Wireless iMac Help

[NibCrom]

Hi guys/gals,So my wife has an iMac that didn't come with a wireless card, and I've been trying to get it to connect wirelessly. I bought a USB wireless attachment but it doesn't work very well. It doesn't stay connected and it's generally just a piece of junk. What are my other options here? Install a wireless card? I couldn't find an official wireless USB attachment for Macs. Any help would be hot. Thanks!

[ou.grizzly]

Millster or CP are the Mac Guru's around here. If they do not see this post, you may want to send them a PM.

[northvibe]

oh mac mac!which usb did you buy? most dont work well with mac's unless its a brand that makes specific mac products. I can find you a good one..or which imac do you have? that will make it easier for me to find you one I'm a mac tech :Die. g3lampg5intel mac etc.proc and speed, help along with that goofy model name apple gives them

[Kari]

The airport card is the "official" wireless card for Macs. They all come with it preinstalled now but I believe you can still buy the card from Apple.com or an Apple store.

[NibCrom]

I'll get the exact specs of the model when I get home.

[northvibe]

if its a older mac, apple i dont think sells them any more. ie the wireless b card which would be in some g3 models and the lamp imac. The g5 and intel imac can use the airport extreme card. which apple does sell and is instock. The older card can be purchased online through ebay or other retailer though. What I have found is the mac airport cards do best as they have a built in antenna that is long. There are also some non apple cards that have the same chipset as the airport ones and they work as well but you have to make sure its the EXACT model and chipset... imo its worth it to have the apple airport.

[Whelan]

If your g3 with the 2.0 usb l47 adapter line is not connecting via the q5g then it could be a problem with your micro-pcm apple.quazar and it needs to be reconfigured to adopt the new 6.885147329-6 format.On a more serious note though. I had the issue of my wireless always dropping me at my house. Turns out the portable phones were confusing the wireless router and the signals would get mixed. I simply had my brother go and change the setting or frequency or whatever in the wireless linksys and now it works fine. Just a thought but if you have portable phones in the house (not cell), it could cause such a disruption.

[NibCrom]

It's a G5 running 10.3.9. What's my best option?

[ClunkClunk]

Pick up an Airport Extreme Card at either Apple or a reseller, or online. They should be about $50.As for installation, the iMac G5 is actually fairly easy. If you're comfortable doing your own install, Apple has a list of DIY instructions with all the models of iMac G5s listed.Once it's installed, the OS will auto detect it and allow you to join a network.

[NibCrom]

Thanks for the help guys. Looks like I'll be picking up one of these:http://store.apple.com/us/product/M8881LL/AI've searched before on the site for one of these, but could never find it. Oh well.

[northvibe]

you are lucky to have a g5 imac! the intel ones are sooooooo horrible to work on. I bet the manual in that apple link above shows it but you lay it on its monitor side, on a towel. Then undu like 2-3 Philips screws (they dont actually come out just loosen). Then the back folds up to the top of the pc. and BAM plug in card and antenna and you are set

[NibCrom]

You are right about the instructions. It should be a piece of cake.

[northvibe]

yes the g5 imac is my fav to work on...all others are totally horrific. When apple designs new mac's they need a technician with them, stupid engineers only care about how it looks on the outside and not how hard it is to get inside

[Kari]

I believe I read somewhere on Apple's site in the support stuff that every single part in the iMac G5 is user replaceable. I thought that was pretty cool. You can even replace the display yourself.

[NibCrom]

Wow, I didn't know you could replace the display. I'll have to keep that in mind if it ever goes out.

[northvibe]

every mac part is user replaceable just matters how far you want to dive into it. their special tools are so crazy. Ie. iphone special tool is a paper clip...yes they ship you a paper clip in a box... the special tool for the imac intel was a plain white plastic credit card that you had to bend and put a foam sticker on... innovative and cheap the parts on a g5 imac are crazy easy to replace any other one...takes lots of time, specially the new imac's WOW they suck, instead of the back you have to take the screen off first! then dive in.

