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Cheapest way to add wireless to a G3 iBook

Spanky Deluxe

Spanky Deluxe

macrumors 603
Original poster
Mar 17, 2005
5,291
1,832
London, UK
I've got an ageing G3 600 iBook that I'd really like to connect to my wireless network. Airport cards cost about as much as the 'book itself so I'd really like to find the cheapest solution. I guess a USB dongle will do but what's the cheapest one available that'll work under OS X?
 
Spanky Deluxe said:
I've got an ageing G3 600 iBook that I'd really like to connect to my wireless network. Airport cards cost about as much as the 'book itself so I'd really like to find the cheapest solution. I guess a USB dongle will do but what's the cheapest one available that'll work under OS X?
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A USB dongle will cause you nothing but headaches. They require drivers, and support is pretty sketchy to nonexistent. Update the OS, and the drivers may not work any more.

An ethernet based solution is much better. Doesn't require drivers and works independent of the OS entirely. Problem with them is that most need to plug into the wall outlet to power themselves, whcih could be a problem with a laptop. macsense.com does make an ethernet based adaptor that gets its power through USB, which is pretty neat. its going to be bulkier than a plain USb dongle though.

getting an airport card is the most elegent solution. lacomputercompany.com was still selling them last I checked.
 
I'm on an iBook G3 700. The reception you'll get with an airport card will never be better than anything else. I installed mine maybe about a year after getting it, and the iBook's (atleast I believe) have a built in antennae for the airport card. So, I recommend the airport card. My PC Laptop using a PCMCIA wireless adaptor is craptastic! Very Good, Low, Very Good....I hate it.
 
I don't think I'm going to be in much danger of performing too many software updates on this little thing, its slow enough under 10.4 with the 256MB RAM it has and the lack of decent video acceleration!! It would just be nice to give to my girlfriend to use to browse the net when I'm trying to do some work. I've got an ethernet adapter at home but its pretty huge. Is it Belkin that support their usb dongles with OS X drivers?

I can get one of them for about £10 on ebay whilst airport cards are going for around £75!! :eek: Scary. The 'book can't be worth more than about £75 itself tops so I really don't think its worth it for that. At least with a USB dongle I can get it cheap and potentially use it in the future somewhere else.
 
A friend attempted to use a USB wireless adapter with his old G4 iMac and it was a major hassle. The computer recognized it about half the time.

Unfortunately, I doubt you'll be satisfied with anything other than the Airport Card. :(
 
Check this link out:

http://astro.temple.edu/~moshe/intersil/

I've used this method, using a Syntax USB-400 USB dongle I bought on ecost a year ago for about $12. I used the D-Link 1.4.7 driver mentioned on the page linked to above, on Panther (can't remember which version at the time), on a G4 ibook, and it worked fine.

The Syntax USB-400 dongles sell on ebay occasionally, usually for under $10 - none available right now, though.

I also did a quick search for other current sources of this dongle, and couldn't find one - it's been out of production for quite a while.

To add to that, one of the advantages of a USB dongle if you're having reception problems: - connect it to an extension cable and move the dongle to someplace with better reception. With one or more active USB extension cable(s), this distance can be up to 64 feet (hang it out the window, even, if it's not raining).
 
Macky-Mac said:
unless I'm missing something that one doesn't work with OS X


www.afterthemac.com sells one that they say is for use with OS X. I haven't any experience with the product or them as a company though so I cant comment on how well it works
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Do'h you're right. The lack of a PC card slot really limits you to paying for an Airport card.
 
On a slightly related noted, I'm looking into buying an old Pismo or something similar. Do you guys have any recommended PCMCIA cards to add wireless to it?
 
The D-Link DWL-G122 is probably the cheapest wireless solution for an iBook. Just make sure to get the latest revision, then download the OS X driver from the chip manufacturer's website, as D-Link doesn't provide it in the box. I read about this on macosxhints.com and use the DWL-G122 with my iBook 600. Note that only certain revisions will work:

http://www.macosxhints.com/search.php?query=dwl-g122&type=stories&mode=search&keyType=all

Cheers.
 
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