…I have been meaning for a while to write a brief entry which might prove useful to other MacBook users.
As you may recall, I got my MacBook in early 2008, and fell in love with it straight away. Like many a dreamy-eyed lover in the first flush of romance, I was at first able to forgive its little foibles. In particular, the wireless Internet connection had a nasty habit of dropping.The connection could usually be re-established by rebooting the cable modem, wireless router, laptop or all three, but the phenomenon interfered with IM conversations, viewing Youtube videos, and confused my Mail application.
Now, this problem is widespread and pretty well documented online. But no one was offering a solution I felt technologically competent enough to implement. Apple, too, were keeping remarkably silent. My husband asked their support folk when he went in to purchase his iPhone right before Christmas, but they implied it was a hardware issue with my computer and that I would have to bring the MacBook in.
Then, as part of a Christmas present upgrade (which has also FINALLY got me wireless printing) I received an Airport Extreme Wireless Router, in other words, a wireless router made BY Apple and specifically designed with Airport in mind. It works perfectly. In fact I don’t think my Internet connection has dropped once since.
My purpose in blogging this is partly to offer it as a solution to all those frustrated MacBook users out there who are experiencing the same problem I was, but also to point up an important fact Apple seem bent on suppressing. Your MacBook is NOT as compatible with technology designed primarily for PCs as Apple would like you to think. Clearly, the problem was NOT with my MacBook (which now works just fine) OR with my older wireless router (My husband’s Windows based laptop never lost connection in the same way) but with some basic incompatibility between the two. A little honesty wouldn’t go amiss here, Apple! Happy New Year!
I’ve not experienced that problem with my MacBook thankfully, however it is known that certain brands of cards and routers won’t be as compatible, not just with Mac products. Still, they should really let the customers know what brands are more compatible and give us loyal customers some help, eh?
Anna, thank you so much for blogging this! Chris and I are considering switching to Apple/Mac in the future (we need a few settlements, first) and this information is very useful. Thanks, again!
Gosh, I had this same problem with my PC and attributed it to incompatibility between Windows XP (on our desktop) and Vista (on our laptop). Finally, after reading between the lines of a multitude of Mumbai service people, I realized that my telephone was interfering! We’ve got a jacked base unit and a wireless extension phone. Since I moved the base unit to another room, there hasn’t been a single disconnect.