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

Any way of making new wifi networks compatible

R

Riviera122

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 14, 2008
488
164
Hi everyone,

My work's wifi network is only compatible from Snow Leopard onwards. When I try to connect my 10.4 PB G4, an error comes up. I've tried adding it manually and it still doesn't work. Any ideas?
 
What kind of airport card do you have? Airport Extreme or the original Airport card?

If the original card, that would indicate you have a Titanium PowerBook and you are out of luck, unless you purchase a newer USB WiFi adapter or a WiFi PC card.

Unfortunately, unless you are the IT admin at your work you can't change the network.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrianBaughn
eyoungren said:
What kind of airport card do you have? Airport Extreme or the original Airport card?

If the original card, that would indicate you have a Titanium PowerBook and you are out of luck, unless you purchase a newer USB WiFi adapter or a WiFi PC card.

Unfortunately, unless you are the IT admin at your work you can't change the network.
Click to expand...

It's a built in card. The laptop was built in '06 so I assume it's AirPort Extreme.
 
Justin122 said:
It's a built in card. The laptop was built in '06 so I assume it's AirPort Extreme.
Click to expand...
Yes, that would be an aluminum PowerBook then with Airport Extreme.

So, then either your work network is using security that your Mac is not capable of or you need to update.

Is there any way to know what kind of encryption they are using? Airport Extreme should handle WPA2.
 
OS X 10.4 needed a group of updates to be able to connect to WPA 2 networks, which is the most common and secure encryption on home networks today. OS X 10.5 included native WPA 2 support.
 
I think WPA 2 support was added with 10.4.7, around the time of the mid-2007 Alu iMacs which was the last model to have Tiger pre-installed and Apple launched their Gigabit Airport Extreme. Around this time period Apple required WPA/WPA2 as default when setting up any Airport Extreme network with their Airport Utility.

The only technical problem I can think of with an updated install of Tiger is the workplace is running the same network name for both G & N networks which is problematic with some chipsets/devices, experienced this once with a friends ASUS AC1200 network as it would randomly disconnect... I was stuck using a cheap USB "N" adapter. In my experience during the PPC era many routers with the exception of Linksys WRT-54G/GL had lousy compatibility between chipset makers which lead to consumers preferring certain router models using Broadcom chipsets, even today some ASUS/Netgear/TP-Link/TrendNet models have issues with certain Apple iOS devices and a few Qualcomm multi-wireless chipsets(an older Snapdragon dual-core CPU and a more recent quad-core model).
 
happyfrappy said:
I think WPA 2 support was added with 10.4.7, around the time of the mid-2007 Alu iMacs which was the last model to have Tiger pre-installed and Apple launched their Gigabit Airport Extreme. Around this time period Apple required WPA/WPA2 as default when setting up any Airport Extreme network with their Airport Utility.

The only technical problem I can think of with an updated install of Tiger is the workplace is running the same network name for both G & N networks which is problematic with some chipsets/devices, experienced this once with a friends ASUS AC1200 network as it would randomly disconnect... I was stuck using a cheap USB "N" adapter. In my experience during the PPC era many routers with the exception of Linksys WRT-54G/GL had lousy compatibility between chipset makers which lead to consumers preferring certain router models using Broadcom chipsets, even today some ASUS/Netgear/TP-Link/TrendNet models have issues with certain Apple iOS devices and a few Qualcomm multi-wireless chipsets(an older Snapdragon dual-core CPU and a more recent quad-core model).
Click to expand...

Yes, I have tried to set it up manually with the WPA2 Encryption selected and still no luck. When connecting automatically the option is greyed out.

I have no problems connecting to WPA2 Personal networks. Could it be an issue with WPA2 Enterprise encryption and Tiger?
 
Last edited:
I had a meeting with the head of networks today. Luckily he is also a PowerBook enthusiast so wants to make this work as much as me - the "supported" machines aren't to do with what the network can handle but rather what operating systems are still supported by Apple. He has said that he's had luck with connecting on Leopard so my next step is to upgrade my OS.
 
I've had zero issues with both 10.4.11 and 10.5.8 with an Airport Extreme or AEX-compatible card and WPA2 enterprise/802.11x at work.

I've even connected my Lombard Powerbook G3 running 10.4.11 via a PCMIA Airport Extreme compatible card.
 
problem is usually regular airport and not supporting WPA2. I have a bunch of iBooks that i can connect to my new wireless airport extreme without encryption but now it won't attach to the internet. Its ok i was trying to use them as a software hub, but my 2010 iMac to usb ZIP, then to color classic with zip and stuffit expander to fix the fork issue was much better overall.
 
cariacou said:
get a USB wifi dongle.
Click to expand...
I've had nothing buy crap luck with those. Requires third party drivers (usually not from the actual manufacturer of the device), connections drop after a few minutes and you have to keep re-entering the network key because the driver app refuses to store it.

Just my experience.
 
With these older AirPort cards you are left with few options. You either sacrifice security on your network by bringing it down from WPA2, connect directly via Ethernet, or use a wireless dongle. The best dongle that I have used to date especially with laptops is the Netgear WNA1000M due to its size, design, and reliability. They are also quite affordable now as well!
 
I upgraded my PowerBook's OS to Leopard and now the WiFi network is completely functional. Forgot how well-designed and stable it is. Does anyone have a link to the Leopard improvements thread?
 
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
Back