Unable to connect Blueberry PowerPC G3 to wireless network - error message 'invalid password'

Not sure about your original password problem, but your blueberry imac (i have the same model) will run all the way up into tiger. (10.4.11 to be exact) you might have to have airport too.... But scince you bought the time macine you probaby already took care of that.

Just tryin to help.

So if I'm on 10.7.5 (on my primary machine- an iMac) and my blueberry is way back on OS 9.5, will it not recognize the network? ANY network?

Your problem, hardware or software, may not be exactly the same as that of the original poster of this older thread, and it can be very confusing for everybody if we try to answer more than one question in each thread, which can also result in you applying the wrong advice to your particular problem.

In order for us to give your problem our proper attention to try to solve it, would you kindly start your own thread, describing the trouble you are having in the fullest detail, including completing your details to show what Mac or iDevice you are using, what operating system, and what version of the application in question. Please remember to post in the forum relevant to your hardware or version of OS X. A full list of all the support forums is here:

http://discussions.apple.com/index.jspa

Your problem is the iMac G3 does not support 802.11g Airport card or higher. That is necessary for connecting to WPA2 encrypted networks. Old WEP encrypted networks are easy to break into. So if you want any password protection, because your wireless router is less than 1500 feet/500 meters from the nearest person who my sniff into your network, you'll want an alternative WiFi connection device for the iMac G3. The iMac G3 thankfully will hook up to the LAN port of most WiFi routers, and there are also WiFi routers that have WDS distribution systems that can echo your connection to another part of the house, so you can put a WiFi ethernet bridge right at your computer if it is otherwise too far from the place in your house that brings the internet in. Not to mention 802.11b, which the iMac G3 supports with the original airport card is only 11 Mbps. And that's going to be slowest link in the chain of wireless devices on your network, making your wireless network very slow at home if there are multiple computers on it. Ethernet at least supports up 100 Mbps. 802.11n gives you up to 300 Mbps, but the improvement in speed is not noticeable on internet connections. Only when you are streaming to AppleTVs do you really start to notice the difference between 802.11g and 802.11n, and file sharing large files across your local area network.

Your Time Machine may see the iMac G3 if its file sharing is setup correctly on the same network, but you will not be able to restore the data directly to it while accessing the Time Machine from the iMac G3. The problem is the iMac G3 maxes at 10.4.11 if it has Firewire, and you need 10.5 or higher to access the Time Machine's own airport software. Older iMac G3s without Firewire only support USB, 10.3.9, and no external Mac OS X booting.

What about a Wifi USB adapter for the Blueberry iMac?

Such as the LW-06-8192 300M Wireless USB Adapter, available from multiple sources:

http://www.amazon.com/LW-06-8192-300M-Wireless-Adapter-Black/dp/B00CPB8PKO

That may work with the right drivers, but, you only have USB 1.1 speeds of 15 Mbps, making it the slowest device on the network.

Well that machine will always be hobbled by the only ports being the USB 1.1 ports and not yet offering Firewire.

However, to the extent that a USB WiFi module can be made to work with that machine, it will allow for connectivity to WiFi-G and perhaps WiFi-N and access to WPA security in passwords in lieu of WEP.

Claude Crider wrote:

I have just purchased a TimeMachine and am using it as wireless network. All the devices in the house (2 Mac laptops, 2 droid phones) are successfully connected.

My old Blueberry won't connect. The message it gives me is 'invalid password'.

The Blueberry is running 10.3.9. I don't think I can upgrade past that because it is a PowerPC G3.

Do I need to do some sort of conversion for the password?

Hi Claude Crider,

Sadly, any Mac running any OS under 10.4 cannot correctly communicate with our AirPort base stations (and Time Capsules!). There are two solutions. The first is not recommended because it is not secure, but it's to disable the password for your Time Capsule. Then your iMac should communicate just fine. In fact, Mac OS 9.0 or later works with this, too. But you should be able to upgrade to 10.4. Installing 10.4 is the best solution here. It can communicate just fine with modern Wi-Fi networks. But you do need 256 MB or RAM or more. I would recommend 512 MB. You may already have this (check at "About this Mac"), but you may need to upgrade. Your iMac should take 512 MB. You can look up upgrading instructions. 10.4 is very stable and fast, and I think you'll enjoy the upgrade. Oh, and one more think. If you want to back up your iMac with Time Machine, you're out of luck. 10.5 is the first version with Time Machine, and it doesn't support the G3. I think you should be able to connect to your Time Capsule as an external hard drive, though.

Hope this helps,

-HFTaylor12