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Can't connect PowerBook G4 to wireless network

My wife has brought home a PowerBook G4 from work. It cannot connect to my wireless network. I use a D-Link router. Airport shows full bars, but it does not connect. I was able to connect by plugging it in to ethernet cord. Is there something with this model that has to be changed to have it recognize a wireless connection?

PowerBook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Sep 13, 2009 9:38 AM

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Posted on Sep 13, 2009 8:49 PM

Try clicking on the Blue Apple in the top left corner if the desktop. Go to Location and see if you wireless network is listed, if so select it. If it is set to Automatic and your network is using DHCP then it should work.

Are you running any encryption like WEP?
12 replies

Dec 23, 2009 11:44 AM in response to Jeff Kash

Here are a couple of things to look at.
Go up to your Blue Apple upper left and click System Preferences, then select Network and make sure that Airport is selected, and drag it to the top and is Green.
Next go to the upper right on the menu bar then select the Airport Strength Icon and single click it and make sure that your particular NETWORK. Many when they are set up require you to log in with a username and password. This is the Routers Security so that not just any yahoo can log on to there network. It is either WEP WPA or WPA-2

Mar 10, 2010 8:03 PM in response to Donald Morgan

My Powerbook also stopped connecting to the internet today. It was working this morning and the computer was asleep all day, but when I came home to turn it on it would not connect wirelessly or through ethernet. I have DHCP set to automatic on both Airport and Ethernet, and I've retyped the password to my wireless numerous times. I've made sure the MAC address is registered with my wireless router (MAC filtering) and it is. I don't know where to go from here... it seems like it just randomly stopped working.

Help LOL

Mar 10, 2010 9:05 PM in response to Dinan

Sorry for the triple post... can't find the "Edit" button..

I have a Netgear router which is the main wireless router. The Powerbook cannot ping this router address (192.168.1.1). However, I have a second router set up as a bridge (Linksys) and I can ping this router address (192.168.1.2) from the Powerbook. I can also ping other computers on the network from the Powerbook. The Netgear (main wireless router) is the only address that does not send a response to the ping.

It seems as though my Netgear router has decided to stop recognizing/allowing my Powerbook to connect... That is the only thing I can see as of right now.

Mar 11, 2010 6:40 AM in response to Dinan

What happens when you open the airport admin utility? Does it show the the airport? My PB drops out from time to time, but it is usually fixed by resetting the Airport base station. Sometime just turning the airport off and on in the airport menu is enough.



BTW, the edit button is on the top right hand corner. It looks like a pencil and a piece of paper, hence 'edit'. 😉

Mar 11, 2010 5:10 PM in response to Silly rabbit

The AirPort Utility says it is used to find Apple wireless devices... not sure that is what I'm looking for.

I've tried turning Airport on/off and that doesn't solve the issue.

I finally found the edit button, but it disappears after a certain amount of time after you post 😉.

Not really sure what to do other than try the Powerbook on a different wireless network (or network completely, so that I can try ethernet as well). Maybe buy a new router since this wireless router is kind of old and I've been looking at replacing it anyways.

Apr 1, 2010 10:29 PM in response to Dinan

My wife's Powerbook suddenly lost the ability to get a DHCP address from my wifi router (Netgear N in mixed mode, runs dd-wrt). After trying to find out why I could open a web page on my router itself (ie, the router admin page at 192.168.0.1) but could not go to any internet site, I finally gave up and disabled DHCP. I supplied a static address in the range above the DHCP allocated addresses, plugged in the right subnet mask & gateway etc, and now voila! Safari can now access internet sites! I have no idea why the DHCP client would suddenly go brain dead but that appears to be what happened.

Apr 4, 2010 1:46 PM in response to Jeff Kash

I am having a somewhat similar problem with my PB. I am trying to connect to a brand new (2 weeks old) Netgear wireless router. When the security password protection is turned off I am able to connect without issue. Sadly, it is a shared connection, and security needs to be on. When the password function is on, I am unable to connect. I repeatedly get a message saying "there was an error joining the airport network __."

The password is correct. The signal from the router has been switched to "mixed", per "gobnay's" previous suggestion. And I am getting enough signal strength from the router. It is set to WPA Personal, and other Mac's (a newer MacBook Air, and MacBook) have had no problems connecting. Mine is an older model, PB G4 running 10.4.11 (hardware circa 2003). It seems to be a security problem, but I am otherwise stumped...

Can't connect PowerBook G4 to wireless network

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