Apple Mac Book Pro

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Perk

Perk

Active member
Joined
Aug 5, 2006
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42
Location
Northfield, Vermont
I have a new Apple Mac Book Pro laptop and have what I think is a small problem, but can't seem to find an answer...so here goes. The laptop has a built-in wifi antenna and I have problems hooking up to wifi antennas in RV parks when people next to me don't. A guy told me the other day that I can buy some sort of an external antenna/booster for my laptop but had no other information. So if anyone can help it will greatly appreciated.

Perk
 
The antenna that folks have reported success with is the Hawking dish that has a USB connection. The small dish can be located in an optimum place and pointed to maximize signal strength.

By any chance is wireless disabled on your laptop, thus preventing your internal antenna from doing anything?
 
Unfortunately, the Hawking HWU8DD adapter doesn't have drivers for the Mac. A Google search on wifi apple mac adapter turned up some possibilities.  This one looks promising.
 
Ned said:
Unfortunately, the Hawking HWU8DD adapter doesn't have drivers for the Mac. A Google search on wifi apple mac adapter turned up some possibilities.  This one looks promising.
Click to expand...

I have the Linksys Wireless G USB and it works fine on MAC, as a friend has borrowed it. It also has a cable so I move it around if I have a limited wireless point.

Overall the MAC built in wireless antenna is very good. My Grandson was here with his MAC and he immediately saw 4  very STRONG neighborhood access points show up but I have never seen but one of those in addition to my router.

Bob
 
Bob, where did you find Mac drivers for the Linksys USB adapter?  I can find nothing on the Linksys web site.
 
I know another forum member who uses it on a Mac, which was why I suggested it. IIRC he emailed Hawking for the driver.
 
Neither Linksys or Hawking Technology lists Apple drivers for their products.  It would be good to know if such drivers actually exist, and if they are from the manufacturer or 3rd party or open source.
 
The driver wasn't on their web site, which is why the forum member emailed them. I was glad he received a positive response, since I was the one who dragged him to Fry's Electronics to buy the Hawking  ;D  I've seen it in action on his Mac and it works like a charm.
 
Ned said:
Bob, where did you find Mac drivers for the Linksys USB adapter?  I can find nothing on the Linksys web site.
Click to expand...

She just plugged in the USB connection and it worked fine. Neither of us was getting at thing  on  internal as we were at a Park down in Hemet with another RV between us and the antenna. We both used it for a week and never a problem. I believe her MAC is just over a year old.
 
;D  Yahoo  I am so glad to see the subject of Apple Mac Book Pro. I currently have a desk top system, but want to get a laptop. My G'daughter who just graduated from college with a degree in Communications and Graphic Design, struggled through college with a PC (top of the line, but still a PC) Now she has her MAC Book Pro and says she will never again have a PC. I asked her what her main reason for saying that was and she said  "MAC's are built to NOT crash!" 

So I am asking - Any preferences when RVing (PC vs MAC)??
 
The Mac must have built in drivers for the Linksys.  Good to know.  I wonder if the Hawking driver was a beta version?
 
near as I can tell RV'ing is just like any other living arrangement, as far as a laptop is concerned. Based on that, I have to answer the question with regard to overall quality. The Mac OS is more stable than the Windows OS, making the Mac a better choice for ease of use. On the other hand, finding software for it may be more of an issue. I have also found (in the past) that the Mac laptops were of a higher quality overall than the PC type. That is what was meant by "built not to crash".

Which one is better for you depends on what you want to use it for, though. If you are just doing web browsing, email, Word Processing/spreadsheet type of stuff, I would say go with the Mac all day long. If you are using some specific software that does not work on the Mac, then you are stuck with a PC. One caveat, however: The Mac hardware is generally a bit more expensive, but you get what you pay for.
 
Ned, I am the "other forum member? using a MAC.  I asked Hawking for a driver and they emailed back saying they didn't officially have one but attached a driver (presumably a trial version) and said "try this".  I did and it has worked with no problems.  He noted that it wouldn't work with the Intel chip.
 
Robert, nice that Hawking had the driver, even if it was a beta.  Glad it works, but too bad it won't work on the new MacIntel machines.
 
Macfixit has a current report on Mac-friendly wireless routers
http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20070108011955791

As to the comment that Macs are more expensive... that is no longer true. However, you can always bottom feed and find a cheap PC for less.
 
Thanks for all of the comments:)  I guess PC vs MAC  is really a personal preference liike Ford vs Chevy LOL My main concern is that I have a at home based business, which allows me to work from wherever home is as long as I have the Internet, Microsolft Office and a printer.  I'm really leaning towards the MAC.
 
I use both and sometimes camp with both based on the work I bring with me over the weekend...I work for a cross platform school division and teacher and principal requests typically decide what computer I work on...if I am working with teachers to analyze student performance data, I use the platform they will be using as well because of the quirks that Excel displays across the two platforms...less now than a few years ago, but still there.  Even though the wifi networks are "standards based" I do get very different performance from my two different laptops using different networks.

Which are you most comfortable with and which does 99% of what you will want to do?
 
Keeping in mind... the newer Macs can install and boot Windows.  Yes, it's sacriligious, but for those odd applications that only have a Windows solution, they can now be done on your Mac.
 
I guess the question that has been in the back of my mind is If Macs are so great then why do the spend so much effort to make them run Windows?  I have never heard of any effort to run Mac OS on any other computers. :D ??? ???
 
Ron said:
I guess the question that has been in the back of my mind is If Macs are so great then why do the spend so much effort to make them run Windows?  I have never heard of any effort to run Mac OS on any other computers. :D ??? ???
Click to expand...

I guess that is because Steve Jobs is smart. He has hooks in OS X that check the hardware to make sure it is running on a Mac. Having said that, I have heard of a couple of highly modified ACER hacks that are running OS X, but anytime Apple updates OS X they have to write new custom drivers. Also supposedly Parallels on a PC running Lunix will run OS X.

Why not just buy a Mac and be done with it. Then you can run OS X the way it was meant to run and also have a Windows machine that runs Windows better that any other PC I ever seen.

BTW, after being a PC user for years, I have made the switch fully to the Mac and now only fire up my PC to look for an old file, occasionally.

Chet18013
 
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