Nintendo, WiFi, Airport (DS or Wii)

[aidanpendragon]

I'm a novice to wireless networking and how all the components of Airport work. Am wondering if the DS - and speculating on the Wii, mainly - would be compatible as follows:

- I'm sure Airport Extreme (and Express?) stations would function as a wireless hub/router that Nintendo products could get a signal from, although I think I heard there have been hiccups in the past.

- How about Airport cards within a Mac? E.g., if I added one, could my Mac, physically ethernet'd to my DSL modem, serve as a bridge between modem and DS/Wii? I'd though Airport cards flowed only one way (station -> card), but I saw the contrary with Airport Express, and realized more generally that that can't be true.

I say all this b/c I see the price on Airport Extreme cards has fallen to $44 or so, and this could be an excuse for me to get one.

[theman5725]

Wireless routers are cheap these days so just pick one up. I have a Netgear router and it works great with my DS and my Macbook.

[jdechko]

http://www.nintendowifi.com/customersupport/routerSelect.do?manufacturer=Apple

Probably a good link to get you started.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=222213&highlight=Airport+DS

And post # 2 from this one.

[aidanpendragon]

All of these are helpful, thanks. I actually have a wireless router/modem combo, but as I A. don't currently have an Airport card and B. live in a crowded building and don't want anybody leeching/snooping, I've disabled the wireless part. For the Wii, I've been left wondering if I should run an Ethernet cable & buy the adaptor, turn the wifi on sporadically, or attempt to master security/encryption protocols.

Thus my question about the Airport card - if it could serve as a bridge with fewer vulnerabilities, that would be a better solution. Plus, AirTunes seems cool, card prices have dropped, and it would be a good excuse.

[bluewire]

I'm a novice to wireless networking and how all the components of Airport work. Am wondering if the DS - and speculating on the Wii, mainly - would be compatible as follows:

- I'm sure Airport Extreme (and Express?) stations would function as a wireless hub/router that Nintendo products could get a signal from, although I think I heard there have been hiccups in the past.

- How about Airport cards within a Mac? E.g., if I added one, could my Mac, physically ethernet'd to my DSL modem, serve as a bridge between modem and DS/Wii? I'd though Airport cards flowed only one way (station -> card), but I saw the contrary with Airport Express, and realized more generally that that can't be true.

I say all this b/c I see the price on Airport Extreme cards has fallen to $44 or so, and this could be an excuse for me to get one.

Part 1) I have an AIRPORT router and a DS. They work flawlessly together, all you need is the WEP Hex Key and plug it into the DS and you are off. I can't tell you how many games of Tetris DS I have played online, its bloody awesome.

Part 2) Buying an Airport Card for your Mac is not a router. The Airport card merely acts as a receiver for an Airport (or other wireless router) signal. Nintendo has some sort of USB adapter you can buy that will act as a wireless router specifically for the DS (or the Wii I believe)

Hope that helps.

[jdechko]

Part 2) Buying an Airport Card for your Mac is not a router. The Airport card merely acts as a receiver for an Airport (or other wireless router) signal. Nintendo has some sort of USB adapter you can buy that will act as a wireless router specifically for the DS (or the Wii I believe)

Yeah, but that USB adapter doesn't work with Mac OSX. :) And if you put an airport card into the Mac, you can do internet connection sharing (Share the Ethernet connection via Airport).

[bluewire]

Yeah, but that USB adapter doesn't work with Mac OSX. :) And if you put an airport card into the Mac, you can do internet connection sharing (Share the Ethernet connection via Airport).

Ack. I never realized that. Thanks.

[Flowbee]

Part 2) Buying an Airport Card for your Mac is not a router. The Airport card merely acts as a receiver for an Airport (or other wireless router) signal.


Not entirely correct. You CAN share your network connection wirelessly from an Airport card. The second link (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=222213&highlight=Airport+DS) that jdechko provided shows how to do this.

(EDIT: oops, guess I was a little late)

[aidanpendragon]

This is all very cool. However, I'm wondering in a larger sense why Apple even makes Airport Extreme base stations, if you can stream your connection from an Airport card itself? Presumably, all you would need would be 2+ Airport-carded Macs, with one physically plugged into an internet connection, and the two could establish their own network.

I suppose one Extreme advantage is the one they first marketed: that you can put the sorta-little thing wherever your cable/network outlet is, if your computer won't fit or you don't want to run wires. Presumably, it also has a better range/bridging capability.

Still, this is a very sweet tip. Thanks to jdechko and everybody. I'm not necessarily surprised by but certainly pleased by the civility & helpfulness here.

[wwooden]

This is all very cool. However, I'm wondering in a larger sense why Apple even makes Airport Extreme base stations, if you can stream your connection from an Airport card itself? Presumably, all you would need would be 2+ Airport-carded Macs, with one physically plugged into an internet connection, and the two could establish their own network.


Because a lot of people don't have two computers. Also, maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think a computer that is creating the wireless network can distribute IP addresses and such like a router can.

Also, the wireless creating computer would have to be on all the time.

[jdechko]

Because a lot of people don't have two computers. Also, maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think a computer that is creating the wireless network can distribute IP addresses and such like a router can.

Also, the wireless creating computer would have to be on all the time.

Exactly... You can pick up a wireless router with a built-in 4-port switch (non APX) for around $50. A (new) computer would cost you minimum of $300, would consume a lot of power being on 24/7 and you'd probably still need the wireless and a router to gain the same functionality of the $50 Linksys. If you really want the APX for style, go ahead and spend the money. Personally, the $50 Linksys is good enough for me. :D

And it's no problem. I'm just linking to others' posts.