iBook Airport problem

[RolandG]

I use an iBook (bought in May 2002) which was BTOed with an Airport card. I run OS X 10.2.8 with the latest updates and Airport software available through Software Update.

I am having problems connecting to my university's campus WLAN. It is equipped with CISCO accesspoints. One will be assinged an IP-adress from the universities block (136.x.x.x) via DHCP. Then one is required to connect to a CISCO VPN using CISCO's software.

I can see the network's SSID and it seems a connection is established (the signal strenth is shown and I do not get any error messages). But the Airport card's IP is not one from the university's pool (136.x.x.x) but is given by the OS (127.x.x.x; there is a remark behind the IP in the network preferences but I don't remember the exact wording, sorry). And thus I can not connect to the VPN gateway.

The funny thing is the problem occurs in some building (library, main lecture hall building) but not in others (faculty building, where I get a correct IP and everything works fine).

The other day, I spotted another Mac user in the library. He had one of the newer G4 Titanium PowerBooks (with the new font) and he had no problems accessing the WLAN whatsoever.

I already had a talk with the person responsible for the WLAN's administration and it seems that the problem roots in the way WEP-keys are handeled (im not too familiar with the subject) because once he changed the settings on a base station it worked. Unfortunately he had to change them back again.

Is it possible that Apple shipped different versions of its (regular, not extreme) Airport cards? Switched manufacturers?

If so, is there a way to find out which card I am using (maybe by serial number)?

I see all kinds of WLAN hardware on PC notebooks being put to use and they all work flawlessly - this sucks! :(

[Dave]

I use an iBook (bought in May 2002) which was BTOed with an Airport card. I run OS X 10.2.8 with the latest updates and Airport software available through Software Update.

I am having problems connecting to my university's campus WLAN. It is equipped with CISCO accesspoints. One will be assinged an IP-adress from the universities block (136.x.x.x) via DHCP. Then one is required to connect to a CISCO VPN using CISCO's software.

I can see the network's SSID and it seems a connection is established (the signal strenth is shown and I do not get any error messages). But the Airport card's IP is not one from the university's pool (136.x.x.x) but is given by the OS (127.x.x.x; there is a remark behind the IP in the network preferences but I don't remember the exact wording, sorry). And thus I can not connect to the VPN gateway.

The funny thing is the problem occurs in some building (library, main lecture hall building) but not in others (faculty building, where I get a correct IP and everything works fine).

The other day, I spotted another Mac user in the library. He had one of the newer G4 Titanium PowerBooks (with the new font) and he had no problems accessing the WLAN whatsoever.

I already had a talk with the person responsible for the WLAN's administration and it seems that the problem roots in the way WEP-keys are handeled (im not too familiar with the subject) because once he changed the settings on a base station it worked. Unfortunately he had to change them back again.

Is it possible that Apple shipped different versions of its (regular, not extreme) Airport cards? Switched manufacturers?

If so, is there a way to find out which card I am using (maybe by serial number)?

I see all kinds of WLAN hardware on PC notebooks being put to use and they all work flawlessly - this sucks! :( You might go your local neighborhood Apple Store and ask their Geniuses. I suspect they'll tell you to upgrade to 10.3 and see if that fixes it.