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ibook g4 and wireless
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Photo678
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Dec 27, 2003, 05:55 PM
 
Ughh

Hi everyone i am a new convert to the mac world and love my new ibook.

I need a few questions answered if nobody minds.

I recently purchased a dlink wireless USB dongle to tap into my wireless router. Everything was fine for a bit and now it just freezes up the system. After searching the net, I found out this is a common problem. My questions are, is anybody using a wirelss usb dongle succesfully under panther? If os, what brand?

Second question, if I get an airport card and install it in the book, do I need a base station or can I just tap into my existing wirelss router.

Any suggestions would be appreciated, and if you can give me some ideas for making this book wireless for relatively cheap I would give you yummy cookies.

Thanks all
     
John Strung
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Dec 27, 2003, 06:14 PM
 
An airport card should be able to connect to any wireless router.
     
si_lance
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Dec 27, 2003, 10:59 PM
 
Strung is right, but here is a little more information. The iBook G4, unlike the iBook G3, takes the Airport Extreme card which is a 802.11g card. It is a standard, and not some Apple proprietary format. Any wireless router that supports 802.11x (I say x because the extreme card can do both the faster g spec, and slower, but cheaper, b spec) will be compatible with the Apple Extreme card. So in a word, GO! What are you waiting for? Nothing like computing with no wires!

btw, sell that ugly USB dongle to someone with a PC because the internal (no need to waste the USB port) is the way to go.
     
Photo678  (op)
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Dec 28, 2003, 02:01 AM
 
Thanks so much for the feedback.

The reason I got the dongle was to save a few bucks ( i thought I needed a card and the base station)

All things being equal, the range on the dongle was actually quite good.


But again, thanks for all the advice, I will return the dongle tommorow, and hook myself up with an AE card.
     
Photo678  (op)
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Dec 28, 2003, 03:45 PM
 
I should add to this that had it not been for the aqua emulation scene, I would never have made the switch.
     
ClaraT
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Apr 2, 2004, 10:03 AM
 
Originally posted by si_lance:
Strung is right, but here is a little more information. The iBook G4, unlike the iBook G3, takes the Airport Extreme card which is a 802.11g card. It is a standard, and not some Apple proprietary format. Any wireless router that supports 802.11x (I say x because the extreme card can do both the faster g spec, and slower, but cheaper, b spec) will be compatible with the Apple Extreme card. So in a word, GO! What are you waiting for? Nothing like computing with no wires!

btw, sell that ugly USB dongle to someone with a PC because the internal (no need to waste the USB port) is the way to go.

This post/forum has helped me, too as I am also new to wireless networking. Thanks.

So if I have the airport extreme card (ibook G4) I'm best to go with a 802.11g wireless router, but if I did get an 802.11b wireless router, that would work, also?

Is one better/more stable than the other? I've read alot of posts that recommend the Netgear MR814 802.11b. I'm only going to use this for internet.

Appreciate more info.

ClaraT
     
Mrjinglesusa
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Apr 2, 2004, 10:03 PM
 
Yes, a "b" router will work with your AE card. I have a LinkSys "b" router and AE card in my iBook G4 and it works fine. I would go with a "g" router just for the faster speeds and most current protocol. Thinking of giving my LinkSys router to my father-in-law and getting one myself.
     
ginoledesma
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Apr 3, 2004, 01:22 AM
 
The key word, as someone mentioned earlier, is "should." There are older 802.11b access points that don't work well with the Airport Extreme. Case in point is the Nokia A032, as noted in the incompatibility thread. I think this was one of Nokia's first release of wireless routers. It was originally a 2Mbps router, but a firmware update brought it to 11Mbps with certified WiFi compatibility. Unfortunately, no Airport Extreme card, no matter how close to the access point, even knows its there. Apps like KisMAC and MacStumbler don't pick up the signal at all. However, Airport cards and other cards work well with it. I'm not sure if this is an isolated case with the Airport Extreme or if it affects other Broadcom-based 802.11g chips as well.
     
