MacBook air to Internet

Question

Level 1

9 points

MacBook air to Internet

Moved into apartment with free internet. Theres a Lynksys rabbit ear device plugged into a wall Ethernet socket and electrical outlet. First few days I had very spotty connection, worked for only minUtes and required frequent plugging and unplugging of Lynksys device. Now it has t worked for days. Not sure what Airport Express does. If I buy it and plug it into the Ethernet walk socket, will thT work? Should I buy another LyncSys. Or is the problem at the source? Already told landlord, and he said he rebooted system.

MacBook Air

Posted on Mar 1, 2015 9:17 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 1, 2015 9:28 AM in response to Torinese

Unfortunately, our crystal ball is not good enough to tell us whether an AirPort Express would work better, the same, or worse than your existing network.....so if you feel that the Express might provide a better experience, it would be a good idea to understand the store's return policy in advance, before you buy.

If you buy from Apple, you have a 14 day return privilege. Other stores might offer something similar.

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Answer 2

Torinese Author

Level 1

9 points

Mar 1, 2015 9:28 AM in response to Bob Timmons

I'm wondering if the problem is at the source, and no matter what I plug into the Ethernet socket will help. dont know how to tell. Where I'm at right now, driving to return something is difficult because it is a long, long way and takes a good part of the day, so I'm hoping to get a better idea.

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Answer 3

Mar 1, 2015 9:42 AM in response to Torinese

The only way to know for sure is connect your Mac, or another computer directly to the wall Ethernet port using an Ethernet cable and check the connection that way.

If the connection works well that way, then this tells you that the apartment network is functioning well, and another device might work better than the one that you are using.

On the other hand, if the connection does not work well during your "test", then this tells you that the apartment network is having problems. So, connecting another device to the Ethernet port is not going to solve the basic issue. Test using another Ethernet cable if you can.....sometimes the issue is a bad cable.

Unfortunately, Apple left off the most important port in networking from your MacBook Air, so if that is the only computer that you have, then you will need to use a USB to Ethernet or FireWire to Ethernet adapter to connect your Air directly to the Ethernet wall port using an Ethernet cable.

As far as driving a long way, you can buy from the online Apple store and have products delivered directly to your door.

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Answer 4

Torinese Author

Level 1

9 points

Mar 2, 2015 10:25 AM in response to Bob Timmons

Thank you. I was able to get a MacBook Pro, plug and ethernet cable into it and into the socket where the router or booster was connected. No signal. This saved me from buying a router that wouldn't have worked. The problem is elsewhere, at the source.

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