Airport card doesn't see any networks (G4 Cube)

[JDW]

Airport Card Question.

I found a card at work in the original box, in great condition. I've got it installed in my G4 Cube for now so as to test it. Card is recognized. System Profiler shows Firmware 9.52. OS is 10.4.11.

PROBLEM: "Wireless network not available."

Card is "turned on" as per the wifi menu in the menubar. System Preferences > Network > Airport shows the Airport ID. I manually added my networks, including a Guest network with security totally disabled (for this test). Still will not show any networks at all.

Router is an Apple Airport Extreme "white tower" from 2013 which works perfectly with our modern Macs and iPhones. I can edit settings of that router with modern Macs, but not my Cube because the Airport Utility on the Cube is too old to communicate with it. Even so, like I said, I've enabled Guest with Guest Network Security set to "none" but still my G4 Cube / Airport card will not show even a single network.

Yes, the antenna cable is attached to the card and the card is properly socketed (as per the fact the card is detected by Mac OS Tiger on the Cube).

ANY THOUGHTS?

UPDATE!

@Kay K.M.Mods very kindly informed me that only the silver colored dome shaped Apple router will be compatible (the one at left in the photo below). Thankfully, a co-worker has that very silver router at his home and will bring it tomorrow so I can test if it works. The only issue is whether he still has the original AC Adapter — Ack!

 

[Fizzbinn]

The original AirPort card you have should be able to work with any Wi-Fi access point that supports 802.11b. I‘m pretty sure it’s possible to configure newer Airports to only support 802.11g/n/ac which would break older “b” only cards like the original AirPort card.

I believe it’s also possible disable the 2.4GHz radio used by 802.11b/g/n in newer AirPort access points, 802.11a/n/ac can operate over the 5GHz radios but not 802.11b/g.

On the encryption side the original AirPort card only supports open (no encryption) and WEP under Mac OS 9. Under Mac OS 10.4 (maybe 10.3?) it can support the original WPA, but not WPA2/3. Again I believe you can configure newer AirPort access points to only support WPA2 but it sounds like that’s not the issue since your guest network is set to none for encryption.

I know you said your antenna cable is connected but you might want to double check, my recollection is that it snaps in in two stages (press, snap, keep pressing, second snap) before it’s fully seated.

 

[JDW]

The original AirPort card you have should be able to work with any Wi-Fi access point that supports 802.11b. I‘m pretty sure it’s possible to configure newer Airports to only support 802.11g/n/ac which would break older “b” only cards like the original AirPort card.

I believe it’s also possible disable the 2.4GHz radio used by 802.11b/g/n in newer AirPort access points, 802.11a/n/ac can operate over the 5GHz radios but not 802.11b/g.

On the encryption side the original AirPort card only supports open (no encryption) and WEP under Mac OS 9. Under Mac OS 10.4 (maybe 10.3?) it can support the original WPA, but not WPA2/3. Again I believe you can configure newer AirPort access points to only support WPA2 but it sounds like that’s not the issue since your guest network is set to none for encryption.

I know you said your antenna cable is connected but you might want to double check, my recollection is that it snaps in in two stages (press, snap, keep pressing, second snap) before it’s fully seated.

Good news and bad news.

My co-worker went home and came back with the graphite router! That's the good news.

The bad news is he can't find the AC adapter, and even though we have multiple 12V 1A or 2A AC adapters around the office, the pin inside the connector on the router is super thick and sunk so deep inside the plastic I can't get my calipers to measure it. That inner pin looks to be at least 2.5mm in diameter to my eyes. I guess I'll need to buy an AC adapter with multiple heads to try to see if one fits.