ClaraT
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Apr 3, 2004, 10:12 AM
 
Originally posted by ginoledesma:
The key word, as someone mentioned earlier, is "should." There are older 802.11b access points that don't work well with the Airport Extreme. Case in point is the Nokia A032, as noted in the incompatibility thread. I think this was one of Nokia's first release of wireless routers. It was originally a 2Mbps router, but a firmware update brought it to 11Mbps with certified WiFi compatibility. Unfortunately, no Airport Extreme card, no matter how close to the access point, even knows its there. Apps like KisMAC and MacStumbler don't pick up the signal at all. However, Airport cards and other cards work well with it. I'm not sure if this is an isolated case with the Airport Extreme or if it affects other Broadcom-based 802.11g chips as well.

Ok, I've purchased the Netgear WGR614 Wireless router 802.11g. Paid $89 at Best Buy with a $40 rebate, so it will be $49 net.

Will let everyone know how it goes after I set it up. As I've never done wireless before it will be a new adventure. I've got no prior experience to compare it to, so this is truly beginner's mind

Hopefully I'll be reporting back to you from the living room upstairs after the promised "easy install."

thanks,

ClaraT
     
John Strung
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Apr 3, 2004, 01:50 PM
 
You will find an obscure setting in the Netgear setup for Short or Long Preamble. Make sure you set it Long Preamble or your Airport card may have trouble connecting.
     
Mrjinglesusa
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Apr 3, 2004, 10:56 PM
 
Just upgraded my LinkSys 802.11b router to a refurbished D-Link DI-624 802.11g router from eBay for $46.00. I just like the idea of having the latest standard and faster speeds to go with my AE card in my 14" iBook. The old LinkSys will go to my father-in-law with a PCMCIA wireless card I picked up on eBay as well to go in the old Dell Inspiron 3200 running Windows 2000 my wife and I are giving him. So I guess everyone will be happy (except him who is stuck with a Windows based PC). Will post update when I get the new router about speed differences, stability, etc. between 802.11b and g routers connecting to AE cards...
     
ginoledesma
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Apr 4, 2004, 10:45 AM
 
Originally posted by John Strung:
You will find an obscure setting in the Netgear setup for Short or Long Preamble. Make sure you set it Long Preamble or your Airport card may have trouble connecting.
This is gone in the v4.04 firmware of the WGR614v4. The one that shipped with my WGR614v4 did not allow me to update the settings at all (the JavaScript dialog box would display a blank message with just the OK button). Be sure to update to that version to avail of the new WPA encryption scheme, which works really well with the Airport Extreme. I'm experiencing better performance with this new update over the older one.
     
ClaraT
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Apr 5, 2004, 01:39 PM
 
Originally posted by ginoledesma:
This is gone in the v4.04 firmware of the WGR614v4. The one that shipped with my WGR614v4 did not allow me to update the settings at all (the JavaScript dialog box would display a blank message with just the OK button). Be sure to update to that version to avail of the new WPA encryption scheme, which works really well with the Airport Extreme. I'm experiencing better performance with this new update over the older one.
Hi,

Well I got the Netgear WGR 614 v4 (Best Buy) going and I'm wireless---sort of. I think I might have made the installation more difficult than it was. I kept looking for prompts and messages to tell me that the install was successful and that I was now wireless but never saw any of these--just decided to unplug the ethernet cable and found out I was still hooked up.

Today I'm having intermittent problems with sending email via wireless and am wondering if this is true for others. In fact, I haven't been able to submit to this forum via wireless and some webpages will not open.

Here's what's going on: Verizon DSL is my outgoing mail. Sometimes my outgoing email goes and sometimes it doesn't. (Incoming no problem) Been on the phone w/3 different Verizon techs and the last one believes the problem is that my modem/router from Verizon and the Netgear router are competing for the IP address. That Netgear router is not getting all the info.

He thinks the Netgear is set for DCHP and the Verizon is set for PPO OE. Before I get too deep into this thought I'd post here first.

I'll be sending this via my Verizon modem/router box to ensure that it goes as it hasn't been able to via wireless. Hope this makes some sense to someone.

Thanks,

ClaraT
     
Reddog99
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Apr 5, 2004, 07:11 PM
 
Netgear has several "Help" pages available which may assist you.
Netgear WR614 support

Pat
     
   
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