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JulieK23

Q: How to test Airport Card?

How can I make sure that my Airport Card is working properly?

Unibody MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.5)

Posted on Jun 16, 2009 9:55 PM

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Q: How to test Airport Card?

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  • by Camelot,Helpful

    Camelot Camelot Jun 16, 2009 10:07 PM in response to JulieK23
    Level 8 (47,285 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 16, 2009 10:07 PM in response to JulieK23
    Define 'working properly', please?

    For the most part, if you can connect to a wireless network and pass traffic, your card is working. Not sure what more you expect...?
  • by JulieK23,

    JulieK23 JulieK23 Jun 16, 2009 10:26 PM in response to Camelot
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jun 16, 2009 10:26 PM in response to Camelot
    Thanks. I'm getting a slower connection in bootcamp windows than in mac os x

    Getting 6000 Kbps in mac
    Only 1700 Kbps in windows

    Could this mean my airport card is dying?
  • by Camelot,Helpful

    Camelot Camelot Jun 16, 2009 10:51 PM in response to JulieK23
    Level 8 (47,285 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 16, 2009 10:51 PM in response to JulieK23
    No, this doesn't indicate the AirPort card is dying. Clearly it can sustain the higher throughput when running under Windows.

    Therefore this sounds like it comes down to an issue of configuration. Apple set default network parameters that work adequately in a wide range of network environments (e.g. from dialup through gigabit LAN networking), however, the settings are not ideal for any of them (they can't predict what kind of environment you'll be running in). Apparently Windows does a better job of either setting the defaults, or tuning the network parameters.

    That's not to say that you can't get the AirPort to work the same way under Mac OS X, it's just that it needs a little tuning to get there. Unfortunately some of that tuning is distinctly 'under the hood' and can be a little daunting. If you're not confident in tweaking the system at that level, check out IPNetTuner X which does a lot of the hard work for you.
  • by JulieK23,

    JulieK23 JulieK23 Jun 17, 2009 4:24 AM in response to Camelot
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jun 17, 2009 4:24 AM in response to Camelot
    Just to confirm. It is working properly in Mac OS x and at full speed.
    It is not working properly in Windows where it is dead slow.
  • by LukeD,Solvedanswer

    LukeD LukeD Jun 17, 2009 7:02 AM in response to JulieK23
    Level 4 (3,130 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 17, 2009 7:02 AM in response to JulieK23
    I do not have an answer, but searching "slow internet" with the search utility at Apple Discussions returns many possible answers.

    It also appears that many have experienced your issue too.

    I have noted a link to the search results for you to check out.

    http://discussions.apple.com/search.jspa?threadID=&q=%22slow+internet%22&objID=& dateRange=last90days&userID=&numResults=15&rankBy=10001

    Good luck!

    PS:

    Have you tried Apple Hardware Test?

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1509