speeds if you get a USB wifi adapter.

edit 2: cheap on fleabay too! if you dare fudge ....

[VinnyTAMU]

laptop if you havent noticed :) i think ...

your speeds are only limited to what your bus can handle fudge, i think in the long run, you should replace your air card, however, refurb units for the mac extreme are only 29 dollars from the mac store, if you can part with it, and they have some available.

edit : so yeah, you're going to be limited to USB 2.0 spec speeds if you get a USB wifi adapter.

edit 2: cheap on fleabay too! if you dare fudge ....

I am pretty sure fudge has a mac mini, and I agree I would look for a replacement card first, a linksys WRT54GL running dd-wrt second, and a UPS (battery backup) for your current buffalo device last.

[gangaskan]

that very well could, i swore he had a macbook pro

[cw823]

I'm sure you'll get a ton of help with a well thought-out thread title like the one you chose. :rolleyes:

[EchoTheDolphin]

I'm sure you'll get a ton of help with a well thought-out thread title like the one you chose. :rolleyes:

It certainly piqued my interest :)

Honestly Fudge, if you have a mac store nearby I'd check it out. If it's anything like the mac store we've got here in Baton Rouge, if the mac morons... er, geniuses can't fix it (since it's already broken), they'll give you a new one for an arbitrary $20 fee. I work at a large blue and yellow consumer retail location across the street and some of us who own macbooks (myself not included, yet, unfortunately) have gotten ram, HDD's and even whole units changed out without Applecare.

If they're close, it's worth a shot.

[FudgeNuggets]

Ok, I checked a few months ago and the new aircards were running like $120 so I will check again.... Really the only thing that is broke is just the antennea jumper wire and connector on the card.... I'm sure it could even be fixed but I didn't want to have to take the Mac in and fire up the PC again....... I may go that route now though.

CW..... It was 1:30am, I had a few beers, I had been without electricity for 4 days thanks to IKE. Forgive me if my temper flared......

[cw823]

CW..... It was 1:30am, I had a few beers, I had been without electricity for 4 days thanks to IKE. Forgive me if my temper flared......

I couldn't care less, just pointing out that you might not get as many eyes on this as you would with a more normal title. :D

[FudgeNuggets]

Hooray!!! I went to Worst Buy at lunch and got a Mac Compatible Hawking Technologies USB wifi dongle on sale for $30, normal price $70!

[petteyg359]

Hawking is usually good stuff, in my experience, hope it works out :)

[FudgeNuggets]

Well, back to the drawing board. Apparently the drivers for this thing tanks the OS. Called their tech support to see if there was going to be some updated drivers because there was none on the website and couldn't understand a damned thing the woman said. Asked to speak to somebody who spoke English natively and was told that they are in India. This product will be going back to Worst Buy tomorrow.

[Cheator]

The way i see it is:

A) Get a decent WRT54GL bridge going that won't puke when power is lost
B) Physically wire it
C) Get a real computer.

I'd recomend option A since its proven to work. I don't lose power, but i do cut power to mine all the time (unplug it from the wall, turn off the power bar, etc)

[hafaphoto]

I kinda like Cheator's idea. The WRT54GL are very nice when flashed. Just toss a southbridge sink on the cpu and go to town with it! You can crank up the wireless or drop it down.

I probumbally don't know Jack about the Mac, so if the WRT won't work, well F it! :beer:

E

[FudgeNuggets]

Well check this out...... The Buffalo magically started working again :bang head:

The Mac doesn't even come into play here aside from me breaking the airport on it. The Buffalo going wonky when power goes out is the culprit.

Anyway, it's working for now so in the near future I'm just spending the $70 to replace the Airport card in the Mini instead of buying another bridge. I would upgrade it to N but those things are ridiculous in price.

[gangaskan]

Well check this out...... The Buffalo magically started working again :bang head:

The Mac doesn't even come into play here aside from me breaking the airport on it. The Buffalo going wonky when power goes out is the culprit.

Anyway, it's working for now so in the near future I'm just spending the $70 to replace the Airport card in the Mini instead of buying another bridge. I would upgrade it to N but those things are ridiculous in price.


not so much more than buying a airport card imo

[TheCheat]

you have a mac mini, correct?

what specifically did you do to break the card?

[theELVISCERATOR]

Buying macstuff and saying you arent going to spend a lot of money does not compute will robinson.

but glad you got it sorted out the magic way!

(stuff magically working again!).

[FudgeNuggets]

you have a mac mini, correct?

what specifically did you do to break the card?

The antennea wire and the place it connects to on the airport card

[Super Nade]

Perhaps pics would help? You may be able to re-work the broken antenna setup. It could be as simple as soldering it back on.

[TheCheat]

The antennea wire and the place it connects to on the airport card

did the wire just come off, or did you physically screw up the connector?

The wire can connect back on... and if you have trouble getting the setup back together, the actual antenna can be un-hooked from its mount to allow you to set the wire properly.