Original iMac - wireless networking?

Any Mac with ethernet can go wireless, and doesn't need an Apple store.

I'm going to suggest you post this in the Networking area of the CRT (cathode ray tube).

Rick 🙂

...it's a question about whether the original turquoise iMac can be equipped for wireless networking... I'm asking on behalf of someone else, so I don't have specific info about the machine...

Have them run Apple System Profiler to learn the clock speed of the iMac.

There are 3 different blue colors used in iMacs: Bondi Blue, Blueberry, and Indigo.

If the iMac is 400 MHz or faster it has an internal AirPort card slot.

If the iMac is a 350 MHz Blueberry it also has an internal AirPort card slot.

If the iMac is a 350 MHz Indigo it does not have an internal AirPort card slot.

If the iMac is 333 MHz or less it does not have an itnernal AirPort card slot.

Another option is an Ethernet wireless adapter (like the Linksys WET11 or WET54G).

I have the original Bondi Blue iMac, with a tray loading cd drive, where airport is not supported. I got a new iMac G4, and wanted to use my old iMac for streaming music to my basement stereo, but didnt want to put wires through my house.

I went out and bought a Linksys WET-11 wireless bridge. This is basically a small box with an antenna on it that sends and receives wireless signals, but connects to your computer through an ethernet networking cable. so its a bridge between your wired computer, and your wireless network.

I just told my new iMac to share the internet through its Airport card, and programmed the wireless bridge to recieve it, and it works perfectly, doesnt require any special software.

Since then wireless networking has gotten faster, so the new linksys bridge is called the Linksys WET54G

hope everything works out well

iMac G3 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

I have two original Bondi Blue iMacs. One has system 9 with 96mg Ram, the other has system 8.1 with 32mg. They are both G3 with 233 mhz. I also have a G4 iMac, 800 mhz with 1gb, and a Mac mini with 512mb. I would like to link them all wirelessly, share a printer and connect to the internet. Is that possible?

I have Linksys router hooked into the back of big iMac which we use for a wireless connection with a newer Dell laptop (sorry-we don't really like it!) but is there any hardware, software I can get to link and make the Macs wireless? The Mac mini has Bluetooth but not Airport. The big iMac has neither.

Help?

Liz

Liz, you should really start a new thread. it helps keep individual threads on topic and easy to read.

Your bondi blue's can be connected to the network using an ethernet wireless bridge. Stay away from USB based adaptors, nothing but trouble. Ethernet will work seamlessly. plenty of previous threads about that.

The mac mini and G4 iMac could get an airport extreme card if you wanted, or another wireless bridge for each.

If all of these or some of these are in the same room, some routers can work as network extenders, so you could get a router like that, have it connect to the wireless network and then run wired connections to the macs from there.

W-

Sorry for not starting a new thread. Since I'm here now...

You said,

Your bondi blue's can be connected to the network
using an ethernet wireless bridge. Stay away from
USB based adaptors, nothing but trouble. Ethernet
will work seamlessly. plenty of previous threads
about that.

Can you give a product name or description for an ethernet wireless bridge?
At Comp USA today they tried to sell me a USB Wireless G adapter but the box said it only works with PCs.

Thanks, Liz

Linksys WET11 and WET54G are 2 Ethernet wireless adapters.

macsense.com also makes a cool device that connects through ethernet, but gets its power through USB, meaning it doens't need a wall outlet.

dlink and belkin also make ethernet bridges. I use a linksys WET11 and its been great. Especially considering the brand new dell laptop I have from work can't connect even when its only a few feet away.

I've mentioned this before but no-one has picked up on it.

why not use ethernet over power cables - the wiring is already built in to your house.

check this review from UK
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/02/03/reviewdevolo_highspeeddlan/

I was in my wholesaler this week and noticed he had a similar product from Netgear.

As the review points out - it's faster than wireless!

I use an aeropad plus usb wireless. It works great and found my linksys wap11 access point. The good thing about the usb device is that I can simply connect it to the ws7350 in the garage if i want to access from there. It was very cheap and it is 802.11b which is no problem.