IMac G4: Airport shows no wifi networks

[jhclemens]

Hello,

I have bought an iMac G4 (late 2002 OSX 10.4.3) with an Airport card and want to connect to the Internet. Unfortunately it shows me no available wifi's but there are some of them with different authentication methods (WEP, WPA2, No encryptions). My other Mac in the same room is able to see all of them. The system profiler shows me the airport card and I've also successfully tested it with the Apple Hardware test. Any ideas?

 

[Dronecatcher]

It's more than likely your wireless router is operating with WPA/WPA2 security which your iMac wont be compatible with - that model would work with a WEP network. You could downgrade your network to WEP but that is a step down in security. Macs with Airport Extreme are compatible with WPA2 (on 10.4.11 and above) which was introduced not long after your Mac was made.

 

[weckart]

It's more than likely your wireless router is operating with WPA/WPA2 security which your iMac wont be compatible with - that model would work with a WEP network.

That is not the issue if it is showing other signals with WPA2 encryption. It could be that his router is only operating on the 5GHz band.

Need more information, OP. How is your router set up and what is your other Mac?

 

[jhclemens]

That is not the issue if it is showing other signals with WPA2 encryption. It could be that his router is only operating on the 5GHz band.

Need more information, OP. How is your router set up and what is your other Mac?

The router is a speedport LTE (german telekom) and supports IEEE 802.11 b/g/n, so 2,4GHz should also be available. My other computers are newer (Macbook Air, 2011; Macmini 2012)

 

[weckart]

Try changing channels. Odd as it may seem, sometimes your neighbours' signals may overpower your own even though yours are closer. I have experienced this myself with my older laptops, both Apple and others. Quite often, this happens if your multicast rate is lower than 100% as few people seem inclined to operate their routers at a sensible range.

 

[bunnspecial]

Speaking from experience and going in a different direction from the other responses-if your iMac has ever been opened, it's surprisingly easy to pinch the Airport antenna during reassembly.

I did that on mine(admittedly a last generation model with Airport Extreme) during one of the three or four times I had it open to change out the hard drive.

I could not see any networks, even when I was right next to the router.

Fortunately, I managed to kill only the lower antenna(the antennas on these break apart to allow for disassembly) which was easier to replace than the upper antenna.

 

[jhclemens]

Try changing channels. Odd as it may seem, sometimes your neighbours' signals may overpower your own even though yours are closer. I have experienced this myself with my older laptops, both Apple and others. Quite often, this happens if your multicast rate is lower than 100% as few people seem inclined to operate their routers at a sensible range.

I can try it, but I think this will not help due to the fact that I can't see any wifi in the neighbourhood. On my other computer, I can see 5 different wifi networks, on the imac I see none. I also created a personal hotspot (wifi) with my iphone and it was also not visible for this computer, but for all others.

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Speaking from experience and going in a different direction from the other responses-if your iMac has ever been opened, it's surprisingly easy to pinch the Airport antenna during reassembly.

I don't know, if the previous owner has opened the Imac, but it seems that this could be a possible cause for the problem. I will check it. Thanks

 

[weckart]

I can try it, but I think this will not help due to the fact that I can't see any wifi in the neighbourhood. On my other computer, I can see 5 different wifi networks, on the imac I see none. I also created a personal hotspot (wifi) with my iphone and it was also not visible for this computer, but for all others.

Ah, ok. I misunderstood your first post, then. As bunnspecial mentioned, your hardware looks like it needs checking. System Profile will see your Airport card as it slots directly into the logic board but if your aerials are detached or broken, then you will struggle to see any signals.