Over the weekend, I found a 802.11G USB network adapter for OS X. When it comes to wifi adpaters for Mac, you either get an Airport or Airport Extreme card with your initial purchase, or pay through the nose to get one later. So after running across this note on the Net about using a DLink DWL-G122 USB adapter to hook a Mac to a wifi G network, I thought I would check it out. Well worth a try because there are pretty much zero alternatives to the Apple wifi products.

In my house, the reception with the Airport cards is not great. My eMac is the prime example, since the Airport card goes inside the drive bay with no antenna to speak of there are a lot of slow transfers and dropped signals.

As the note points out, all you need to do to get the DLink apdater to work is to download the 2500 series drivers from RALink Technology. Run the installer and restart your system. Next, hook up your USB adapter to the system. This will launch a very simple wifi utility that allows you to choose wifi networks. For me, it took a minute or two for the eMac to recognize the new adapter, but once it did, I was able to select it from the adapter options under Network System Preferences. Just enable the new adapter and disable the Airport adapter.

My Linksys wireless router is on the 2nd floor of my house and the eMac is on the main floor. There is a noticable increase in the signal strength and the speed with which web pages load. Woo hoo! Also you should know that the DWL-G122 comes with its own little hub or USB card holder. Its a weighted 1 port hub with a 4 ft cable. It basically allows you to place the adapter wherever you want on the desk. So the adapter does not hang out the side of your machine but instead looks like a cool little antenna.

If you are looking for a way to upgrade an old Mac to 802.11g, the DLink DWL-G122 looks to be the answer. If you watch for deals, you should be able to get it for a street price of about $30. Now is the time to buy as many networking companies are discontinuing plain G adapters for new specialized G adapters. (And I forgot to mention, the DWL-G122 also works great on PC's!)