Airport to Airport Extreme

[Phood]

I have the older Power Mac G4 (without FireWire 800) and have a wireless G router. Since I have the older Mac, I cannot use an Airport Extreme card, but I want to be able to use 802.11g technology, preferably with the Airport Extreme. Is there an Airport to Airport Extreme adapter, or any other way to use the Airport Extreme card? If not, what is a good 802.11g card that is Mac compatible?

 

[Horrortaxi]

Maybe others have had better luck than I have--and if so I'd love to hear about it. I haven't found a card that will work with a Mac in OS X. I found 1 or 2 that would run in 9 only. I have a bunch of older Macs at work that I'm trying to get on a wireless network and they don't even have AirPort as an option.

Maybe I can make this a moot point for you though. What do you want to do with this computer on the network? If it's just internet sharing then don't worry about 802.11g. Your connection (even broadband) isn't even reaching the limits of 802.11b. If you're sending around a lot of large files then g would be nice.

 

[Gus]

Don't know about Mac compatability, but there is this:

http://www.outpost.com/product/3635395

Regards,
Gus

 

[Phood]

Ok, thanks guys. I guess I really don't need the Airport Extreme. I'm just going to order the Airport Card and not worry about any other 802.11g cards. I don't want to have the hassle of trying to set up a third party card when I could do it in about 2 minutes with the Airport Card. That's Apple for you.

 

[yzedf]

Originally posted by Phood
Ok, thanks guys. I guess I really don't need the Airport Extreme. I'm just going to order the Airport Card and not worry about any other 802.11g cards. I don't want to have the hassle of trying to set up a third party card when I could do it in about 2 minutes with the Airport Card. That's Apple for you.

Pretty damn easy to do when there is only 2 wireless cards (b and g) to work with, and very limited hardware that it will work with (only computer that has the slot in it). Considering the thousands of possible motherboards out there in PC land, it is far more impressive that the PC stuff works at all.

That being said... 802.11g is a STANDARD. Any wireless station will work. Just find a matching PCI wireless card with Mac drivers.

No reason to make it more difficult than what it really is, just so you can praise Apple! You do know that Airport (802.11b) used Orinoco wireless cards... right? Same card that I have in my IBM laptop (I own both Gold and Silver cards - diff encryption level). My Linksys router works fine with iBooks, PowerBooks, and PC's. Completely seamless.

 

[panthman]

Not too difficult to do, though maybe a few dollars more than an Extreme Card.

Linksys 802.11g wireless to ethernet bridge

Driverless solution that appears to the computer as wired ethernet, yet connects to 802.11g networks!

Great solution for non-extreme ready machines!!

 

[solvs]

If you have an 802.11b (Airport) card already in there, or a slot for one, you can use it with 802.11g (Airport Extreme). It's backwards compatible. Some slow down to b speed, you'll have to check with the routers manufacturer. If you're just using it for low-speed stuff and/or internet sharing, you'll be fine either way.

If you must have 802.11g, Apple's new Airport Extreme card will not fit in the old slot. You'll have to buy the ethernet bridge or a PCI card that's Mac compatible. I believe XLR8YourMac had some info on it. You can buy the cards from someone. I forget who.

You'll have to check around at some Mac resellers.