Wireless USB NIC

[titan]

My boss needs a wireless adapter for her Mac laptop. I'm pretty sure it isn't the latest and greatest OS that's on it. (And the fact that it doesn't have wireless built into it should give you an idea what's on there.)

A favorite manufacturer of mine is D-Link, but the wireless USB NICs I've found on NewEgg don't mention Mac compatibility.

I know nothing of Macs so I'd like a suggestion please and/or enlightenment.

[derFunkenstein]

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Asus/WL167G/

OWC is really good about keeping mac-compatible items at reasonable prices. I would trust them as much as I trust Newegg. And if you look and find the adapter cheaper, you can still get the drivers from the above link. Requires 10.3.9 or 10.4.x as a minimum. Can't say for sure if it'll work with the built-in Airport software or if it uses its own software.

[SlyFerret]

Any time I'm not sure if an item will be supported/work properly in my environment, I try to pick it up locally so that I can return/exchange it easily if necessary.

-SF

[SNM]

Requires 10.3.9 or 10.4.x as a minimum.

You know, I don't recall the last Mac laptop without WiFi built in -- pretty sure the toilet-seat iBooks had it, so maybe the Wall Street G3s? -- so is it likely to run 10.3?

[derFunkenstein]

I'm just going by teh product page.

There's an Orinoco PCMCIA card that has drivers that go all the way back to 7.5, though. If you have something old enough that it has a PCMCIA slot you can definitely find other cards.

Toilet seat iBooks were the first to have the Airport slot, and then the first Powerbook was the one that came out the following winter/spring (Pismo), which is easily identified by its Firewire port. Basically it works like - if your Mac notebook has Firewire, it has a slot for an Airport card.

Some folks might not want to spend the ridiculous price that an Airport card commands nowadays though - last I looked (whcih has been a while) they were selling on eBay for upwards of $70. IF the machine isn't used on your lap a whole lot (always ona desk) then USB would be reasonable.

[adisor19]

Requires 10.3.9 or 10.4.x as a minimum.

You know, I don't recall the last Mac laptop without WiFi built in -- pretty sure the toilet-seat iBooks had it, so maybe the Wall Street G3s? -- so is it likely to run 10.3?

I have a Wallstreet G3 sitting right now on my desk.. Bought in 1998. Still works like a champ but the max you can put on it is OS X 10.2 officially.

I tried forcing OS X 10.3 with Xpostfacto but it failed miserably..

Adi

[adisor19]

Requires 10.3.9 or 10.4.x as a minimum.

You know, I don't recall the last Mac laptop without WiFi built in -- pretty sure the toilet-seat iBooks had it, so maybe the Wall Street G3s? -- so is it likely to run 10.3?

Yep, the Wallstreet G3 doesn't have Wifi, USB or Firewire.


On the other hand it does have 2 PCMCIA slots and an external SCSi connector...

Adi

[derFunkenstein]

Lombard G3s did not have Airport slots, while I'm thinking about it. I've got one kicking around here - two USB, SCSI rather than firewire, dual PCMCIA, but no airport. I play You Don't Know Jack volume 1 and 2 on it. My wife loves it for that reason.