Ad: Manage updates with the Download App
ie8 fix

dropout

Wi-Fi dropouts in OS X possibly from power conflicts

One of the ongoing problems that has affected some OS X users is random dropouts in their Wi-Fi connections. While Wi-Fi connectivity is not an issue with most Mac systems, for people experiencing it, once the problem starts it seems to persist. In some situations nearly identical systems on the same network will result in one system working fine and the other being regularly dropped.

Unfortunately Wi-Fi connectivity is difficult to troubleshoot, since there are many factors that play into a stable connection. These include drivers and other software configurations, the Wi-Fi card, the router, other computer hardware and components, … Read more

Addressing dropped Wi-Fi connections in OS X

A dropped Wi-Fi connection in OS X is one of the long-standing frustrations that some Mac users have had to deal with. In some instances a system that works well on one Wi-Fi network will not maintain a connection with another one, and in other instances two seemingly identical Macs (same model and OS version) will result in one connecting to a network and the other not.

These frustrations can be tricky to deal with, and generally the troubleshooting steps revolve around checking the router for any special services, using the older 2.4GHz frequency (802.11 "b" … Read more

Sirius XM sticks it to subscribers

How's the Sirius XM satellite radio monopoly working out for subscribers? Not so well. Now that Sirius XM is the only game in town, it's nudging up fees for subscribers. Nice!

The one and only satellite radio company's boasts of its ever-increasing subscriber base are gone now, and the decline is significant. The number floating around the Internet is a loss of 400,000 subscribers. That still leaves 18.6 million, but there's no way of knowing how many of that number are full-price-paying subscribers.

Could the subscriber losses be attributed to recent price hikes? The … Read more

Sirius' on-again, off-again signal problems

Sirius Satellite Radio has a lot on its plate. Shock jock Howard Stern is already making noises about leaving after his contract expires in a couple of years, the stock price is in the tank, and the company has huge debt.

All of that shouldn't matter to subscribers, of which I am one. But the frequent signal dropouts are really getting out of hand.

I had similar problems in the early days, but after a while, the dropouts became rare. Months would go by without signal interruptions, but about six months ago, the off-and-on signal problems returned.

Sometimes, the dropout lasts just a few seconds but occurs many times an hour. My Sirius home radio hasn't budged since I first got it many years ago, and my antenna is pretty much in the same place it has always been, but lately, the signal regularly disappears for minutes at a time before sputtering back to life. … Read more