i just bought a new 12 inch powerbook and i want to get air port card for wireless internet. my question is what is the best way to achieve this. i currently have a pc desktop with a cable connection, and i want to continue to use that. i just want to know what do i need beside the airport card. do i have to buy the apple base station or can i use any other wireless router to hook these two computers up? i am not very concerned with sharing files between the computers i just need to have them both connected to the internet. and maybe share a printer if its not to much trouble.
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networking question
- Thread starter rupert
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I think that you can use any old wireless router, but I don't think there are any other than the apple base station that will give you the speed benefit
You can get another wireless base station that supports wireless version 'b' and it will work. There are also some compains (besides Apple) that are othering version 'g' base station which are cheaper than Apple's. They all work with each other, the only problem is that some base station can only be configered on a PC, just like Apple's can only be configered on a Mac.
I have a Linksys 802.11b wireless setup...
The OS of your computer has nothing to do with configuring it. All you need is a web browser. Easiest thing to do is turn on DHCP on the wireless station, and your PB will find it no problem.
cable -> modem -> router -> wireless
assuming you already have a router. if not, you can get a wireless base station that is also a 4 port router if you want (802.11b)
802.11g is newer, pricier, and only a benefit for you if you do a lot of file transfers in your own subnet. such as moving 20gig of mp3's from your desktop to your PB.
Linksys and others do 802.11g as well. This is not a unique thing Apple does. In fact, they offered it 2 months after the "early adopters" did.
http://www.linksys.com/splash/wrt54g_splash.asp
The above is available now at Buy.com for $129, and ships for free!
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10336386&loc=101
Apple's Airport Extreme is $199/$249 depending on if you want the built in modem and ext antenna port. No 4-port router though
http://www.apple.com/airport/
The OS of your computer has nothing to do with configuring it. All you need is a web browser. Easiest thing to do is turn on DHCP on the wireless station, and your PB will find it no problem.
cable -> modem -> router -> wireless
assuming you already have a router. if not, you can get a wireless base station that is also a 4 port router if you want (802.11b)
802.11g is newer, pricier, and only a benefit for you if you do a lot of file transfers in your own subnet. such as moving 20gig of mp3's from your desktop to your PB.
Linksys and others do 802.11g as well. This is not a unique thing Apple does. In fact, they offered it 2 months after the "early adopters" did.
http://www.linksys.com/splash/wrt54g_splash.asp
The above is available now at Buy.com for $129, and ships for free!
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10336386&loc=101
Apple's Airport Extreme is $199/$249 depending on if you want the built in modem and ext antenna port. No 4-port router though
http://www.apple.com/airport/