Mark Bradford

Q: How do I boost wifi reception in my old G5 tower?

I'm using my old G5 dual core tower as a media center for hi-res audio. I have it located in a basement office so I can hook it up via ethernet and optical cables to my receiver directly above it in the living room, and also connect one of the the monitor outputs to my TV. Unfortunately, down in the basement, the wifi reception on the G5 is flaky at best. When I had the G5 located on the main floor of the house, it always got full bars, but it appears that it doesn't like being in the basement.

 

I use 4 Airport Express units for my wifi network, one 802.11n 2nd gen as the master, and one 802.11n and two 802.11 1st gens throughout the house to extend the network. I located the second 802.11 2nd gen unit in the basement office to try to boost the signal. The two 1st gens are upstairs, away from the G5. My wife's iMac running Mountain Lion always has full bars, but the G5 often only has 4 or less, even though it's only 3 or 4 feet away from the Airport Express. There is also a Mac mini less than two feet away from the G5, also using wifi. It needs to be close so it and the G5 can share a monitor.

 

Given my inexpensive receiver (Yamaha RX-V477), Airtunes is the only way I can send music that I'm playing from the G5 to my remote speakers in the kitchen, bar, and patio. But because of the G5's poor wifi reception, there are constant dropouts in the music streaming.

 

I think the G5 has the most modern wifi card it can have, but I'm not positive. It's one of the models that has the built-in wifi antenna on the back. It doesn't have a port for the screw-on "T" antenna. Because of the way I'm using it, I need it to stay where it's located in the basement.

 

So my question is, is there a way to boost the wifi reception on this old machine? Or are there simply too many devices trying to use wifi in the same small space, so the most modern machine, the iMac, gets the best reception because it has the most current hardware?

 

Thanks!

Power Mac G5 (Late 2005), Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Apr 7, 2015 10:13 AM

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Q: How do I boost wifi reception in my old G5 tower?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by BDAqua,Helpful

    BDAqua BDAqua Apr 7, 2015 11:42 AM in response to Mark Bradford
    Level 10 (123,501 points)
    Apr 7, 2015 11:42 AM in response to Mark Bradford

    Hi Mark,

     

    I find these to have better speed & range than the G5's Airport cards...

     

    http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/MXP3802NU2C/

     

    They come with a cradle, but a USB extension cord can add even more range/speed.

  • by Mark Bradford,

    Mark Bradford Mark Bradford Apr 7, 2015 11:42 AM in response to BDAqua
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Apr 7, 2015 11:42 AM in response to BDAqua

    Thanks! I will try that. Will I need to remove the G5's wifi card? Or can I turn it off in System Preferences?

     

    It also occurred to me that the G5 and Mini may be fighting each other for bandwidth, since they're in such close proximity to each other. maybe if I just shut down the Mini when it's not in use, that might solve my problem.

  • by BDAqua,Helpful

    BDAqua BDAqua Apr 7, 2015 12:01 PM in response to Mark Bradford
    Level 10 (123,501 points)
    Apr 7, 2015 12:01 PM in response to Mark Bradford

    You can just turn it off.

     

    The Mini may be causing interference also by being close, many times a bit of aluminum foil can sheild one or both.

     

    Note, once the USB Wifi is installed...

     

    Make a New Location, Using network locations in Mac OS X ...

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2712

     

    10.5, 10.6, 10.7 & 10.8…

     

    System Preferences>Network, top of window>Locations>Edit Locations, little plus icon, give it a name.

     

     

    10.5.x/10.6.x/10.7.x/10.8.x instructions...

     

    System Preferences>Network, click on the little gear at the bottom next to the + & - icons, (unlock lock first if locked), choose Set Service Order.

     

    The interface that connects to the Internet or Network should be dragged to the top of the list.

  • by Mark Bradford,

    Mark Bradford Mark Bradford Apr 7, 2015 12:04 PM in response to BDAqua
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Apr 7, 2015 12:04 PM in response to BDAqua

    Yes, I also just realized I could simply turn Airport off on the mini, since it doesn't use the internet anyway. Once I did that, my reception on the G5 went from 4 to full bars. I'll see if that fixes my problem, and if not, I'll definitely get one of those adapters.

     

    Thanks again!

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Apr 7, 2015 12:15 PM in response to Mark Bradford
    Level 10 (123,501 points)
    Apr 7, 2015 12:15 PM in response to Mark Bradford

    Great work!

  • by Mark Bradford,

    Mark Bradford Mark Bradford Apr 19, 2015 5:46 AM in response to BDAqua
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Apr 19, 2015 5:46 AM in response to BDAqua

    FYI, I tried the MaxPower USB extension, and it crashed iTunes on my G5. Even caused a kernel panic once.

  • by BDAqua,

    BDAqua BDAqua Apr 19, 2015 11:40 AM in response to Mark Bradford
    Level 10 (123,501 points)
    Apr 19, 2015 11:40 AM in response to Mark Bradford

    Thanks for the report, but that's pretty strange, I never had them crash my G5 or G4s, I wonder if it was defective.. never heard of that, but something was different.