External WiFi adapters for iBook????

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H.B. Elkins - 11 May 2005 01:09 GMT

My iBook G4's Airport Extreme card is acting up -- or more precisely, I suspect
the antenna or the
wiring in the computer is broken. The unit is out of warranty.

Anyone know of any external WiFi adapters that will work with OS X 10.3.x? I'm
running 10.3.7 and I
have a D-Link 802.11b USB adapter that will work with 10.3.2, but am reluctant
to back up and reinstall
the original system that shipped with the machine.

802.11g preferred, but if anyone has any suggestions for any WiFi that'll work
with my current system,
I'm all ears.

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Gnarlodious - 11 May 2005 02:42 GMT

Entity H.B. Elkins uttered this profundity:

> have a D-Link 802.11b USB adapter that will work with 10.3.2, but am reluctant
> to back up and reinstall
> the original system that shipped with the machine.

What are you saying? That the D-Link won't work with newer than 10.3.2??
That would be strange.

AFAIK, the only USB WiFi that interfaces well with Mac is the Belkin model:
http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=122761

I know it runs on 10.3.8

-- Gnarlie

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H.B. Elkins - 11 May 2005 04:35 GMT

>What are you saying? That the D-Link won't work with newer than 10.3.2??
>That would be strange.

That is correct. It runs on 10.2.x and 10.3.2, according to the D-Link folks. (I
asked). AFAIK there are
no drivers to enable it to work with anything more recent.

I can't recall the model number offhand but someone recommended it in one of
these groups. A Google
search ought to turn it up.

>AFAIK, the only USB WiFi that interfaces well with Mac is the Belkin model:
>http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=122761
>
>I know it runs on 10.3.8

That looks like it's a desktop model. The D-Link is USB powered and looks like
any number of Bluetooth
USB adapters or a keychain flash USB drive, which makes it highly portable.

I may just have to go backwards to 10.3.2 because I hate to think what an
out-of-warranty repair will
cost. :-(

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Fred McKenzie - 11 May 2005 18:02 GMT

> Anyone know of any external WiFi adapters that will work with OS X 10.3.x? I'm
> running 10.3.7 and I
> have a D-Link 802.11b USB adapter that will work with 10.3.2, but am reluctant
> to back up and reinstall
> the original system that shipped with the machine.

H.B.-

Did you make a typo in your posting? Otherwise it doesn't make sense. It
sounds like you are running 10.3 and have an adapter that works with 10.3,
but you are reluctant to re-install 10.3 in order to use it.

If it doesn't work without re-installing the OS, perhaps it is
malfunctioning. At most, you should only need to re-install the adapter's
drivers unless it is irretrievably broken.

If you think there is a conflict with your OS, first try upgrading to
10.3.9. There may be a remote chance that one of the intermediate steps
has a problem and is causing your malfunction.

Fred

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H.B. Elkins - 11 May 2005 20:07 GMT

>Did you make a typo in your posting? Otherwise it doesn't make sense. It
>sounds like you are running 10.3 and have an adapter that works with 10.3,
>but you are reluctant to re-install 10.3 in order to use it.

No typo. I'm using 10.3.7. The adapter works only with 10.2.x (which won't run
on my iBook) or with 10.3.2. It will not work with later versions of 10.3,
including 10.3.7 which I am running currently or 10.3.9, which is an available
upgrade.

>If it doesn't work without re-installing the OS, perhaps it is
>malfunctioning. At most, you should only need to re-install the adapter's
>drivers unless it is irretrievably broken.

It is the D-Link DWL-122, which has been discontinued. D-Link Tech Support told
me that it will not run on any version of the Mac OS beyond 10.3.2.

>If you think there is a conflict with your OS, first try upgrading to
>10.3.9. There may be a remote chance that one of the intermediate steps
>has a problem and is causing your malfunction.

Are you suggesting this for my existing Airport Extreme problem, or for the
D-Link compatibility? I noticed the problem with the Airport Extreme card's
reception after an upgrade, but don't think the problem stems from the OS
upgrade, since I had the latest AirPort driver.

(BTW, in case it matters, the base station is a Linksys 802.11g version, but
base stations are base stations. ;-) ).

