# Airport Issues



## JustJ (Apr 12, 2008)

Morning folks,
I have recently been plagued by an unfortunate issue...

I have been receiving constant "lag spikes" and occasional disconnections in-game (World of Warcraft) and general internet usage. I know for a fact it is not related to the game, as I have just ran the Firefox, surfing the internet in general for the past hour to only recieve the same issue; it will run perfectly smooth and fast, then suddenly pages begin slowing down etc.

In-game I'm receiving well into the 1000ms+ mark, rendering online gameplay a huge no-no. I have ran a couple of speedtest.net / pingtest.net tests, which show no signs of anything gone wrong, my normal 9-10 mb/s with 30-40ms and no packet loss - I am unsure whether that is because the tests are coincidentally ran whilst the internet is having a 'good few minutes' (as described above).

Having my brother run his iMac right alongside mine, he has perfect connection (via airport wireless also) so I do not feel as though it is a modem/router/isp problem.

I first began noticing this after I installed quite a few updates, which had built up over time due to my laziness of not wanting to restart the mac! I wouldn't say that I'm 100% sure it definately began right after these updates, but I believe so.

Bit of info:
Mac OS X 10.5.8
Wireless Card Type:	AirPort Extreme (0x14E4, 0x8C)
Wireless Card Locale:	Worldwide
Wireless Card Firmware Version:	Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (5.10.91.21)

When holding ALT + Clicking on Airport along the top-right, my Transmit rate is mostly 48-56, however the last few readings are somewhat between 24-36 and when checking during a spiking episode, have reached the regions of 1-10ish. I don't notice disconnections unless i'm playing WoW, however i'd assume they wouldn't be recognised unless I was loading up a video on youtube or similar.



Any additional specifications/info please ask and I will provide asap!
Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance,
J.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

Is everything now fully up to date?


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## JustJ (Apr 12, 2008)

Hello Sinclair, thanks for the reply.
Yes, everything is fully up to date, I have checked for software updates continuously over the past 2/3 days since the issue began.


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## kselvaggi (Mar 14, 2009)

Did you try running TCPdump during a spike? What about tracrt? If so post results. I would also run netstat -ano from a terminal during a spike and see if there are any foreign connections being established.




Kristy Selvaggi


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

Another thing to do is cycle your router and modem off and then back on allowing the network to be reset. You can also double check that your network card is completely locked into place. Have you also tried it on a different network?


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## JustJ (Apr 12, 2008)

Hi folks,



kselvaggi said:


> Did you try running TCPdump during a spike? What about tracrt? If so post results. I would also run netstat -ano from a terminal during a spike and see if there are any foreign connections being established.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thank you for your suggestions, I'm not too sure how to 'run a TCPdump' or what a 'tracrt' is, however a bit of googling never heart anyone. If i post the netstat -ano results would it be possible for you to have a look as i'm not really sure what i'm looking for.
Again, Thank you 





sinclair_tm said:


> Another thing to do is cycle your router and modem off and then back on allowing the network to be reset. You can also double check that your network card is completely locked into place. Have you also tried it on a different network?


Sinclair, I did indeed cycle off my modem/router to no avail. The really wierd thing is that I am the only person whom is having this issue on our home network. There is 2 other PC's and the odd 3rd laptop on the line sometimes. Though I have never had this issue until now.
I'm not sure how to check my network card is properly in place?
I have yet to try it on a new network, although this indeed may be possible later on if I can take it around to my girlfriends, although as it's a rather big iMac it proves difficult to easily move around to other networks! 

Thanks guys,
J.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

Yes, moving an iMac can be hard, now that Apple makes them so big, but it can be a great help in figuring out network issues. If you have no issues elsewhere, then we know that there is something wrong with your network. But if you still have issues, then we know it's your PC.

When you do have the problem, how many of the other PCs are on? Could you go around and look at what IP address each one is using, as well as any software that is running that might be going online?


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## JustJ (Apr 12, 2008)

I am sorted to try the iMac at another location in a day or so if needbe. However for now i will continue to try and solve the issue by other means. 
Today i attempted booting the iMac into the Windows XP partition (with use of Boot Camp), i then proceeded to install my Netgear WN111v2 wireless adaptor. Same results: Low signal at around 18Mbps and lower. The Netgear adaptor works perfectly fine on my alternate PC which is around 1/2meters away from the Mac.

I am currently set up on my brothers laptop (Vista), which is gaining 4/5 bars in the exact same spot my iMac would usually be sat.

I am in a little while going to try the Mac at another location in the house, possibly downstairs as it usually works fine there.

This issue really really confuses me, at first I believed that maybe there was an issue with my airport card, however using the Netgear adaptor proves my theory incorrect, I would have thought?

Thanks again,
J.

EDIT: Forgot to mention: the problem never seems to occur when any particular computer is on. My parents leave their Computer on 24/7 and always have done. My brother often uses his iMac, however that is not the issue as I have been online all day whilst he has been at school and the issue has still occured.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

Have you made any changes to your room, moved things around, or changed anything electrical in or near the room (like lamps, microwaves, stereos)?


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## JustJ (Apr 12, 2008)

Hey sinclair and anyone reading this,
I'd just like to say I have solved the issue by complete reformatting my Mac HDD. Running a fresh 10.5.4 updated version and everything is fine. I have noticed that in the software update list there lists an Airport update, I wonder if that is the one that I had issues with. For the sake of keeping things working, I am not updating yet!
Thanks,
J.


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## rex511 (Apr 18, 2011)

I'm having the same issue, but no update can solve it, i'm guessing the same, same issue, including the WOW part, have 3 macs and the other 2 have no problems at all, but mine, is constantly In and Out, with the CheckUp app monitoring, but i'm using the usual things, since 1 week ago, and then i haven't that problem yet, the only thing that i did is use a site to promote youtube videos making me watch a lot of them helping a friend to promote hers, i don't think that that thing filled up my cache and is causing me problems, either way i flushed all caches i could, safari, airport, system, etc, and nothing changed... could it be an overcharge to the airport card and now its malfunctioning? please help


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

Please start a new thread with your problem. And explain what you mean by over charge to your Air Port card.


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