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coxta
Ultramundane
Premium Member
join:2000-07-15
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coxta

Premium Member

Macbook 10.3 and verizon

Hi, I'm trying to help out a friend with a Macbook with a 10.3 OS. They are trying to connect to a Verizon hotspot. From them they say they connect, but Safari shows no activity. The took the Macbook to the Apple store and it worked there. The Apple store told them to acquire a copy of 10.4 or 10.5 to upgrade the OS and it might work.

I have used Apple products over the years, but it's not my area of expertiese, but it seems as though this OS and this Macbook should support the Verizon encryption protocol WEP and WPA as well as open network at the Apple Store.

I told my friend I would take a look at the Macbook this Friday if they can't get it working.

I am supposing that they may need to manually select the encryption protocol as well as manually enter the password in order to get the connection.

It may be that it is not actually connecting, or that Safari is very slow with the Verizon connection.

This is long winded to get to the point, but Macbook capable of being used successfully with some manipulation of the current wifi settings or is it better to upgrade the OS, or will this Macbook not work with the Verizon hotspot anyway?

Thanks in advance.

Thinkdiff
MVM,
join:2001-08-07
Bronx, NY

Thinkdiff

MVM,

If the laptop really has 10.3.x on it, it's not a MacBook - most likely an iBook.

If it's an iBook G3, it likely has an original Airport card in it (802.11b only). If it's an iBook G4, it likely has an Airport Extreme card (802.11b/g).

If the Verizon router is set to 802.11g only and you have the original Airport card, you'll have to reconfigure the router to accept 802.11b clients.

Also, depending on what version of 10.3, it may not support WPA/WPA2 (if that's what your friend is using). They can temporarily switch to WEP, get connected, and then run software update. Updating to the latest version of 10.3 and installing all Airport Software Updates will enable WPA/WPA2 access. From the second article below, it looks like original Airport cards might not be able to support WPA2 at all (but they will support WPA).

Some reading:
»support.apple.com/kb/TA2 ··· le=en_US
»tidbits.com/article/8177

coxta
Ultramundane
Premium Member
join:2000-07-15
LALALALALALA

coxta

Premium Member

Great. Thanks for the information. I'm sorry about the misinformation, but my information comes via a fairly novice computer user who is trying to help his girlfriend. He's not ignorant, he's a physician, but his knowledge of computers is minimal coupled with my superficial experience with Apple products, I hope you understand my fumbling with the language.

I will check this out on Friday and see what comes up.

I greatly appreciate the help.

Thinkdiff
MVM,
join:2001-08-07
Bronx, NY

Thinkdiff

MVM,

No problem - I was just pointing it out in case you were asking others for help, trying to search online, or if other posters read the thread without realizing it. You'll get different solutions if you look for information on running 10.3 on a MacBook

coxta
Ultramundane
Premium Member
join:2000-07-15
LALALALALALA

coxta

Premium Member

I could have said an older foldable Ipad.



Go Trojans!

buckingham
Doylstown Pa
Premium Member
join:2005-07-17
Buckingham, PA

buckingham to coxta

Premium Member

to coxta
I don't know if it holds true today, but I believe that VZ required a special application to get on their hotspots and that software was Windows-only. You might want to check with VZ about that before you beat your head against the wall...

Thinkdiff
MVM,
join:2001-08-07
Bronx, NY

Thinkdiff

MVM,

That's a good point. I assumed we were talking about a home connection. If it's a public Verizon hotspot, I believe you're correct.

coxta
Ultramundane
Premium Member
join:2000-07-15
LALALALALALA

coxta to buckingham

Premium Member

to buckingham
Last week a fixed a Verizon hotspot problem with a person using an Iphone. I didn't see a problem with that. I think you may be referring to the Verizon USB adapter that fit into the computer and I believe it is Windows only. That requires a logon but I don't recall any special software. The hotspot device is really just a wireless router for a wifi connection. Can connect up to 5 devices.

buckingham
Doylstown Pa
Premium Member
join:2005-07-17
Buckingham, PA

buckingham to Thinkdiff

Premium Member

to Thinkdiff
said by Thinkdiff:

That's a good point. I assumed we were talking about a home connection. If it's a public Verizon hotspot, I believe you're correct.

