Of course, if you are using a closed network, you must enter your dongle's MAC address (see label on the dongle, look for "MAC ID") under the Access Control tab, like you would do for any computer you want to give permission to access your wireless network.Ĭlick Update and let your Base Station reboot. For the Encryption Type, I chose WPA and WPA2. Why 13 characters? In Apple's AirPort help, they say this length enhances compatibility with non-Apple computers, and I suspect that, when you use a WiFi dongle, the AirPort Base Station has problems recognizing that a true Mac is trying to connect to it!.
WIFI DRIVER FOR MAC OS X PASSWORD
Enter a password that is preferably 13 characters long. Just go in your AirPort Admin Utility (with a Mac that can connect to the Base station, of course), and under the AirPort tab, click on Change Wireless Security., then choose WPA2 Personal. Luckily, changing your encryption to WPA is easy. Note: I did not find any successful reports of WEP working with my kind of config, hence my self-made conclusion and recommendation to switch to WPA (thanks to "Ryhs" in the Ralink forums).
So unless you want to use an unprotected wireless network (which is totally unsafe), you must use WPA. Why? Because WEP encryption seems to be simply non-working with this version of the Ralink driver.
Second, and this is the "tricky" thing (well, for me it was anyway), you must set your AirPort Extreme Base Station to use WPA Personal encyption. I know, why would you want to connect a USB WiFi dongle when you have AirPort hardware? It doesn't make sense, but some folks like to try stuff just for fun! You also must not have an AirPort card in this Mac, as having two WiFi devices that near may damage one or both.
WIFI DRIVER FOR MAC OS X DRIVERS
Put simply (for you quick-minded network genies), you need to enable WPA Personal encyption (instead of WEP, which seems to be totally broken with this version of the driver) and use a 13-character password.įor other, less-exeperienced users, I have written a very detailed walkthrough, which is a combination of the old hint, personal experience, info found on Apple's help pages, and elsewhere on the internet.įirst, I assume you are on a Mac running OS X 10.4 (it may also work under 10.3, because Ralink provides drivers for Panther, too), and that you are within range of a wireless network (in my case, an AirPort Extreme Base Station) and not connected via Ethernet. After much research, and the help of others in the Ralink forums, I found a solution. and that the maker ( Ralink) had an OS X driver available on their site.īut I quickly was disappointed: I could only use it when I had no password assigned to my wireless network! It just wouldn't work when my WEP encryption was enabled. So I came across a one-year-old hint here, which made me purchase it, because the hint (and replies) stated that "rev B1" of this dongle used a chipset that was Mac-compatible. What? They don't make any of these for Macs? D-Link made one two years ago, but its new version (the DWL-G122) doesn't support OS X any more. It's worse if you have an old G3 CRT iMac: the already-expensive card needs an exepensive adapter! So you look on the internet for a cheap USB WiFi dongle solution, like many of your PC friends own. Like me, you probably don't want to buy an expensive AirPort Extreme card. Let's say you have an "old" Mac you want to wirelessly connect to your AirPort network.
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