Photography related sort of....

[Terry]

.....OK I'm in my new apartment and set up all of my technology yesterday.

Here is my setup....last night all was perfect having a little bit less success today.

MacBook Pro with 30" monitor connected to internet through Airport Extreme. Additional Airport Express (close by) with Bose Companion 3 speakers plugged into it. Set iTunes to play through Airtunes so music on speakers. Last night for a couple of hours I streamed the radio through iTunes and not once i did I have any sort of gaps in music signal (where it goes dead for a few seconds).

Also set up last night a Drobo and printer using bluetooth.

This morning it was dropping a lot and I thought it was radio (the Drobo had no data on it and nothing was being saved to it). So, I went and got a CD and loaded it up on the Drobo and I was still having a dropped signal. Next try was a restart of the computer. Same. Next up was to unplug and replug the Airport Express. Same problems.

Any thoughts? Something seems to be interfering.....

.....oh photography related really the whole set-up

Edit....
I don't seem to be alone... http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1787183 :cussing::cussing::cussing:

 

[Oxide Blu]

I'm presuming this Airport thing is wifi? How is your wifi connectivity? Other folks around you on the same freq/channel? You may be competing with neighbors for clean air space.

ETA: reading your link it would seem the issue is Airport related, but that does not explain why you had no probs last night. Maybe last night there was less activity at 2.4gHz?

There is a crap load of stuff bouncing around on 2.4gHz. In an ideal world they area all separated. In reality they sometimes collide, and when they do that can slow your wifi connection. Other things on 2.4gHz, Bluetooth devices, microwave ovens, radar, baby room monitors, cell phones, wireless telephones, your neighbors surfing the web on 802.11b/g, electric toothbrushes, anything/everything that causes global warming ... Fwiw, 802.11a is 5gHz, less susceptible to interference.

 

[Terry]

I'm presuming this Airport thing is wifi? How is your wifi connectivity? Other folks around you on the same freq/channel? You may be competing with neighbors for clean air space.

ETA: reading your link it would seem the issue is Airport related, but that does not explain why you had no probs last night. Maybe last night there was less activity at 2.4gHz?

There is a crap load of stuff bouncing around on 2.4gHz. In an ideal world they area all separated. In reality they sometimes collide, and when they do that can slow your wifi connection. Other things on 2.4gHz, Bluetooth devices, microwave ovens, radar, baby room monitors, cell phones, wireless telephones, your neighbors surfing the web on 802.11b/g, electric toothbrushes, anything/everything that causes global warming ... Fwiw, 802.11a is 5gHz, less susceptible to interference.

OK, after I posted I haven't had any issues at all. Until just now when reading your post I got one quick hiccup and now another. Yes, it is wifi

 

[Bob]

First try shutting off the bluetooth for a bit.
-bob

 

[Terry]

First try shutting off the bluetooth for a bit.
-bob

Yeah but I forgot to mention that my keyboard and mouse are both bluetooth.

 

[Bob]

Next change the distance between the airport and the computer (increase or decrease does not matter. Move it about one meter closer or further away.
-bob

 

[nostatic]

slightly off-topic, but how do you like the drobo? I was going to go with a g-tech g-safe (raid1) but the drobo is interesting...

 

[docmoore]

Just a couple of suggestions.

Is the Airport Express n or g variant...any g will slow down the wifi so only use n if possible...

Have you locked out all competing wifi...only allow addresses that you own or password protect all access to your network...is someone else stealing your bandwidth?

Drobo should NEVER be a bluetooth device...its demands on bandwidth is extraordinary and needs FW 800.

Are you running Time Machine...it can be a drag on all processes as it updates the backups.

Lot of questions ... no definitive answers. However, always use the largest fastest connection for your system...bluetooth is ok for headsets (non stereo) keyboards and mice...not for large transfers.

I feel rather inadequate today...trying to download NX2 upgrades from Nikon for the past 5 hours at 8 Kb/sec. Reminds me of dialup with AOL in the 80s. They should be ashamed that their server is so inadequate.

Bob

 

[Oxide Blu]

Just a couple of suggestions.

Is the Airport Express n or g variant...any g will slow down the wifi so only use n if possible...

Have you locked out all competing wifi...only allow addresses that you own or password protect all access to your network...is someone else stealing your bandwidth?

Drobo should NEVER be a bluetooth device...its demands on bandwidth is extraordinary and needs FW 800.

I feel rather inadequate today...trying to download NX2 upgrades from Nikon ... They should be ashamed that their server is so inadequate.

Just a couple of responses, 802.11n is a must for wifi transfer of HD video and discrete multichannel HD audio. Bad news, the FCC has now (and prob never will) authorize HD video over wifi, re: copyright protection. 'N' is otherwise faster than any internet download connection you are going to get in the USofA. It does have its place when when xfering big chunks of data between computers, and when there is a lot of competition for limited wifi bandwidth. Otherwise, it is almost always overkill.

YES!!! Excellent point about securing your wifi, lockout your neighbors! I forgot about that. It is common to "borrow" wifi internet access in SF as it is in NYC.

FWIW, Apple has abandoned Firewire in favor of USB. Unless someone intends to wander off and live life as a hermit with legacy hardware, I wouldn't buy any h/w that relies on FW as the only means of connection.

Ditto what you said about Nikon's servers. Shame on Nikon!!!

 

[Terry]

Just a couple of suggestions.

Is the Airport Express n or g variant...any g will slow down the wifi so only use n if possible...

Have you locked out all competing wifi...only allow addresses that you own or password protect all access to your network...is someone else stealing your bandwidth?

Drobo should NEVER be a bluetooth device...its demands on bandwidth is extraordinary and needs FW 800.

Are you running Time Machine...it can be a drag on all processes as it updates the backups.

Lot of questions ... no definitive answers. However, always use the largest fastest connection for your system...bluetooth is ok for headsets (non stereo) keyboards and mice...not for large transfers.

I feel rather inadequate today...trying to download NX2 upgrades from Nikon for the past 5 hours at 8 Kb/sec. Reminds me of dialup with AOL in the 80s. They should be ashamed that their server is so inadequate.

Bob

Network is always locked

Drobo is running on FW800

I will check airport express, I'm sure it is n as it is brand new.

I will double check if time machine is hurting performance as the time capsule that it backs up to is in NY so it hasn't done a backup in quite a while. I've now turned it completely off.

I think it has to be interference or something from a neighbor. I will go hours for it being fine (it just went through 16 songs on a playlist without a hiccup) and then it will go berzerk for a while and have horrible interruptions.

I am actually running from the internet at FAST speeds through my airport extreme. Checked that this morning and here is what I came up with:

Download Speed: 25715 kbps (3214.4 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 3142 kbps (392.8 KB/sec transfer rate)