i Mac help

[Rushy]

I have a fairly basic i Mac bought in 2001 running OSX 10.1.5 woith a G3 processor and around 40G memory.

I visited an Apple store at the weekend an was tempted to buy an airport express unit so I can go wireless when I have broadband installed. But the salesman said I needed to know if I have an 'airport ready' Mac , if not I will need to source an airport board via e-bay or another source.

How can i tell if my Mac is airport ready????

 

[ROJAZ]

Click on the apple logo top left corner - click on 'about this mac' - more info - network - then have a look for what you got on there........

 

[Rushy]

'About this Mac' - yes .....'more info' option - no.

'About this mac' just has processor and OSX info', no further sub menus at all.

Tried network info within system preferences but that doesnt tell me anything either.

Anymore suggestions please.

 

[ROJAZ]

Rushy

try the apple help forums. Someone in there will surely be able to help...

http://discussions.apple.com/index.jspa?ft=y

 

[Andy80F]

I have a fairly basic i Mac bought in 2001 running OSX 10.1.5 woith a G3 processor and around 40G memory.

I visited an Apple store at the weekend an was tempted to buy an airport express unit so I can go wireless when I have broadband installed. But the salesman said I needed to know if I have an 'airport ready' Mac , if not I will need to source an airport board via e-bay or another source.

How can i tell if my Mac is airport ready????

This page should, with the info from the "about this mac", to determine the processor speed, help you identify exactly what iMac you have.

This page will tell you if you can run Airport, it looks as if you may need a card adaptor.

The web site Low end mac is a good starting place for any older Mac and iMac upgrades.

I've got one of the earliest slot loading iMac which cannot use Airport but is connected to the broadband wireless router (Airport base stations are very expensive and belkin routers are just as good) via ethernet and acts as a printer server for the laptops.

Andy

 

[Rushy]

Thanks

Thanks Andy & Mark. Looks like i will have to get a card or understand a bit more about this wireless malarkey.

Cheers.

 

[Andy80F]

There is plenty you can do to make your iMac wireless but it might not be worth it if you are having to source an adaptor, Airport card (the older 11mbps version not the more common Airport Express 56mbps) and then a base station. Finding the required parts might be difficult, fleabay is a good source though.
However using the iMac ethernet connection to an external wireless router may be the simplest, cheapest and most accessible way to go wireless and I had my own wireless network set up for less than £50 (the powerbook has Airport Express built in) and found the Broadband buyer site usefull for information. As wireless networks use standard protocolls many, if not most, wireless equipment works with Mac and you only need to check that drivers are available.

I know using an external wireless router with its extra wiring is not the tidiest solution but it may be the best route to take.

Andy

 

[power2learn]

Sound advice

Just to second Andy's recommendation - I think if you have a 'non-airport' ready mac, an ethernet cable to a wireless router is about the quickest and easiest solution you will find - not to mention cheapest.

You might possibly be able to find a USB 802.11x dongle - shouldn't cost more than around £20, but I'm not sure whether you would be able to find one with mac drivers...

...just had a quick scout around, and apparently "It turns out that D-link have just such a device, the DWL-122... An updated driver for the device has been found, and users report it working well." [ http://www.oreillynet.com/mac/blog/2004/09/woe_and_redemption_on_the_rout.html ]. There are probably others.

Good luck!

 

[power2learn]

wifi dongle

Such as is avialable at expansys for £17
http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=106272

Hope that helps. I have always found expansys to be a) very cheap, and b) very fast and reliable