iMac G3 Airport network problems

[Zingo2000]

Hi! My friend has a iMac G3 with the id Powermac4,1 with a Airport Card.

When he is trying to connect to his wireless network he gets the error message: There was a error joining the Airport network xxx

The router he is using is a Motorola NVG510.

What do you guys think the problem is?

Best regards Marcus

 

[Schmoburger]

Could be a simple matter of protocol incompatibility, as there are a LOT of non-Apple routers on the market that Airport cards simply will not negotiate a connection with. Basically unless it's an Airport base station you are using, it's hit and miss as to whether the router will support an 11b Airport connection. I think Airport Extreme is a tad more compatible, but an iMac I dont beleive has any way of supporting this. There is also the possibility that the Airport card is simply on the way out, as they are failing quite a bit these days.

Personally, I think your best bet would be to find a Mac-supported external USB WiFi dongle to connect with, as it will likely give you a lot less headaches. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell you which models may be compatible as I simply went to a wired connection when Airport became too hard.

 

[CC_333]

There is also the possibility that the Airport card is simply on the way out, as they are failing quite a bit these days.

You know, I wonder if there's a capacitor inside that's causing them to fail??

The infernal things are failing in just about everything else these days, so I wouldn't be surprised.

c

 

[Schmoburger]

Highly likely I'd say... everything else Apple made in that era had cheap rubbish caps etc so I see no reason the Airport card would be an exception. lol

 

[bibilit]

Maybe an error concerning Wireless protection, WEP will work, but anything younger will be more difficult.

 

[Macdrone]

Router probably is wep2 and original airport only supports WEP.

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

http://pure-mac.com/appud.html#airport

You have the latest Airport version installed?

 

[Schmoburger]

Router probably is wep2 and original airport only supports WEP.

Yep this was also my immediate thought too, before even considering hardware failure... very common cause of problems for those trying to use early Airport on modern networks. You are more likely to find a router that doesnt support WEP than one that does these days so Airport is realistically useless except for intrinsic novelty value if you happen to have a base station.

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

Highly likely I'd say... everything else Apple made in that era had cheap rubbish caps etc so I see no reason the Airport card would be an exception. lol

In this case Apple didn't make the cards, they're just Lucent cards with an Apple logo.

 

[Zingo2000]

Thanks for all the answers.