The OP said "Verizon hotspot", so that's what I was focusing on. I remember something about the need for the special access software, which is why I've never bothered to even try a VZ hotspot...I will not load special software on my own computers and can't load it by policy on my work machine. ATT hotspots are free to me because of my wireless service, anyway, and much more available while I'm on the road.

coxta
Ultramundane
Premium Member
join:2000-07-15
LALALALALALA

coxta

Premium Member

OK. I've had some time to work with this a bit.

It is a 15 inch PowerBook G4 1.3ghz/256mb/60g/combo/bt/apx

with a model no. Airport A1026 card.

OS 10.3.9 and when I upgraded it, it said it was up to date.

I can connect to open networks, but not to our network with WPA encryption. I poked around and I couldn't find any place to make a change in the encryption protocol.

Any insight?

Thanks in advance.

Thinkdiff
MVM,
join:2001-08-07
Bronx, NY

Thinkdiff

MVM,

There's no software/hardware reason that WPA2 should not work with that laptop and Airport card.

When you select a protected network, do you get the popup window asking for the password? You should be able to specify a specific encryption method there (WEP, WPA, WPA2).
rugby
I think I know it all.
join:2000-09-26
Plainfield, IN

rugby

Member

It depends on the age of the airport card, some I think only supported 64-bit WEP keys and the later versions supported 128-bit WEP keys.

My knowledge on that card is a bit lacking, but I remember this for some reason.

I also think you had to put a '$' in front of any password on those older macs to properly join a WEP encrypted wireless network.

coxta
Ultramundane
Premium Member
join:2000-07-15
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coxta to Thinkdiff

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to Thinkdiff
No, the available networks get scanned, I selected one and it asks for a password. After that, nothing happens. I open a browser and it says that specific server not available. I selected assistance and it allowed me to select a network and then insert a password. I attempted to enter the password and it said password fails. So I copied a word document and an Excel document to usb and copied them over. I then copied the password and passed it and they both failed. I know it's the correct password because I used copy and paste to insert the password in two other devices using the same spreadsheet and word document, albeit windows machines.

I was able to log onto another local network that required no password.

I found no instance in which I could select an encryption method.
rugby
I think I know it all.
join:2000-09-26
Plainfield, IN

rugby

Member

Because that card only supports WEP. See my post about putting a $ in front of the password.

Thinkdiff
MVM,
join:2001-08-07
Bronx, NY

1 edit

Thinkdiff

MVM,

said by rugby:

Because that card only supports WEP. See my post about putting a $ in front of the password.

All Airport cards were eventually updated to support at least WPA. See the links I posted earlier or this one: »tidbits.com/article/7528

Edit: Further information from the horse's mouth: »support.apple.com/kb/HT2594

The OP also stated it's an Airport Extreme card from the model number he posted - they all support WPA.

But if the network is WEP, it does need a $ in front of the hex key.
Thinkdiff

Thinkdiff to coxta

MVM,

to coxta
said by coxta:

No, the available networks get scanned, I selected one and it asks for a password.

When it asks for a password, it doesn't look like the dialog boxes here: »support.apple.com/kb/TA2 ··· le=en_US ?

What equipment is creating the wireless network? Can you go to Apple Menu > About This Mac.. > More Info > Airport and either copy/paste the text about the airport card or take a screen shot (Command + Shift + 3) and post it here?

coxta
Ultramundane
Premium Member
join:2000-07-15
LALALALALALA

2 edits

coxta

Premium Member

No, it does not look like that. There is no offer of a wireless security menu.

One of the networks I tried to connect to was not a wep, but a WPA-2 personal network using a Sonicwall TZ170. We use them in our 6 offices.

I see this note from the one link:

"A Macintosh with an AirPort Card cannot join a Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) network when using earlier software. Learn the requirements for joining a WPA network.

you don't have the software required to join a WPA network with an AirPort Card, then the password entry dialog appears when you select the AirPort network, and your attempt to join will fail. You see this message:

"The password you entered is not correct for the AirPort network ."

Now this is exactly what I'm getting.

Perhaps I'm naive, but I thought that if I requrest an update, that it would suppply me with the most recent updates. Perhaps I need to manually download the Airport Extreme update.