Wifi on a Mac

[_deano]

I want to connect a G4 Mac to a wireless network, but i'm not sure that i can just plug in a Netgear W111 USB device and get it working.
Not having that much experiance with macs can i buy any wifi USB adaptor and get it working with the wireless network already in the house or do i have to buy a specific Mac based wifi adaptor.

thanks
DJ

[PJR]

Not all of those Wifi USB sticks are mac compatible, so you'll want to check it carefully before buying.
However, internal apple wifi cards are only £30 now, so you would be infinitely better off getting one of those instead. As you'd have no driver issues and whatnot to worry about.
You don't say which model of mac you have, besides it being a G4, so again, you'd want to check the wireless card is the right one for it. But Apple only made 2 types, so it should not take a moment to check.

P,

[_deano]

PJR said:

Not all of those Wifi USB sticks are mac compatible, so you'll want to check it carefully before buying.
However, internal apple wifi cards are only £30 now, so you would be infinitely better off getting one of those instead. As you'd have no driver issues and whatnot to worry about.
You don't say which model of mac you have, besides it being a G4, so again, you'd want to check the wireless card is the right one for it. But Apple only made 2 types, so it should not take a moment to check.

P,

Thanks P, will take another look at the Mac tomorrow. I've found a linksys one for £18 from (dare i say it) PC World, USB and supports OS X, i can't remember what the OS was on the mac so i will need to check this again.
BTW do you have a link to the mac wifi cards?
thanks
DJ

[jeevescat]

I'd check the Mac as a lot of G4's came with an airport (WiFi) card pre-installed, which means it's a case of switch on, insert network password if one is used and off you go.

[jeevescat]

_deano said:

BTW do you have a link to the mac wifi cards?
thanks
DJ

http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjec

[_deano]

Just taken a look at the link. The case looks like a Mac Pro, but it's not new, hence why i was thinking it was the older IBM CPU G4 or maybe a G5.
thanks again for the help

[HiRich]

It's worth knowing exactly what machine & OS you have, and perhaps quite specifically (there may be several versions of a machine using the same or similar case).
First step is to start it up. If the apple top left is blue, you're on a flavour of OSX. If it's multi-coloured, it's pre-OSX.

Next, select "About This Mac from the Aple menu. It will quickly tell you the processor and OS flavour (e.g. OSX 10.3.9)

Third step is detail.
In OSX, open System Profiler (Applications/Utilities)
In pre-OSX, System Profiler will be in the Apple menu.

This will tell you:
Processor type and speed
Model Name
Serial Number
It should also indicate if an Airport card is already installed.

To trace the exact model type, go to www.lowendmac.com, and search specs (keep System Profiler open to cross-check information). This will tell you exactly which model type and year you have. Suitably armed, you can now work out if it will take a current Airport card (some earlier models used cards no longer produced), and/or check whether that PCWorld model supports your flavour of OS.

[_deano]

thank you for the help