[Kari]

Okay, I'll word it this way: Everything in the iMac G5 is user-replaceable in a manner endorsed by Apple.

[NibCrom]

Question:The instructions are for replacing an airport card, not installing it. Will my computer detect that it has been installed automatically? There's no chance that it would not have the antenna or something?

[ClunkClunk]

It will detect it automatically, and the antenna is already installed.

[NibCrom]

Sweeet.

[psiu]

my new (to me) imac G4 is currently tore apart on my desk (this is the wifey's desk) while I upgrade the ram, hard drive and optical drive, then slap a 10.4 install on it.Have a not apple pcmcia wireless card coming for it, only thing I might need to do is splice the antenna cord a little bit longer.I dont really need the wireless much but if I ever sell it that should raise the price a bit.

[NibCrom]

The install was a complete success. Thanks for your help guys/gals. Schrute bucks for everyone.

[psiu]

Quote, originally posted by NibCrom »The install was a complete success. Thanks for your help guys/gals. Schrute bucks for everyone.Mine was an epic debacle. New ram is BAD according to the Apple diagnostic cd, new dvd drive seems to be not quite vertically aligned right so it catches and doesn't always open and then close right, and I think I'm ust going to pull the laptop drive out ( I had to get the IDE adapter and then mount it in the brackets which were not quite lined up with Apples screw holes) and put the regular one in for now.The original Imac G4 btw, is a friggin bear to get apart and then back together. And yes, against my own better judgement I bought some el cheapo ram off ebay. Supposedly low density, but I think it's high density anyway. Need to check the ram chips online when I pop it open again.

[northvibe]

psiu - you have the lamp g4 imac right?Isnt the dvdrom in a plastic holder? I havent worked on one in maybe 2-2.5 years though. Otherwise it could be the issue of the door lining up. Ive had that SAME issue and it was just the way it was lined up not the drive itself. But sounds like you put a laptop drive inside instead? that would be hard to line up.Ram - yes the mac is VERY picky to what you put in. I would seriously recommend mac certified ram just so you dont have to deal with issues. Crucial.com is probably the best, cheapest ram for mac and its certified to work. Other ram "can" work, but it will not be guaranteed. haha yes the g4 imac is well worse than the g5 one. if you lay it on the monitor (on a towel) its fairly easy. I guess ive just done it to many times.

[ClunkClunk]

I wonder if the alignment issues are because you're putting a laptop style drive in a space meant for full sized IDE drives.PowerPC Macs are quite sensitive to RAM requirements, much more so than the Intel models.

[psiu]

It was a standard optical drive--just need to wiggle it a bit in place I think. The HD was a notebook model, fit into place in the bracket above optical drive. So they don't affect each other.Ram...sigh. I know better It was 512MB PC133, low density (supposedly--but only 8 chips).

[northvibe]

any reason on going to a laptop drive? They are slower and cost more than a standard one. Im serious on the speed part too, I have a mac mini that has a laptop drive and if booted off firewire hdd or a normal hdd the thing runs osX sooo much faster. Laptop drives just dont have the cache and rpms the big ones do. just a fyi.How did the wifi card install go?

[psiu]

Haven't gotten that card yet. Suspect I may need to extend the antenna cable a bit to reach the jack on the card (the standard airport card was a pcmcia card shorter than the standard ones, it didn't need the built in antennas which would normally stick out the side).Well the main reason for the laptop drive is that I have it already, and it's either new or factory refurb. It's only 5400 rpm, but does have a 8mb cache. Considering the speed of the rest of the system, it won't really slow things down much.I threw one in my laptop (P3 1.2Ghz) replacing the previous notebook drive with similar specs but old and it blew that one away.Boot times don't bother me too much, that's what standby and/or patience are for.Mostly though, because I had it sitting around...my bigger drives are all in use.