After installing 10.6.5, the problems temporarily subsided. My Airport network came up quickly in the taskbar, with the full four bars lighting up soon after waking/restarting. Safari and Mail loaded up a minute or two later. All this wirelessly.
However, now it has reverted to the former state, of connection failing to initiate wirelessly, and only being possible via ethernet cable. Connection takes 10-20 minutes, as follows. In the taskbar, neighbours' networks appear before mine does. To get my network to appear, I need to toggle between Turn Airport On/Off during this 10-20 minute period. When it appears, I am then able to continue the connection wirelessly, until it drops out when my computer (MBP) is inactive. At all times, network search in the taskbar refuses my password and times out.
I have reported the problem at
http://developer.apple.com/bugreporter
Could this be a router/modem-related issue? I was supplied an iConnect 622 modem by my ISP and am inquiring about firmware updates or a replacement model.
If it helps, my Airport system profiler information is:
Software Versions:
Menu Extra: 6.2.1 (621.1)
configd plug-in: 6.2.3 (623.1)
System Profiler: 6.0 (600.9)
Network Preference: 6.2.1 (621.1)
AirPort Utility: 5.5.1 (551.19)
IO80211 Family: 3.1.1 (311.1)
Interfaces:
en1: Card Type: AirPort Extreme (0x14E4, 0x8D)
Firmware Version: Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (5.10.91.27)
Locale: APAC
Country Code: FR
Supported PHY Modes: 802.11 a/b/g/n
Supported Channels: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 36, 40, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 100, 104, 108, 112, 116, 120,
124, 128, 132, 136, 140
Wake On Wireless: Supported Status: Connected
Current Network Information:
PHY Mode: 802.11g
BSSID: 0:1b:63:23:18:3b
Channel: 13
Network Type: Infrastructure
Security: WPA2 Personal
Signal / Noise: -54 dBm / -90 dBm
Transmit Rate: 54
Thanks if anyone can help.
PS - is Apple listening??
PSS - Utopia will be when computers, airport devices and routers/modems can actually talk to each other, to know where the problem is - like the head knowing if the leg is missing, or the foot etc