IMac doesn't detect the base station correctly (with new base station)

Question

I have a brand new Airport Express. I'm trying to connect to my iMac G5. Everything works fine in the start up with getting the green light on the Express base station. But, my iMac doesn't "connect" with the base station.
I try the "Airport Setup Assistant" and get a window that says "No new Airport networks were found."
I look at the "pie" at the top of the iMac screen. It has the white and black stripes on it. I click it and find "Apple Network e3fec9" and select it. The signal level shown has all blue buttons. That window also reports "Status: Connected to 'Apple Network e3fec9'" and "Base Station ID:00:19:E3:E3:FE:C9". That's what makes me think that my problem must be in the iMac and not the base station.
I had also tried my Dell laptop (from work) and found that it found the internet network. It detected the "local host" and "Apple Network" and the signal strength was very good (~90% or so). The only problem was that the laptop thought it needed to recreate an IP address before it could connect to the internet. I didn't do that, since I saw it was detecting the network.
Please help. Why should this be so hard?
iMac   Mac OS X (10.4.9)   none

Answer 1

I'm confused. You say you're connected to "Apple Network e3fec9", and you're having trouble connecting your iMac? It sounds like you've managed to connect to your Airport Base Station.
Have you configured the Internet settings for the base station? Try this:
1. Launch Airport Admin Utility (in /Applications/Utilities/) select "Apple Network e3fec9" and click Configure.
2. Under the Airport tab, give the base station a name, click the Base Station Options… button, and make sure Enable Ethernet Port is checked.
3. Select Create a Wireless Network (Home Router) if it isn't already selected, give your network a name, and check Create a closed network
4.Click the Wireless Security button and set it to WPA Personal, and enter a password.
5. Under the Internet tab, set Connect Using: to Ethernet, and in the Configure dropdown, select Using DHCP
6. Click the Access Control tab and click the plus button on the right side of the window. In the panel that pops up, click the This Computer button.
7. Click Update
I'm hoping it's something simple, like Enable Ethernet Port wasn't checked or something, and not something more serious.
Hope it helps.
Rob
17 iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.2)
17 iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.2)
17 iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.2)
17 iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.2)