You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

User profile for user: Lesterjet
Lesterjet Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Imac PowerG4 with no Air Port unable to connect to internet via LAN

Hi

I have an old iMac PowerG4 working on Mac OS X 10.3.9. It does not have an Air Port. I have connected a LAN cable to it in hope of reaching the web. This used to work via a dial up modem. If I go to network settings it does see the LAN connection but nothing comes up over the browser. I bought a USB wifi adapter but cannot run the setup for the adapter. I used a usb key to import the driver but it tells me it cannot open it since it cannot confirm the certificate. Same goes if i want to update safari via the usb key.


Before anyone tells me to check the LAN cable, I have tried 3 which all work with something connected to them.


Any help would be appreciated otherwise its going to the recycling plant.


cheers

iMac (M1, 2021)

Posted on Nov 23, 2024 6:45 PM

Reply
6 replies
User profile for user: Jan Hedlund
Jan Hedlund
User level: Level 7
23,419 points

Nov 24, 2024 9:12 AM in response to Lesterjet

Using an Ethernet cable connection from the Mac to one of the LAN ports of your home Wi-Fi router is probably the only practical way in a case like this.


Alternatively, you could connect a Wi-Fi range extender with wireless Ethernet bridge capabilities (Edimax EW-7438RPn Mini is just one example) to the Ethernet port of the Mac. This would allow you to use a wireless connection to the Wi-Fi router (without the need for drivers).


A USB Wi-Fi adapter would need appropriate drivers, which are difficult to find for Mac OS X 10.3 Panther.


However, as dialabrain also indicated, the web browsers compatible with Mac OS X 10.3 Panther cannot be expected to handle modern, secure (https) web pages. The few remaining plain http pages (for instance, knubbelmac.de) may still work, though.


If you want to test different web browsers, see the following tip by a brody:

Browsers by Mac operating system - Apple Community

Reply

Imac PowerG4 with no Air Port unable to connect to internet via LAN

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.
Learn more Sign up