[maudee]

I use a PC but bought an EMAC G4 a couple of years ago for my husband because he "clicks" on EVERY thing and downloads like viruses don't exist !
Now I want to go with wireless internet and I know that I need an original airport card for the Emac.
Do I also need a base station ????
What router would be recommended to network both the Emac and PC ?
Thanks for any help!
Maudee

[VegasACF]

You'll need some sort of wireless router, not necessarily an Apple-branded one. I don't think most routers care from which side of the platform aisle the computers accessing them come.

I've used several, by several manufacturers, and have not had any problems with any of them accessing them from Windows or Mac OS.

[maudee]

When I was looking for the airport card, I was told that I would need a base station.
What is it and why do I need it on the Mac ?

[VegasACF]

AirPort Base Stations (if that is to what you are referring-it's a possibility that people are using the term to mean any wireless router, regardless of manufacturer in much the same way tissues are often called Kleenex, regardless of who made them) are Apple's wireless routers. They're pretty, and they work well, but they're really nothing all that special, those things aside.

The original AirPort cards are 802.11b cards, so any wireless router that is compatible with 802.11b wireless networking cards will work.

In case you're going to ask what 802.11b is... 802.11b (which is also referred to as 802.11 High Rate or Wi-Fi) is an extension to 802.11 that applies to wireless LANS and provides 11 Mbps transmission (with a fallback to 5.5, 2 and 1 Mbps) in the 2.4 GHz band.

Be warned, if you've got cordless phones in your house that operate in the 2.4 GHz band (many do) they will conflict with the wireless network, and vice versa.

(edited to complete an incomplete sentence--that's what I get for being in a hurry!)

[maudee]

I appreciate the info, especially about cordless phones and mine are 5.8
If they said that I needed a router, I would have understood that !
Thanks again !

[Pensacola Tiger]

You say you need an original AirPort card. Please check and confirm that you actually do have one of the original eMacs (700-800 MHz), as the later models (1 GHz and faster) use an AirPort Extreme card.

[maudee]

This is the info I get when I go to ABOUT THIS MAC
It is about 2 years old.

Hardware Overview:

Machine Model: eMac
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (1.1)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 1.25 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 256 MB
Bus Speed: 167 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.8.2f1
Serial Number: G84329TEQQJ

[VegasACF]

Given the above information and the info found on this page, it appears as though your computer is compatible with the AirPort Extreme card.

But you'll want to confirm (via other information available in the System Profiler [About This Mac]) whether or not the eMac in question is one with an ATI graphics card and/or an eMac with USB 2.0. If you can confirm this to be the case you'll need the AirPort Extreme card, not the original AirPort card.

[Pensacola Tiger]

Your eMac, as VegasACF said, is most likely compatible with the newer AirPort Extreme card. You can download a user guide to your eMac from here, and the instructions for installing the card begin on page 41. A quick check to see if the slot is there will confirm that your eMac uses the AirPort Extreme.

If so, then you can get a good deal on the card from Apple's Refurbished Store. It's $39.

[maudee]

Went to the site to download manual and found that I could enter my serial number and it would give me All the info I was looking for.
Thanks for so much help. You guys have been great !
Here is my computer info:

eMac (USB 2.0) - Technical Specifications
Configurations Combo Drive SuperDrive
Model M9425LL/A M9461LL/A
Processor 1.25GHz PowerPC G4
System bus 167MHz
Memory 256MB of PC2700 (333MHz) DDR SDRAM; supports up to 1GB
Hard disk drive (2) 40GB Ultra ATA/100 80GB Ultra ATA/100
Optical drive Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)
Display 17-inch (16-inch viewable) flat CRT
Graphics support ATI Radeon 9200; 32MB dedicated DDR SDRAM video memory
VGA video mirroring (3) Yes (Apple VGA Display Adapter required, sold separately)
S-video and composite video output (3) Yes (Apple Video Adapter required, sold separately)
Ports Two FireWire 400 ports, three USB 2.0 ports (on computer), two USB 1.1 ports (on keyboard), mini-VGA output port, headphone jack, audio line in jack
Networking Built-in 10/100BASE-T Ethernet and 56K V.92 modem (4)
Wireless Networking (1) AirPort Extreme ready; internal Bluetooth module available as build-to-order option
Speakers Integrated stereo speakers
System software Mac OS X version 10.3 “Panther”