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iMac G3 wireless speed is slow

W

wbgordon

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 11, 2009
29
0
The iMac G3 is a 2002 model, has a 600 mghz processor and 1 GB RAM. It does not have an AirPort wireless card and Apple no longer manufacturers an AirPort card for this machine (which I bought used), so I bought a USB wireless adapter that appears to pick up a pretty strong signal from my Verizon FiOS router, strongest of course when parked next to the router. Unfortunately, I am only able to generate 3.5-4.2 mbps download speed no matter how close I am to the router, whereas the machine can consistently download at 12-15 mbps with a direct ethernet connection. The FiOS router can download at speeds in excess of 20 mbps.

Is there some setting I'm overlooking that can improve the wireless connection speed or am I going to have to settle for wired use only?
 
This looks like a limitation of the USB port; remember, the iMac G3 only ever had USB 1.1, which is horribly slow by today's standards. I would either hunt around for an AirPort card for the bugger (they're all over eBay and used Mac resellers), or just settle for another wire coming out the little door.
 
MultiFinder17 said:
This looks like a limitation of the USB port; remember, the iMac G3 only ever had USB 1.1, which is horribly slow by today's standards. I would either hunt around for an AirPort card for the bugger (they're all over eBay and used Mac resellers), or just settle for another wire coming out the little door.
Click to expand...

The USB port ... I hadn't considered that ... but unfortunately it's too late to delve into that. It's an old computer. I'm having Verizon come out next week to install an R45 jack (ethernet) next to the machine.
 
is it a realtek dongle (that's what I used)

after i replaced my g3 with my new free d530 the dongle runs significantly faster, however the imac still had a downspeed of 5.6 mbps like the rest of the computers in my house.

maybe it's just slow because of the old cpu and such,
-Tyler
 
auto123 said:
is it a realtek dongle (that's what I used)

after i replaced my g3 with my new free d530 the dongle runs significantly faster, however the imac still had a downspeed of 5.6 mbps like the rest of the computers in my house.

maybe it's just slow because of the old cpu and such,
-Tyler
Click to expand...

I assume you asking about the USB port. If so, good question. Not sure, but can they be upgraded?

After messing around with the machine today, I started thinking the thing that's most deficient about this eight-year-old relic is the video card. But I understand you cannot upgrade it.
 
^^Your dongle WiFi speed would be limited by the USB 1.1 ports on the machine (12 Mbit/s) which is miles slower then 'n'. You can't upgrade these and even if you could track down the old 'b' Airport card it would be slower (11 Mbit/s) then USB. Ethernet's the only way to get good speeds.
 
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