iBook G3 "Clamshell" Ethernet Connection

Hey everone! I am new to asking questions in the community, as I normally just browse and find what I am looking for.

However - I am having serious issues with my recently-acquired iBook G3 "Clamshell" which I want to restore to normal functionality and use as a collectors piece/word processor w/ basic internet browsing....

I am having, pardon my language, a heck of a time getting this thing online.

First - about the setup. This is the original "Clamshell" iBook running a PowerPC 750 300Mhz Processor. It came with 32MB of on-board RAM which I upgraded to 544MB utilizing a 512MB PC66 memory upgrade. I carefully swapped out the 3GB Hard Drive with a 40GB Hard Drive.

Before installing the new hard drive, I was messing around with System 8.6, upgraded to System 9.2.2, and installed the 4.1.7 firmware update. I then attempted to plug into my router. The router indicated no activity via flashing lights, and the iBook continued to hold an internal self-assigned IP address. I kind of figured that the newer routers may have issues connecting to the antiquated hardware found in the iBook.

I did a clean install of OX 10.3 - still no internet connectivity. I succumbed to the belief that the port was simply shot - I would have to find an Airport card and switch my network to WPA Personal, or find a compatible USB 1.1 Wireless Adapter (which I want to avoid, as I am to understand that with the adapters, all of the processing is done on the iBook, resulting in processor and memory usage in an environment that is already low in power).

Well, being the bull-headed individual I am, I did a force-install of OS X 10.4 using the Open Firmware hack of changing the model to PowerBook2,2. It runs just fine, albeit a little slower than I would prefer, but it works.

I ordered both an Airport card and USB 1.1 Ethernet adapter (it was fairly cheap on eBay).

In the meantime - I continued to be stubborn. I searched aimlessly online for help with my issues. Everything seems to have to do with Airport cards not connecting to a WPA2 network, not having the most up-to-date firmware, etc.

Well, I kept poking around in the network settings. I eventually went to System Preferences > Network > Show: Built-in Ethernet > Configure: Manually (Advanced)

I changed the speed to 10BaseT/UTP - half duplex. Nadda. 10BaseT/UTP - full duplex. Nadda. 100BaseTX - half duplex. Nadda. 100BaseTX - full duplex. What's this?! I have an IP address from my router! The network diagnostics are green all across the board. Great! Wonderful! The ethernet port works!

I pull open Safari - www.google.com - and wait. And wait. And wait. And wait. And wait. Ugh - the page won't load.

I open Software Update - "Checking for new software..." The progress bar sits at (10%?) for awhile until I finally get the error: "A networking error has occurred: timed out (-1001). Make sure you can connect to the internet, then try again."

Network diagnostics tells me everything is fine. Safari and Update say different.

I've poked around my router settings, even changing/disabling Wi Fi settings, giving the iBook a static IP and placing it in the DMZ, disabling WMM support, anything and everything I could think of!!!

What am I doing wrong? Is there something obvious I am missing?

Network setup: Charter Cable Modem connects to Linksys E1200 router (DHCP Server) which is hard-wired to my Windows 10 desktop - I then have a longish (nowhere near the maximum length for even the simplest of ethernet runs) Cat5 cable that goes from my back bedroom to the living room - there it connects to a Cisco Valet M10 wireless router (DHCP Server DISABLED). Both routers Wireless settings are set to the SAME SSID, SAME WPA Personal passwords) and are assigned channels 3 and 9 respectively (there are routers nearby on channels 1, 7, 12, and so on, so yes, I think I have the best frequencies selected).