Connecting a really old laptop to an airport express wireless network

May 19, 2009 2:22 PM

How can I get my old Gateway laptop to connect to the Airport Express wireless network?

When I try to connect an old Gateway laptop (600YG2) to the wireless network it sees it just fine but whenever I get to the "detecting network phase" of the connection dialogue I get the error: "Windows is unable to connect to the selected network. The network may no longer be in range. Please refresh the list of available networks, and try again." even though nothing has changed and I'm sitting right next to it.

I've tried updating the drivers of the wireless card (ORiNOCO Mini PCI Card) but that doesn't help. I can connect to other wireless networks within range just not mine! I haven't experienced this problem with the other two PCs that are currently connected to to the Airport so I'm at a loss as to what to do.

Thanks in advance and if there are any changes I need to make to the Airport Express via my roommate's PowerBook please explain it to me like you're talking to a 2 year old since I'm not exactly Mac savvy.

posted by elysenavidad to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

How old is the Airport? It might be an issue with switching between 802.11g and 802.11n, as mentioned in this answer about an Airport Extreme acting up. If your Gateway is more than a couple of years old it is probably connecting via 802.11g. If it is really old it may be using 802.11a (which should be compatible with most g or n devices) or even 802.11b, either of which may be troublesome with newer devices. The tech specs for the Airport do say it is compatible with all 4, so it may be a matter of setting a mode in the preferences section of the setup software.
posted by TedW at 2:48 PM on May 19, 2009

Response by poster: It's an Airport Express a1084 and the laptop is probably at least 5 years old. It was originally set to connect as 802.11b/g Compatible and I tried to get the laptop to connect on 802.11b Only and 802.11g Only and neither worked.
posted by elysenavidad at 3:19 PM on May 19, 2009

Are you using any form of security? Your old notebook wireless adapter might not support WPA and you might try WEP or even turning security off and using something like MAC filtering.
posted by wongcorgi at 3:49 PM on May 19, 2009

MAC filtering does not equal security, it's very simple to bypass.
Like others have mentioned, remove the encryption, does it connect now?
then start with WEP (better than nothing), and hopefully WPA encryption.

What version of windows? Is it XP Service pack 3 or newer?
posted by defcom1 at 8:22 PM on May 19, 2009