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PHoynak · Feb 27, 2006, 05:46 PM

I am going to get my daughter a used iMac G3. She only needs it for internet and school work. I can't see spending close to $150 for an Airport card and the adapter for it. Can't I jsut by an wireless ethernet bridge and use that to connect to her mom's Netgear router?

Any suggestions on what kind the the price I can expect to find?

Thanks

Macola · Feb 27, 2006, 05:50 PM

I just ordered this one from ZipZoomFly for exactly the same reasons as you. I have a Proxim Skyline USB adapter that works fine in OS 9 but not in OS X. Tried hacking a Belkin driver but no go.

I'll post back when I receive it and try it out, but this was the best price I could find on a new model.

Macola · Mar 2, 2006, 11:09 PM

Well, finally got it set up. It was definitely *not* plug and play...

The default IP was on a different subnet than my network, so I had to change it. But to change the IP, I had to use a PC and run the utility on the CD (for some reason, I couldn't access the web interface on using either my Macs or PC). The utility kept stalling when it tried to find the bridge, finally a reboot of the PC helped.

Then I discovered that, for the utility to do anything, I had to actually have the bridge connected to a wireless network, and have security disabled!!! Even after doing so, my network SSID never showed up in the list, but I managed to click through and finish the setup to change the IP address of the bridge. After that, I could access and finish configuring it through a web browser.

In short, I wouldn't recommend this product. To be honest, I haven't used any other wireless Ethernet bridges, so maybe they're all this bad.

ghporter · Mar 3, 2006, 09:37 AM

Sorry it was such a hassle. I believe you could have skipped the PC part, just wired straight to the thing with a Mac, and used your browser to configure it-even including the part about changing the default IP. I can't say for sure, because Netgear's site is not being cooperative in letting me download the manual... But most devices will let you log in (on their current subnet) and make these changes, and all you have to do to make it work is to get your computer's ethernet card set to the right subnet and a compatible address.

From what I've seen other people say about their wireless bridge experiences, yours is not that far off the mark and also not too bad. Some have been much more trouble to set up. I should also point out that a lot of people stick to the same brand when they buy more wireless devices, and that's usually not necessary; as long as it's a standards-compliant device it shouldn't matter, so you can often find better deals, easier device setup, or some combination. Sorry you had problems, but I'm glad it's working for you.

Macola · Mar 3, 2006, 11:24 AM

Originally Posted by ghporter

Sorry it was such a hassle. I believe you could have skipped the PC part, just wired straight to the thing with a Mac, and used your browser to configure it-even including the part about changing the default IP.

That would make sense. My main complaint was the manufacturer's marketing--the device would definitely not live up to the claim of "just plug it in and it works" on most home networks.

Actually, I had planned on getting the Linksys WET11, but this one was cheaper. Still, now that it's up and running, I think it will be fine, and probably more stable than a USB adapter (if I could even find one with Mac-compatible drivers). And I was happy with the end result--my daughter can finally use her iMac for web browsing and such in OS X, still boot into OS 9 for old games, and stay off my wife's PowerBook

John Strung · Mar 3, 2006, 03:08 PM

Wireless bridges will generally only "plug-and-play" with routers of the same brand, or at least routers that use the same default subnet. Otherwise, you have to set a computer to a fixed IP address in the same subnet as the bridge, then change the bridges default IP to on in the same subnet as the router.