PowerBook G4 won't connect to school WiFi

sucramdi · Oct 30, 2012, 11:49 AM

Just a warning I know very little about networking stuff
I have a PowerBook G4, DDR2 high resolution model, that connects to wifi perfectly at home on a WPA2 encrypted network with no problems. Whenever I take the PowerBook to school it won't connect to any of the networks. When I turn on my powerbook it brings up a window asking which network I would like to connect to. When I select the one I want the little wheel spins for a bit then says connection time out. These networks are open and have no password.

If I try from the airport preference pane, by clicking the network from the drop down menu, it just goes back to saying select a network after a few seconds. The setup assistant was no help and the diagnostics asked me for a password for the network even though there isn't one.

Are there any settings I can mess around with to get it to work?

My iPad and iPhone have no problem connecting to the network.

ed724 · Oct 31, 2012, 02:27 PM

Get as close to the transmitting source as you can and try again. Also check and see what sort of wireless routers they're using and see if there are any particular issues with that model and your mac OS/model. Other than that, only other thing I can think of is try replacing the wifi card in your machine.

spyguy10709 · Nov 3, 2012, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sucramdi

Just a warning I know very little about networking stuff
I have a PowerBook G4, DDR2 high resolution model, that connects to wifi perfectly at home on a WPA2 encrypted network with no problems. Whenever I take the PowerBook to school it won't connect to any of the networks. When I turn on my powerbook it brings up a window asking which network I would like to connect to. When I select the one I want the little wheel spins for a bit then says connection time out. These networks are open and have no password.

If I try from the airport preference pane, by clicking the network from the drop down menu, it just goes back to saying select a network after a few seconds. The setup assistant was no help and the diagnostics asked me for a password for the network even though there isn't one.

Are there any settings I can mess around with to get it to work?

My iPad and iPhone have no problem connecting to the network.

Try going to airport drop down > Join Other Network > type the SSID exactly, with no password/encryption.

That might just do it for ya.

sucramdi · Nov 3, 2012, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spyguy10709

Try going to airport drop down > Join Other Network > type the SSID exactly, with no password/encryption.

That might just do it for ya.

I thought so too, but it does the same thing as selecting it straight from the drop down menu :/

mike457 · Nov 4, 2012, 07:41 AM

It's worth visiting the IT people and asking them. They may well have done some weird trick. The people at my School were prone to that until we officially switched to Macs.

Wildy · Nov 5, 2012, 10:37 AM

Check to make sure you don't have any authentication going on. Education networks often make use of 802.1X authentication - a friend of mine couldn't get onto the network, turns out it was because it was trying to use the 802.1X details for her university back home and wouldn't let her on.

Oct 30, 2012, 11:49 AM	#1
sucramdi macrumors member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Quebec	PowerBook G4 won't connect to school WiFi Just a warning I know very little about networking stuff I have a PowerBook G4, DDR2 high resolution model, that connects to wifi perfectly at home on a WPA2 encrypted network with no problems. Whenever I take the PowerBook to school it won't connect to any of the networks. When I turn on my powerbook it brings up a window asking which network I would like to connect to. When I select the one I want the little wheel spins for a bit then says connection time out. These networks are open and have no password. If I try from the airport preference pane, by clicking the network from the drop down menu, it just goes back to saying select a network after a few seconds. The setup assistant was no help and the diagnostics asked me for a password for the network even though there isn't one. Are there any settings I can mess around with to get it to work? My iPad and iPhone have no problem connecting to the network.
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Nov 4, 2012, 07:41 AM	#5
mike457 macrumors 6502 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Ontario	It's worth visiting the IT people and asking them. They may well have done some weird trick. The people at my School were prone to that until we officially switched to Macs. __________________ 27" i7 iMac, mid 2010; Mini i5, 2011; iPad3; ATV3; iPhone 4; the Cube!
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Oct 31, 2012, 02:27 PM	#2
ed724 macrumors regular Join Date: Aug 2009	Get as close to the transmitting source as you can and try again. Also check and see what sort of wireless routers they're using and see if there are any particular issues with that model and your mac OS/model. Other than that, only other thing I can think of is try replacing the wifi card in your machine.
	0

Nov 5, 2012, 10:37 AM	#6
Wildy macrumors regular Join Date: Jan 2011	Check to make sure you don't have any authentication going on. Education networks often make use of 802.1X authentication - a friend of mine couldn't get onto the network, turns out it was because it was trying to use the 802.1X details for her university back home and wouldn't let her on.
	0