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Liam Greenwood - 11 May 2005 20:45 GMT

On 11 May 2005 12:07:43 -0700, H.B Elkins
<hbelkins@mis.net.restrictorplate> wrote:

> It is the D-Link DWL-122, which has been discontinued. D-Link Tech Support told
> me that it will not run on any version of the Mac OS beyond 10.3.2.

I've installed that adapter on a customer's iMac running 10.3.8, and
beyond the difficulty finding the documentation on how to set the
WEP key to match the one in the AirPort it just worked with the
drivers off the CD. If you aren't using an Apple AirPort even
that will be no issue.

Cheers, Liam

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H.B. Elkins - 12 May 2005 04:20 GMT

>I've installed that adapter on a customer's iMac running 10.3.8, and
>beyond the difficulty finding the documentation on how to set the
>WEP key to match the one in the AirPort it just worked with the
>drivers off the CD. If you aren't using an Apple AirPort even
>that will be no issue.

My router is a Linksys WRT54G -- any recommendations on what I may need to
change or uninstall in
the Mac OS to get this puppy to work? The adapter sees my wireless network, but
I can't get on the
Internet with the adapter.

No WEP encryption is being used -- I've got my network open; I am in a remote
place and there's no
danger of my being hacked. ;-)

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H.B. Elkins - 16 May 2005 15:39 GMT

How were you able to do that?

When I install the D-Link DWL-122 on my iBook (running 10.3.7) by using the
D-Link driver, the device can see the router (a Linksys) but it cannot connect
to the Internet.

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Mike Rosenberg - 11 May 2005 22:03 GMT

> Did you make a typo in your posting? Otherwise it doesn't make sense. It
> sounds like you are running 10.3 and have an adapter that works with 10.3,
> but you are reluctant to re-install 10.3 in order to use it.

He's running 10.3.7 and the adapter's driver only works with 10.3.2.

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zit - 13 May 2005 08:15 GMT

I have a TiBook, not an iBook, so my situation may be different.
My Airport PC card is easily accessible by removing the computers
bottom cover.
You need to determine if the problem is the card or the antenna.
I assume you did try the computer at a different WiFi location?????

There are some other easy things to try:

I would try unplugging/replugging the antenna from the card.
Mine snaps in with a click and doesn't come out without prying a bit.
Also, unplug and replug the card. It pops out easily.
If that doesn't help, you need some spare parts.
Try a 3rd party antenna (or put your card in another mac)
Try a new or used card (or borrow one from another mac)
I have seen used cards for sale on the Net.

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H.B. Elkins - 13 May 2005 14:25 GMT

>I have a TiBook, not an iBook, so my situation may be different.
>My Airport PC card is easily accessible by removing the computers
>bottom cover.

For the iBook, you have to remove the keyboard. The card is located underneath
the keyboard.

>You need to determine if the problem is the card or the antenna.
>I assume you did try the computer at a different WiFi location?????

Yes. Also, I have a PC laptop with a wireless card and it works just fine.

>There are some other easy things to try:
>
>I would try unplugging/replugging the antenna from the card.
>Mine snaps in with a click and doesn't come out without prying a bit.
>Also, unplug and replug the card. It pops out easily.

Check. Didn't help.

>If that doesn't help, you need some spare parts.
>Try a 3rd party antenna (or put your card in another mac)

Wish I had a different Mac to try it out in -- and with the antenna connection
being internal, hooking up a different one would be impractical.

What leads me to believe it's an antenna problem is that when the signal drops,
I can move the screen on the iBook almost to the closed position, before the
laptop goes to sleep, and the signal strength indicator will jump to three of
the available four bars. Then when I open the lid to normal operating position,
the signal strength drops again. Also, the computer will not work in locations
distant from the wireless router as it did before I started having this problem.

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ttrtilley@gmail.com - 22 May 2005 11:34 GMT

>with the antenna connection
>being internal, hooking up a different one would be impractical.

I have a QuickerTec.
The only method they suggest for a PowerBook is running the wire out
the PC-card slot.
That is quick and dirty to put it kindly.
However, it is easy to make a hole in the side or back of the case at
the join.

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Mac Forum / General / Networking / May 2005

External WiFi adapters for iBook????