802.11b with 8.6

[TerryV]

Can I run an Airport card in my G3 equiped Performa running under 8.6? I do have an open PCI slot.

[kelly]

Not an Airport Card no.

There are USB Wireless Bridges and such.

What kind of Network setup do you have now.

A wireless just replaces wires of course.

[dolphin]

TerryV
Kelly is right...you can't run an airport card.  I am running a Beige G3/300 with OS 8.6 with a wireless network. I'm using a D-Link 614+ router and a D-Link 650+ PCMCIA cardbus adapter in my old(very old) AST PC laptop.  It works GREAT.  Good luck with your networking.

[TerryV]

Hi Kelly,
the situtation is, I changed my Telcom provider from BellSouth to MCI, I was told that I would be able to keep my DSL with BellSouth, but that info was bogus and now I no longer have internet acsess. MCI can not offer DSL in my area yet.
 Solution #1: My neighbour (who sold me the MCI pachage!) offered to let me use his DSL if I could put  wireless in my Mac.
Solution #2: Go to Cable. $39.95 plus $10.00 per month. I could buy a cable modem for about $70.00, but this cable provider is notorious for lack of customer service.
Solution #3: Get a phone line from BellSouth for about $20.00 per month and get dial up from Juno or NetZero for $10.00 per month. I don't see support for System 8.6, but this sounds like the cheapest, just don't knoe if I can handle going back to dial up.
 Right now, I am leaning towards #2, any one with experience with a cable modem? I haven't been able to find out if they support Macs! My guess is that I connect thru my Ethernet card. Any one with hard experience?

[kelly]

Terry. 100,000s of mac users use Cable Modem. That's not a problem.

Whether they support macs usually means they can't help you out.

Doesn't mean it won't work.

IMO. Go #2 and switch in the future if you're unhappy.

http://www.broadbandreports.com/

My 2 cents.

[TerryV]

Kelly, Dolphin, thanks, I've ordered the cable since they have a special going. When I see how it works, I may buy my own modem, the modem rental is $10.00 per month and I can rent on a month to month basis. I have been to that Broadband Report link, thanks Kelly. I'll post once I am up and running. TV.

[MrsLop]

Hi Terry,

kelly gave you a really great link. I connected to Cox after  hearing from some of my friends and relatives that thought it was great. Of course, they only support Internet Explorer and Outlook Express. They gave me a kit with the CD to install. If the timing is right they also gave a free modem. They allowed me to buy the modem in installments and also to pay for the installation in installments, plus they offered a special with the first and third month at half price. It sounded too good to be true and it was. I connected in late July and by August 11th, the Cox network was infected by the MSBlaster Worm. All the people I knew lost their internet connection. When I reported problems with my IE, Tech Support told me to download another version of IE. Ditto for Outlook Express. At no time did they ever inform me that their system had been infected. It was not until recently, that I read the information concerning the worm at their website. Their Tech Support for Mac is nonexistent. I think that I spoke with one rep that had any clue about Macs. That said, because I was already on the hook for the charges and there would be cancellation penalties I toughed it out. The concensus between those in my immediate area and myself is: it is very fast when it works. We have all lost email for two months using their connection. In retrospect, I would have to say that it is only a good deal if you are getting what you pay for. I must also say that I was culpable for going along with the Tech Support and downloading multiple copies of the IE and OE. If I had known what I was doing, I would never have gone along with their Tech Support.

I have heard and read about earthlink. I understand that their Mac Tech Support is really great and that the satisfaction level of their customers is very high. I would have gone with earthlink, but they do not have service for Cable in my area.

Currently, my Cox connection is working and I can use email and the internet.

MrsLop

[dolphin]

TerryV , once again the webmeister Kelly has steered you right...he hasn't been wrong in my recent or long term recollection. I am operating from Cable with the wireless router and use my laptop from all over the house. Once again....happy networking.

[TerryV]

Well after all that, I decided to go with a cable modem. For ayone intrested here is how it went down.
 The cable provider in my area is Advanced Cable Communications, the hardware guy showed up promptly, and did a neat and speedy install right where I wanted it, it helped that the cable drop was just outside of the window where the the computer is located.
 The software guy showed up and could not get the Mac to connect, he connected his Windoze laptop, said he could not help with System 8.6 and left. By the way, in both cases these guys were sub contractors for the cable company.
 Well, I expected that, so I mesed around, got no where fast, called up a friend who is maconcious    and came to the conclusion that I may be having an OS problem. I have a 9.0 disc that I was saving for just such an ocassion as this, restarted with only the base extensions, first saved a copy of my current OS to a partion on my hard drive, and then restartted on the CD and installed on top of 8.6. I had a minor glitch, the install did not like having a folder called "Disc Copy" all ready in the system folder, after placing it on another partion the install proceeded smoothly.
 I restarted, went back to "My Settings" in Extension Manager and.... the Mac booted up in to the Sonnett G3 with NO problems!
 I did the Assistant set up for Mac & Internet, went to the TCP/IP panel and there was some IP numbers, but no Client ID. What to do? Suddenly, this dialog box pops up asking me if I would like to check for Software Updates. I figured," what the heck?" go ahead and see what you can do Mr Mac. To my surprise and delight a task bar appeared and something downloaded, asked if to install, clicked OK, and....
BINGO, I am back on the 'net! Now I get to play around some more and see how far I can stretch this "ancient" mac in to the 21st century.
 It now needs 35 megs of memory for the OS versus  the 12 megs that 8.6 needed, and I guess that will be the limiting factor for the life of this ol' mac.
 Thanks to all who posted, regards, tv.

[dolphin]

TerryV, congratulations...glad things worked out and you got up and running on the cable modem. How much memory do you have??? It's still fairly cheap right now...and never too late to add some.