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Wireless network and CRT iMac

You have a few options.


  • You could buy an AirPort card (assuming it doesn't already have one). Make sure you get a regular AirPort card and not the more recent and probably cheaper AirPort Extreme card.
  • You could buy a cheap wireless router that will act as an access point by connecting to the current network and then using its won ethernet port to connect to the iMac. Be carefuly with this option because not all routers will be capable of doing this.
  • You could buy a third party USB wireless dongle. Traditionally these don't play nicely with Macs and system updates often result in kernel panics and all sorts of trouble. If possible, stay away form this option.
  • You could connect to another computer on the network via ethernet.


Of these, I think the AirPort card is the simplest. Obviously use System Profiler to check that you don't already have one though. :)
 
Easy enough. I didn't know that airport cards went that far back in terms of compatibility. I doubt there's one in there, but I'll double check.
 
If you wanted wireless for a G3 iMac, then you certainly purchased the wrong model. The Rev.A-D have no support for Airport cards. Only slot loading models support Airport. That leaves you with USB wireless adaptors, which are finicky at best under OSX.

Your best bet would be to either
1.) Get your money back and purchase a slot loading machine that supports Airport cards
2.) Purchase a Wireless Ethernet adaptor/wireless bridge. That lets you use wireless over the ethernet connection. No drivers needed! They do run a bit more money though than USB adaptors.
 
Sorry. CubeHacker is right and your iMac doesn't support any sort of AirPort cards. It was the model after yours which can use AirPort. Sorry. :eek:
 
I have the D-link dwl-122 usb wireless dongle hooked up to a G3 imac and I have zero problems with it. The drivers for it should be downloaded online, not pulled from the cd (there are newer drivers, both updates from D-link and GNU drivers, that are more stable in OSX). But yeah, great dongle, I've been using it for years.
 
If all of the devices on your network are 802.11g you may want to give this a try.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833180035

If you transfer files on your network this will allow your network to work at 802.11g speeds. Plus, unlike a USB dongle, your iMac's network transfer speeds would not be limited by the USB interface. Though it is an access point it also acts as a wireless bridge. Further if you retire the iMac you can still use this as a Wireless repeater.

By using a 802.11b device your network will be forced to work at 802.11b speeds. As I recall wireless security like WPA is not compatible with 802.11b only WEP is, though I may be wrong.
 
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