Mac OS 9 Lives
Mac OS 9 Discussion => Hardware => Topic started by: Canned Brain on September 07, 2017, 02:11:04 PM
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Dear Mac Fellows,
Quick and easy question requesting a quick and easy answer:
Is there any way to install Wifi compatibility on a 9600/200 Power Macintosh?
Thank you in advance,
Canned Brain
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Sorta, but the answer is NOT quick or easy.
A wireless ethernet "bridge" / adapter will do it
So will a PCI wi-fi card (if you can find one that's not PCI-express AND that the Mac will actually recognize)
BUT
Mac OS9 and below will not support modern wi-fi encryption.
By the time you locate, purchase, return, purchase again something that will actually work, downgrade your router encryption (if possible) and actually get it working, you'll wish you had just run a damn wire - seriously, run a wire, it's worth it.
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Thank you for your advice!
I'm just wondering about the following on the topic of "Bridge":
Of course, the signal between Router and Bridge is encrypted. But the PM won't be connected to Wifi. It would be connected to an Ethernet port. Is the signal that leaves the Ethernet port of a Bridge still encrypted?
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Yes, I'd use an ethernet to wireless adapter if I wanted to do this.
The OS doesn't need to know anything about wireless then.
One problem might be finding one that can be configured with Mac OS.
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Could I solve that by configuring the Wifi connection via a modern computer and then simply connect the Ethernet cable to the old Mac?
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Sure. With the one I've used you set it up to connect to a specific router via the web GUI. After that you can move it around clients as and when needed.
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Sorry to revive the old topic, but Wi-Fi on this PM works well. :)
I use PM 9600/300 and Cisco Aironet 350 Wi-Fi card and OS 9.2.2 installed with OS9Helper on SD Card which is installed in BlueSCSIv2.
In order for OS9 to easily connect to the network, I use an additional guest network without encryption, but with MAC address filtering. All modern routers can create guest networks.
I can browse this site using Classilla or other sites that this browser may still display.
I also connect AFP and NFS shared directories, and I can share files.
The speed is not high, yes, but it is suitable for transferring small archives or screenshots. I noticed only one unpleasantness, if you download a large file (for example, 20 Mb), the mouse cursor is twitching.