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Dixie Chick

Q: Help for New Apple Mac User

I purchased an Apple Clamshell G3 laptop for my daughter along with an Airport Card and an Airport Hub. I am clueless and Not sure How to get these things to work together to make the internet work with a DSL home line. Can someone please help?

Apple Clamshell G3 laptop, Mac OS 9.0.x, blue and white

Posted on May 13, 2008 7:53 AM

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Q: Help for New Apple Mac User

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  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder May 13, 2008 8:36 AM in response to Dixie Chick
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    May 13, 2008 8:36 AM in response to Dixie Chick
    Welcome to Apple Discussions!

    There is a lot of information available on these subjects, but I expect you want to solve your own narrow problem, not develop expertise on this general issue. To better focus the information provided, you can you tell the readers about your existing equipment (which also helps us understand your experience with networking:

    Do you have other computers already connected to your DSL Line?
    which ones, and how are they connected: {One Ethernet cable to ONE other computer, Ethernet cables to my ISP's Router, Ethernet cables to MY Router, Another wireless Router}

    What speed is that Clamshell iBook running at, and how much RAM memory does it have?

    Most Airport Base Stations have an optional phone jack and one or two Ethernet ports. Does yours have one Ethernet port or two?

    Message was edited by: Grant Bennet-Alder
  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder May 13, 2008 9:00 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 9 (60,884 points)
    Desktops
    May 13, 2008 9:00 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Here is the procedure for installing the Airport card. it goes under the keyboard.

    Note carefully that in illustration 6, the wire retainer is at the END of the fully-inserted card. If the shoulders of the wire retainer are pressing on the printed label on the card, the card is not fully inserted.

    58535- iBook: Installing or Replacing the AirPort Card
  • by Dixie Chick,

    Dixie Chick Dixie Chick May 15, 2008 7:27 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 15, 2008 7:27 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Yes, I have another computer connected to the dsl line. It is a Gateway computer and it is connected through Ethernet cable and a router.

    I will have to check the speed and the RAM.

    The Base Station has one Ethernet port.
  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder May 15, 2008 7:55 AM in response to Dixie Chick
    Level 9 (60,884 points)
    Desktops
    May 15, 2008 7:55 AM in response to Dixie Chick
    If you have a pre-existing Router, that makes everything much easier. There are two ways you could proceed:

    A) Hook up the iBook to an Ethernet port on your Router first, to demonstrate that it can be hooked up and can connect to the Internet. This reduces the complexity later, when you can't connect for some reason and the list of reasons is really long. This is the way I would recommend, because you will see some success right away, and can have an easier time debugging just the Airport connection later.

    B) proceed directly to Airport. This way is much more complex, and may requires debugging in multiple areas at once. When it does not connect to the Internet, it is not clear where the problem lies, as a lot of new things were introduced at once.
  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder May 15, 2008 8:03 AM in response to Dixie Chick
    Level 9 (60,884 points)
    Desktops
    May 15, 2008 8:03 AM in response to Dixie Chick
    As long as you have a pre-existing Router, using that Airport base Station should not present a problem. Airport Base Stations are very flexible, and can act either as a Router or as a "Wireless Access Point". You will want to set it up as a "Wireless Access Point". It should NOT be configured to supply IP Addresses with DHCP \[that turns it into a Router and confuses your whole Network].. You will cable its Ethernet port into your Router as if it were another Computer, and it will probably be easier to configure it using its Ethernet connection rather than "over the Air".
  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder May 15, 2008 8:15 AM in response to Dixie Chick
    Level 9 (60,884 points)
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    May 15, 2008 8:15 AM in response to Dixie Chick
    If you choose option A above (temporarily connecting via Ethernet) you may find this article helpful:

    106867- Mac OS 9: How to Connect to the Internet via Cable, DSL, or Local Area Network (LAN)

    That same Ethernet cable should be useable later to connect your Airport Base Station to the Router, and by then you will know that the Router port and the cable have been tested and are working.
  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder May 15, 2008 8:34 AM in response to Dixie Chick
    Level 9 (60,884 points)
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    May 15, 2008 8:34 AM in response to Dixie Chick
    The .pdf manual that can be downloaded using this article is very helpful at understanding all issues related to Airport Base Station use in Mac OS 9. The manual is 30+ pages, but you can skip major sections because you are not using Dial-Up, and not using the Airport base Station as your Router, you are "Connecting to an Existing Ethernet Network" as described on page 24 and following:

    75138- Designing AirPort Networks for Mac OS 9 Document
  • by Dixie Chick,

    Dixie Chick Dixie Chick May 29, 2008 2:04 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 29, 2008 2:04 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Okay. I am going to try this and post any questions that I may have or report hopefully that it is working. Thanks.
  • by SafeArk,

    SafeArk SafeArk Jun 15, 2008 9:29 PM in response to Dixie Chick
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 15, 2008 9:29 PM in response to Dixie Chick
    Hello,
    I to need help will anything to do with the clamshell.
    I bought my first mac one year ago. Its a imac and I just love it.
    I even bought a used (much older) imac after that as a second computer.
    Recently, bought a used G3 indigo ibook.
    Need lots of help with this as I never had a laptop before.
    I get how to run it. What I need to know is where the plug in's go. It came with a yo-yo power cord. The battery is working good, but I need to recharge...help please and point me to a site or discussion for the G-3 ibook.
    For future reference - can new batteries be bought for this model still? Where?
    Thank you in advance.
    Tracy
    <post edited by host>
    PS it has a airport card installed, I run high speed cable. I have the cable companys modem.
  • by Jan Hedlund,

    Jan Hedlund Jan Hedlund Jun 14, 2008 3:45 PM in response to SafeArk
    Level 6 (9,889 points)
    Jun 14, 2008 3:45 PM in response to SafeArk
    Tracy,

    Could this (the correct model?) web page be of interest? Also, this manual (direct download) contains basic information about the original iBook computer. The iBook (colours) forum can be found here.

    Jan