airport network with no basesation?

boomtopper said:

Today i will probally send off for 2 airport extreme cards. I cannot afford the basestation yet (have to wait untill next month when i have the money). But i was wondering if it is possible to share files with both the machines even though i do not have the base station?

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Yes, this is called a Rendezvous connection. You can use the create network in the airport icon to make the connection.

BaseStation vs Express

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could give me advice on whether I should purchase an airport base station or wait for an airport express for a home network. I'm not sure on the difference in signal strength and general usefulness of the two and my local apple resellers know about as much as a donkey with no ears. Thanks

beanregarder said:

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could give me advice on whether I should purchase an airport base station or wait for an airport express for a home network. I'm not sure on the difference in signal strength and general usefulness of the two and my local apple resellers know about as much as a donkey with no ears. Thanks

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honestly, if you dont need anything like wireless printing just get a normal wireless router from linksys or dlink or something. d-link is very mac friendly, for what its worth.
the signal strength on my d-link is fine for my apartment. its mostly your call vis a vis style, etc.

question fear said:

honestly, if you dont need anything like wireless printing just get a normal wireless router from linksys or dlink or something. d-link is very mac friendly, for what its worth.
the signal strength on my d-link is fine for my apartment. its mostly your call vis a vis style, etc.

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An opposite view:

I've got a dlink router that, near as I can tell, overheats all the time. Probably once a day, it will drop the connection unexpectedly and come back on equally unexpectedly. Sometimes, it spikes to occur MUCH more frequently (ie - AIM will boot me off for trying to login too frequently.) Once, I even needed to take some frozen peas out of the freezer to cool it off.

Now, it was 25 bucks and usually works without trouble, so it feels like a pain to replace it.

That said, it's a little bit older (802.11b) and from what I understand the newer G routers from dlink are pretty good.

beanregarder said:

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could give me advice on whether I should purchase an airport base station or wait for an airport express for a home network. I'm not sure on the difference in signal strength and general usefulness of the two and my local apple resellers know about as much as a donkey with no ears. Thanks

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The main differences the average user would notice are the limits to the number of client computers on express and the audio-out. I suppose if your outlet wasn't conveniently located, the form factor of the express could be a problem (though you could always use an extension cord). For $129, it's pretty price-competitive with D-link and other offerings, and it's the only way Apple's ever going to let people stream protected AACs without using a whole separate computer.

There's no way to compare range at the moment, but the Express doesn't allow the addition of an antenna, so the potential for better range is there with the AEBS. Hope this helps.

jesuscandle said:

An opposite view:

I've got a dlink router that, near as I can tell, overheats all the time. Probably once a day, it will drop the connection unexpectedly and come back on equally unexpectedly. Sometimes, it spikes to occur MUCH more frequently (ie - AIM will boot me off for trying to login too frequently.) Once, I even needed to take some frozen peas out of the freezer to cool it off.

Now, it was 25 bucks and usually works without trouble, so it feels like a pain to replace it.

That said, it's a little bit older (802.11b) and from what I understand the newer G routers from dlink are pretty good.

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that sucks. i've had decent luck with d-link, but i think you are right about the 802.11g-also, the newer "b" routers that have updated components and firmware are better too i think. but if its a real problem, i would call d-link, they're usually pretty good with customer service.
-carly

I have a D-Link 624...

and once you get your setup figured out, it's a great router with a fast connection and super range, and for less than $100. That said, I am wondering if I shouldn't have sold my AE Basestation, because from what I hear, you can't use Airport Express units with anything but an Apple router. Does anyone know if this is correct? I would like to use one with my stereo and have it to travel with the PowerBook.

I suppose I won't need it for range extending soon because we're about to convert our spare Primestar dish into a biquad antenna that will give our 802.11g signal 30+dB of gain!

Thanks a lot for the help. I'm currently using a wireless Dlink router, but it is shared and I need a new one. I find that it overheats too and randomly loses connection, otherwise it seems fine. I'll probably end up going for the base station and the express! Cheers