Apple iMac G4 1.25GHz

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Ubiquie

25 posts

Geek

#23268 24-Jun-2008 08:50

Can someone please assist with the following, I'm not 'Mac aware'?

Does the Apple iMac G4 1.25GHz have wireless built in? The spec on c|net says it's Airport Extreme ready. Does this mean that the iMac needs an additional card, or, only connects to an AirPort Extreme, will it connect to a AirPort Express?

My niece has an iMac and wants to move it to the other end of the house, and connect to the DSL router. Will a USB adapter and wireless router combination work?

Appreciate any assistance.

gehenna

6108 posts

Uber Geek

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#140120 24-Jun-2008 10:23

A great site for checking specs of older (and current) Macs is Everymac.com...

The one you've ased about is: http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/stats/imac_1.25_17_fp.html

It has support for 802.11g wireless networking. At the time this Mac came out the Airport Extreme only went up to 802.11g - as opposed to the current Airport Extreme which uses 802.11n. However, it doesn't mean you have to explicitly use an Airport. You can connect to any 802.11g wireless network. Do you know what operating system is installed? If it is Panther you may have issues connecting to WPA networks, and would need to stick to WEP networking at home. Otherwise if it is Tiger or later it should allow you to connect to both types, with WPA being the preferred option.

Madmax77

152 posts

Master Geek

#140128 24-Jun-2008 10:57

Another way to check if you have an Airport card installed is to click on the Apple logo in the top left of the screen, select About this Mac > More Info. Under the Contents list expand the Network menu item (if it's not already) and click on Airport card. If there is one installed it will have the card type, Locale, Firmware version and current wireless network showing. If it doesn't have one installed it will have 'No information found' displayed. It's pretty easy to install an airport card, they are about $120 from the Apple online shop. From memory, it wasn't until Mac transitioned to Intel that they started shipping all units with Airport cards installed. They tended to be on the higher end Powerbooks etc (even the Power Mac didn't come with airport standard!)

Hope this helps.

Matt

Ubiquie

25 posts

Geek

#140229 24-Jun-2008 17:33

Thanks to you both, I will have Mich check it out.

Thanks
John

MattD

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#141787 1-Jul-2008 09:14

Installing the Airport Extreme card in a G4 iMac is relatively easy (it is a user upgrade) Just remove the screws on the bottom plate and you see two slots, one for RAM and one for the airport card.

In addition to the AppleStore, the Airport Extreme card can be picked up for approx $70-80 from various sites (eg TradeMe, online computer stores)

As this is only 802.11g we have this iMac connecting to an older Netgear WGR614 (g) without any issues, and streams video over front row (rest of network runs 'n' off AEBS).

MattD

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#141791 1-Jul-2008 09:22

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=26264

The above link refers to the 1.0GHz iMac and an Airport Extreme but should be the same. (actually the USB2.0 model is probably yours)

PDF instructions - EN

http://www.info.apple.com/usen/cip/pdf/imac/imacfp.1ghz-apc-cip.pdf