Hi, I just got my iMac today and want to set it up to have wireless internet using my DSL Router. I got a USB Wireless Adapter (for the Mac OS) and installed the drivers for it. Then I restarted and plugged in the USB adapter.

The manual said a flashing icon should be on the upper left, but I didn't see this. So I went into the Preferences (I think) and found the 802.11b adapter there. I clicked on it and on the left, chose Create... I left it at Access Point (hope that's correct) and set it to 26 digits for the password. Currently I'm using 128 bit encryption (16 hex or 26 digits?). I checked WEP and selected Key 1 since that's the key number I'm using.

Then I hit OK and waited...nothing is connecting.

My question is, what am I doing wrong here?

Here is a little more information that may help out:

Mac OS 10.4
Netgear 802.11b USB Wireless Adapter

Router settings:
SSID is not broadcasted (I chose to hide it)
MAC address for the USB adapter is added to my MAC table so it has access
using 128 bit WEP encryption

Thanks.

You don't have to tell us, but do you know what the name you gave your SSID?

You will need to add it in the Configuration of the Adaptor on your computer. With out it being broadcast, your computer will not be able to connect unless you go in to the settings of the network adapter.

The SSID is how each computer that would tie into the network. With out it, you are flying blind, and computers don't like to work that way....

-William

I've not configured a netgear, but I know that my linksys 802.11G didn't like certain configurations.

First, make sure that both the wifi and the computer are set to the same encryption.

Second, with my linksys, when I set my password and identified it to do a hex encryption. It selected the "pick a key" and each key had a 9 digit number next to it. Mac OSX does not convert your password to hex before sending it, so you need to enter the hex value of the password at your computer. (So instead of "Hello", you might have "F35GB89TW")

If niether of these work, I would recommend purchasing an 802.11G Linksys; Fairly cheap, easy to configure, great signal, very reliable. (Not to mention the speed boost from 802.11B to 802.11G!)

William (wwheeler), yes I know my SSID. I even double checked it in my router settings to make sure I spelled it correctly and in the same case. Everything matches, but no connection.

I have set both to the same encryption (at least I think I did). I made sure each (my Mac and PC) has the same amount of characters in it for the 128 bit encryption. Everything is the same for both the PC and Mac except I can't connect on the Mac. I click on connect in Mac and it seems to be getting it but nothing is really happening. I have waited a long time on it just to make sure...nothing

Does it have to be Hex if I didn't set it? Mine were all digits basically. I did it on the router, my laptop's 802.11g card and also for the Mac computer. If I input it in Hex for the Mac, the number of characters for the particular encryption won't match (too little characters).

Don't think the router is the problem. It's a Westell Versalink 327W 802.11G modem/router. It has worked great for me the whole year...no problems at all. Don't care if it's G or B either. 802.11b is more than enough for my 3Mbps DSL connection. No home network setup here, just sharing internet.

Have you tried connecting to the router and turning off WEP and seeing if the Mac could connect??

If not, I would recommend trying that and just seeing what you can get on the Mac. If that doesn't work, try it with SSID broadcasting on...

If either of these work, let me know, and I can tell you how to set them the way that you want and still connect from the Mac....

-William

Yep, I have tried that also. I turned off all security features to see it worked.

I think I even tried enabling SSID broadcasting to make sure that works. I'll double check when I have time. Need to disable everything again.