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jasonscott71 · Sep 10, 2006, 07:51 AM

I have a G4 iMac 800Mhz and it has always been wired to the internet, but now for the first time, I want to put it in a location where it's not feasible to hard wire it, so I need to get it wireless. My Mac only allows Airport cards, not Airport Extreme. So that's not an option.

Ideally, I'd like to get a USB adapter for my 802.11g network but when I went shopping for it, I couldn't find one that has drivers for Mac OS X (I'm running 10.3.9). They all said Windows. Even Apple.com's store doesn't offer *any* USB adapters for 802.11g. I really need g instead of b since the whole network is already g and b would cause interference.

Help! What should I do? Does anyone know if a USB wireless 802.11g adapter exists that I can get Mac drivers for? USB 2.0 preferred obviously.

I'd hate to have to buy a new Mac just so I can use Airport Extreme!

Thanks, Jason

SWFan · Sep 11, 2006, 01:43 PM

Your only choice is to use a wireless to wired bridge. And unfortunately, most of those require the base station and the bridge to be from the same manufacturer. I have had great results with the Buffalo Tech line of products.

The way these bridges work is you have a main base station, then you have a bridge or another base station in bridge mode near the non-wireless computer. You plug the bridge into your computer's Ethernet port and set the bridge to join the main base station wireless network. This is also referred to as a Wireless Distribution System (WDS).

If your existing wireless base station offers WDS features, then all you need to do is buy one of their bridgeable devices and place it near the iMac and set it up to join your existing wireless network.

jasonscott71 · Sep 14, 2006, 12:56 PM

OK, that seems like the only solution. Are you saying there is no USB adapter option for Mac? Does Apple not allow this? I'm really surprised.

Thanks SWFan, it appears that is indeed my only otpion. I have a Lynksis so I guess I will have to get a bridge from them as well--same manufacturer huh?

SWFan · Sep 14, 2006, 01:02 PM

Its not that Apple forbids it, its just that all USB devices require drivers and unfortunately there are quite a few wireless chipsets so its impossible to design one universal driver to cover them all without a lot of work. At this point Apple has chosen not to write their own USB wireless drivers, so its up to the vendor providing the USB device to write the driver. Last I had looked no one was providing OS X drivers, only Windows drivers.

You may try Google searching as someone might have finally decided to write an OS X driver that will get one or two particular devices to work under OS X.

lodom · Sep 14, 2006, 02:16 PM

Has anyone tried one of these:
Core Computers
or one of these:
Mac Wireless Apple Airport Card USB 802.11 Adapters
??

rsandborn1 · Sep 14, 2006, 02:30 PM

IOXPERTS has some drivers for USB Stick wifi adapters... i used there driver for a belkin on my iMac G3 worked rather well..

IOXperts

ghporter · Sep 14, 2006, 04:36 PM

USB wireless devices are poo in general, and moreso for Macs. While they are cheap, they tend to be slow (negating the 802.11G capability) and they are not always easy to use, even on PCs.

A wireless bridge, on the other hand, has the advantage of needing NO drivers, since it works like any other ethernet device. And since you're talking about a desktop computer, the fact that you're adding another box to the mix is not a problem. The only problem with wireless bridges is that they are often pricey. But search for "wireless bridge ethernet" in Google and you'll see a LOT of products. This hit on the second page of my search was quite interesting.

jasonscott71 · Oct 4, 2006, 02:31 AM

Thanks for the comments--I have learned a thing or two. I have decided to take the wireless bringd approach. For now, I am usng my PC laoptop, which connects wirelessly, as the temprary bridge. I connect it via ethernet cable to the Mac and it's online as long as the PC is. It's a bit cumbersome so I am going to buy a dedicated bridge so my computer cae offline sometimes and I can still be on with the Mac.

Thanks again.

silivestru · Oct 12, 2006, 12:23 PM

Originally Posted by jasonscott71

Thanks for the comments--I have learned a thing or two. I have decided to take the wireless bringd approach. For now, I am usng my PC laoptop, which connects wirelessly, as the temprary bridge. I connect it via ethernet cable to the Mac and it's online as long as the PC is. It's a bit cumbersome so I am going to buy a dedicated bridge so my computer cae offline sometimes and I can still be on with the Mac.

Thanks again.

Jason, try these 2: Belkin F5D7050 or Zonet ZEW2501. You could find them under $15.