Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Will an Airport Extreme card work with my G4 PowerBook?

O

omgwut

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 28, 2006
321
0
Hello,
I currently own a G4 PowerBook running OS X 10.2.8 (archaic, I know) which I use as a word processor. I want to set it up to recieve my friend's 802.11 wireless signal (with his permission), which is sent out by a base station tied to a Windows machine.

Two questions I have: First, will an Apple PowerBook and Airport card be able to recieve a signal from a Windows machine (I don't see why not, but...)?

Secondly, I seem to only be able to find the AirPort Extreme card on the Apple Store. Will the Extreme card plug and play with my notebook, or not? Are there any good third-party cards that I can buy that will work well if not?

Thanks!
 
A

aaronw1986

macrumors 68030
Oct 31, 2006
2,622
10
How does a G$ powerbook not have wireless? Are you sure? And there won't be any trouble connecting to his network, except maybe if he password protects it.
 
gr8tfly

gr8tfly

macrumors 603
Oct 29, 2006
5,333
99
~119W 34N
Airport cards were optional on quite a few PB G4's, up to 1.25GHz models. The aluminum models use the Extreme cards (802.11b/g), whereas earlier models use the original (802.11b) card.

Original cards are becoming scarce - try eBay for those.
 
O

omgwut

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 28, 2006
321
0
Mine doesn't have a card in it at all.. We're talking 400mhz, circa 2001 or so? It's a dinosaur.

I just wanted to know whether or not a $50 Airport Extreme card I run out and pick up from the Apple Store will function with this thing when I bring it home and stick it in.
 
2

26139

Suspended
Dec 27, 2003
4,315
377
NOpe

No, you're looking for an original Airport card. The Airport Extreme model currently sold in stores won't fit in your powerbook.

A quick Google search for "apple airport card" revealed a bunch of options. I wouldn't pay more than 100 bucks for one, though. They originally retailed at $79, so any price around there should suffice.

They are not manufactured anymore, which lead to the price increase.

See http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106777 for more info.
 
A

adamyoshida

macrumors regular
Jul 10, 2006
162
0
omgwut said:
Hello,
I currently own a G4 PowerBook running OS X 10.2.8 (archaic, I know) which I use as a word processor. I want to set it up to recieve my friend's 802.11 wireless signal (with his permission), which is sent out by a base station tied to a Windows machine.

Two questions I have: First, will an Apple PowerBook and Airport card be able to recieve a signal from a Windows machine (I don't see why not, but...)?

Secondly, I seem to only be able to find the AirPort Extreme card on the Apple Store. Will the Extreme card plug and play with my notebook, or not? Are there any good third-party cards that I can buy that will work well if not?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Which model Powerbook do you have? If you've got a TiBook, you need an original Airport Card, if you've got a AiBook, you need an Airport Extreme card.

Or, in the case of either (though, mostly the TiBook) you could get a third-party card too. Depends on how fussy you are, it does kind of ruin the look of the thing.

If you're in the market for an original card, check the marketplace in, oh, an hour or so. There should be one there at a very reasonable price then.
 
axboi87

axboi87

macrumors regular
Aug 31, 2006
212
156
Dallas, Tx
My question is will the 802.11n cards in the new notebooks work on an aluminum powerbook since they seem to be the same type of card.
 
A

adamyoshida

macrumors regular
Jul 10, 2006
162
0
axboi87 said:
My question is will the 802.11n cards in the new notebooks work on an aluminum powerbook since they seem to be the same type of card.
Click to expand...

If they're pin-compatible, I don't see any reason why they couldn't be made compatible - and I imagine they are, I don't see any reason why they'd have changed the internal workings of the systems during the Core 2 Duo revision.
 
dpaanlka

dpaanlka

macrumors 601
Nov 16, 2004
4,868
30
Illinois
omgwut said:
Mine doesn't have a card in it at all.. We're talking 400mhz, circa 2001 or so? It's a dinosaur.

I just wanted to know whether or not a $50 Airport Extreme card I run out and pick up from the Apple Store will function with this thing when I bring it home and stick it in.
Click to expand...

You need the original Airport (802.11b) card for internal wireless. How about this one?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom