Airport Card vs. Wireless USB Adapter for iMac G4

On my iMac G4 17" 800mhz I currently have a USB adapter for connecting to my wifi network. It works fine but it would be nice to have the extra USB port for my iSub, the other is connected to a printer. The USB adapter is 54mb/sec but the port is USB 1.0 so it's only 12mb/sec anyway. I know the airport cards are 802.11b but I'm guessing the speed would be the same, or pretty similar. Just seeing what you guys thought. Also, everytime I restart, I have to disconnect from my neighbor's router and connect to mine. Not that big of a deal but I might as well minimize any inconveniences. Should I stick with what I have? or shell out the $35 or so for an airport card from ebay? Thanks!

techound1 said:

One other alternative is to grab a USB hub - that would give you an few extra spots for the iSub, etc. and be less than the cost of the AP card.

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Yea i tried that but i was getting low power issues, guess i should pick up a powered hub.

BenEndeem said:

My G4 originally had a USB adapter, a so called mid-range one and it was a nightmare. The fact it took up a USB port made it worse. Eventually I managed to get an Airport card fairly cheap on eBay when the seller chose a bad time end the item (Sunday at 7:30AM anyone?). It was a drastic improvement and I'd highly recommend an Airport card from personal experience.

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lol damn you! I just passed up a buy it now/free shipping for $29.00, with instructions (not sure if they're official from apple). Guess I'll grab one. I prefer to minimize as many cables and clutter as possible. Is the installation easy enough? I have yet to open up the iMac, or any mac for that matter other than my Power Mac G3.