Help with connecting a G4 with mac 9.2.2 to the internet?

Question

I am new to mac, and I have a G4 that runs on Mac 9.2.2. I plan on upgrading to 10.4.6 (tiger), but I am unable to get it to connect to the internet. Can anyone help?

Answer 1

What is the specific model of your Mac? This can make a difference in some things.
You can connect via a built-in 56K modem if it has one, but it will be very slow. Much better would be to connect via broadband (such as DSL or Cable) using an external modem, either hard-wired via ethernet (usual) or via wireless if available on the machine.
Connecting via hard-wired ethernet is easy. You would need to acquire a modem that is acceptable to your ISP, or lease one from them if they make that option available. Either way, get one that connects via ethernet rather than via USB - USB on a G4 is just too slow for this purpose.
The setup for ethernet is simple in OS 9:
In the TCP/IP control panel (Apple menu > Control Panels > TCP/IP), set
     Connect via     -to-     Ethernet
     Configure         -to-     Using DHCP Server
And that's usually all that is needed.
Connecting via wireless, Airport in Apple's lexicon, is similar to ethernet, as far as setting up the software goes. In order to use wireless, the G4 will need to have an Airport card installed, or you can use a local transmitter which connects via ethernet to the G4. The modem would need to be connected to a receiver (base station) in order to complete the communication path with the Mac.
If you choose to go this path, someone else would need to assist you in setting up the wireless components - I've never done that.
However, if you do not now have wireless internet available, and this is going to be the only machine needing to connect to the internet, it would be much cheaper and easier to just connect the modem via wired ethernet directly to the Mac.
In either case, you will also need to set up your email account. Your email service provider should provide you with the info you need to do that - account type and password, etc. This info is entered into the Internet control panel, Email tab.
If I have misunderstood and you want to connect wirelessly directly to your ISP using something like those small transceiver type modems that many folk use with laptops, that's something else, and someone else would need to help with that.