Ralink RT2561 cards support WPA2 in Win9x/ME after tweaking as described here. Your card comes up as RT2500 which is a related chipset, so it may also work, but I'm not sure.

You can also use a cheap Ethernet->Wifi bridge, which will circumvent any requirements for the OS, since the bridge does all that and the OS just sees a standard Ethernet connection.

dr_st wrote on 2020-03-30, 12:19:

Ralink RT2561 cards support WPA2 in Win9x/ME after tweaking as described here. Your card comes up as RT2500 which is a related chipset, so it may also work, but I'm not sure.

I've looked for latest drivers and found a latest package in the official site with 2004 drivers. It still doesnt work but in the configuration I can now set WPA2 AES config but a the end of the configuration instead of connecting to the network it says to reboot to save configuration and the next time same thing. It sees the networks (eve if WEP anyway) but even if I could configure WPA2 of my router it require to reboot every times...
I follow that guide and update the thread later. 😀

derSammler wrote on 2020-03-30, 12:27:

You can also use a cheap Ethernet->Wifi bridge, which will circumvent any requirements for the OS, since the bridge does all that and the OS just sees a standard Ethernet connection.

This is what i would do as well, much better success rate and doesn't limit you to specific hardware for your retro OS.
You can also use powerline adapters if your router has at least 1 Ethernet connection.

derSammler wrote on 2020-03-30, 12:27:

You can also use a cheap Ethernet->Wifi bridge, which will circumvent any requirements for the OS, since the bridge does all that and the OS just sees a standard Ethernet connection.

That's also a nice idea. I was thinking eventually if everything will fail to work, using a raspberry pi as router with the ethernet port.

386SX wrote on 2020-03-30, 13:42:

derSammler wrote on 2020-03-30, 12:27:

You can also use a cheap Ethernet->Wifi bridge, which will circumvent any requirements for the OS, since the bridge does all that and the OS just sees a standard Ethernet connection.

That's also a nice idea. I was thinking eventually if everything will fail to work, using a raspberry pi as router with the ethernet port.

OpenWRT/DD-WRT on a compatible router is probably a cheaper and easier option.

gdjacobs wrote on 2020-03-30, 14:24:

386SX wrote on 2020-03-30, 13:42:

derSammler wrote on 2020-03-30, 12:27:

You can also use a cheap Ethernet->Wifi bridge, which will circumvent any requirements for the OS, since the bridge does all that and the OS just sees a standard Ethernet connection.

That's also a nice idea. I was thinking eventually if everything will fail to work, using a raspberry pi as router with the ethernet port.

OpenWRT/DD-WRT on a compatible router is probably a cheaper and easier option.

A lot of times wireless "Extenders" will also work as wireless bridges when configured that way. Picked a couple up at a thrift store for less than 10$

You can try using Odyssey or Boingo client software. I had success with Boingo on my Toshiba Libretto with Windows 98.. or maybe it was Odyssey and I used Boingo on my Transmeta Vaio under Win2k. Either way, try Odyssey first since it is the best one by many people's experiences.

Update: at the end I couldn't make it work with the above later drivers but it worked lowering the secure type of connection. I forced the lower end B/G mode and WPA only to see if it works and finally it (sort of) works. The problem is obviously the P2-400 not as fast as I remembered. 😁
I'll try anyway the OpenWRT solution but need to configure it for usb_ethernet packages and I remember was quite long to do.

386SX wrote on 2020-03-30, 18:19:

I'll try anyway the OpenWRT solution but need to configure it for usb_ethernet packages and I remember was quite long to do.

Why? What device are you using to create the bridge?

gdjacobs wrote on 2020-03-31, 05:24:

386SX wrote on 2020-03-30, 18:19:

I'll try anyway the OpenWRT solution but need to configure it for usb_ethernet packages and I remember was quite long to do.

Why? What device are you using to create the bridge?

It's a mobile 3g wifi router that has the usual usb-ethernet connection and I'd need to bridge it to the ethernet port of the raspberry so it would answer to the Win ME machine calls. At the end the WPA solution was quite ok anyway but maybe a ethernet card is less cpu demanding on the whole system, I think the P2-400 with the Win ME os is already showing its limits. I tried in the past there were some packages to install after the openwrt installation to make it working.

derSammler wrote on 2020-03-30, 12:27:

You can also use a cheap Ethernet->Wifi bridge, which will circumvent any requirements for the OS, since the bridge does all that and the OS just sees a standard Ethernet connection.

+1

I think this is the most secure and future-proof solution also.
When WPA3 will be standard in the not so far future, it will definitely pay off.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi_Protected_Access#WPA3

While the Ethernet->WLAN bridge I'm using is based on an AMD Geode running DD-WRT as well, with "cheap" I really was refering to those you can get new for about 20 bucks, like e.g. this one:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014SK2H6W
or this with a second LAN port:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01199OGK0

These ones are even USB-powered, making them very easy to connect.

But of course, you can also build your own bridge.

Thanks for the links, Sammler, didnt know such small devices exist. They seem to be also very usable for ISA-PCs without needing an additional power cable.

For Win9X / PCI systems this card I have currently on my desk seems to be nice, but there may be others:
Belkin PCI Adapter - Windows 98 WLAN with WPA2

386SX wrote on 2020-03-31, 09:52:

gdjacobs wrote on 2020-03-31, 05:24:

386SX wrote on 2020-03-30, 18:19:

I'll try anyway the OpenWRT solution but need to configure it for usb_ethernet packages and I remember was quite long to do.

Why? What device are you using to create the bridge?

It's a mobile 3g wifi router that has the usual usb-ethernet connection and I'd need to bridge it to the ethernet port of the raspberry so it would answer to the Win ME machine calls. At the end the WPA solution was quite ok anyway but maybe a ethernet card is less cpu demanding on the whole system, I think the P2-400 with the Win ME os is already showing its limits. I tried in the past there were some packages to install after the openwrt installation to make it working.

You can get a single port device from e.g. GL.inet for <20 USD.