Airport base station

[iPegboy]

Just curious on your guys thoughts. .

a friend of mine says he could pull the orginal airport card inside of the airport base station (snow) and throw it in my G3 iBook. Is this possible? the base stations are often cheaper to buy than the airport card itself . . .

 

[mad jew]

No and no.

While I suppose it could be possible to get the wireless technology from a base station and put it in your laptop, it would not be worth it.

 

[iPegboy]

why wouldn't it be worth it? a lot of hassle? i could buy the station right now at by it now status for $50 and the cheapest airport card is like $60-$65.

 

[mad jew]

The base station doesn't have an AirPort card inside it. To get it working, you'd have to be connected to the ethernet port of the base station at all times and then set the station up to receive an internet connection either from a modem (easy but then not wireless) or from another wireless base station (not necessarily easy depending on brand, age and WDS support). Trust me, it's just easier to go with the standard AirPort card.

 

[iPegboy]

OK cool. makes sense. he's seems to be under the belief that the base station has an airport card in it. but if it doesn't, then obviously it's not a good idea. thanks for the imput.

 

[mad jew]

No problem. You probably already know this but just make sure it's a regular AirPort card and not an Extreme AirPort card.

 

[Aldaris]

Actually...

I know this is almost three years too late but the "Snow" AirPort Base Station does have a regular 11 Mbps AirPort Card in it and would easily be able to be installed in a G3 iBook (however older iMacs/iBooks may need a booster card/adapter but I'm not 100% if it'd be needed) maybe this 'll help someone.

If you want do a few web searches, or even check out the eBay info page on AirPort Base Stations- The Airport Card inside this model is the same the "Original Airport Card" and thus many people canabilize this model for it's card and use it in their powerbooks and towers-

http://reviews.ebay.com/Apple-Airport-Base-Station-Guide_W0QQugidZ10000000000971418

Oh and yeah- paying 30-60 on eBay is certainly better than 90+ at your local apple part shop.