Which airport should I get?

[moot]

I have a one-year-old G3 ibook. After tripping over the ethernet cable numerous times I have sort mangled the slot in my ibook. It still works but I need to jiggle the cable around a little, and then keep my ibook static on a desk, if i move it too much I loose the connection. Oh well...

So I decided it's about time to go wireless. Because Apple doesn't show it cares about its customers who dont have the latest gear I am relegated to buying an old-style Airport card and not the fast extreme version. In retaliation for this I have decided to not give my money to Apple but buy second-hand goods.

Only thing is, which base station should I get? The original one is really cheap or should I pay more for the second-version or even go for an Airport extreme base station. Or should I not bother with Apple at all and buy a base station from a different company.

Of course I would like an Airport express but as I only have Jaguar I have been s*****d again. There is no way I am shelling out for Panther just so I can use an Airport expresss and with Tiger on the way, now would be pointless.

Anyway, does anyone have any ideas. I have only one computer and so am not creating a network. Just need internet access to my broadband modem.

Any help would be great :)

[Grimace]

I'm not 100% sure on this, but if the card in the laptop is only supporting Airport (not extreme) - then you won't see any improvements in speed by buying an Aiport Extreme Base Station.

Still, if you are considering a new laptop purchase, you might get the extreme model so that your base station will be up to date. Or go Linksys - WRT-54G.

[slughead]

I have a one-year-old G3 ibook. After tripping over the ethernet cable numerous times I have sort mangled the slot in my ibook. It still works but I need to jiggle the cable around a little, and then keep my ibook static on a desk, if i move it too much I loose the connection. Oh well...

I'd get a longer cable, myself.

802.11g (airport 2) is compatible with 802.11.b (airport 1). Don't buy an Apple unless you need features others don't offer.

[jsw]

You need to get the old Airport card, which is 802.11b. Any 802.11b rounter will talk to it. I have a Linksys setup that works fine. 802.11g is good for future-proofing, but you won't see any benefits until you upgrade. If you can afford to, I'd get a combo router/wireless router, so you can plug in directly as well as wirelessly without having two devices.