I have an airport basestation with 2 ibooks and 2 powermacs all networked together. It is super nice to be able to drag stuff between comps. It's great to take the ibook in the bath and cruise the net or on the back porch.
But the best part of all? When you get a new computer, it takes literally like 10 minutes to snap the 99 dollar card in and you are on the network.
I've been using AirPort since the original 300 MHZ Tangerine iBook was released and I have no complaints. I've used it in two congigurations. One, with two Macs, one via Air and one via ethernet. Both machines can talk to each other and both can talk to the outside world.
The other setup I've used is a Mac via Air and a Windows machine on ethernet. That situation works as well.
Personally, I have my machine setup as a WebServer running 24/7 without a wired connection to the internet and it works really well.
I share a cable modem connection with a graphite iBook SE, an October 2001 PowerBook Titanium, a Powerbook Pismo 400, and a generic PC piece of shite, using a 2.0 basestation and Airport cards in all but the PC. The PC is connected directly to the basestation's LAN port, with the cable modem in the WAN port.
It took exactly five minutes to get everything configured and up and running, and it's been working flawlessly since I installed everything about two months ago.
This is all set up in a two story house that's about 5000 square feet, total. Everyone uses the connected at the same time and it seems pretty fast regardless of who is doing what. My boyfriend tends to monopolize the connection, he's constantly on audiogalaxy, gnutella and hotline, but no one in the house has seen a hit in speed because of it. Granted, the rest of us just check our email and surf, no hardcore music and video downloading.
We also share a 40GB firewire harddrive over the connection, for mp3s, applications, printer sharing, etc. It's too slow to sync my iPod with, but iTunes plays mp3s off the harddrive without a hitch over the airport connection.
The coolest thing, I must say, is checking my email at the breakfast table in the am while eating my cheerios. who needs a newspaper, just pick your favorite from the web and enjoy wherever.
total cost of the whole setup was about $430.
$50 each for the Airport Cards from otherworld computing, I only had to buy two, one for my pismo and one for my b/f's ibook, our roomie with the Ti already had one.
The basestation was a little shy of $300, and the fifty-foot ethernet cable was $10 from the gateway accessory store. I wanted to put the basestation in my room (it's awfully pretty at night, white blinky lights and all), but I needed to connect it to our other roomie's PC, so I needed a big f'ing piece of cable. I know, gateway sucks, I only bought it from them because they had the best price on huge lengths of cat5. and if it makes you feel better, I registered the screenname gatewaysuckscock when I ordered from the store.
Overall, a very pleasant experience, easy to set up and live with. Though, could be cheaper.
I have two broadband connections, I use a Linux based firewall, and a hardware based firewall. I have a 100mbs switch for my wired machines, and use AirPort for everything else. It has been great. two iBooks, a PowerBook, a Dell Laptop, and one other iMac all connect to the AirPort BaseStation in the basement. It is fantastic. If the AirPort was faster I would ditch all the wires. Even if you don't go with the more expensive Apple BaseStation, I would highly recommend the 802.11 networking. But please keep in mind security issues. I don't want to get spamed from someone driving by your house and breaking into your network.
I ve an iMac and will sure connect via airport with no problem,
but for my PC, do i need extra software in order to 1) use airport for internet access ; 2) share files with the iMac??
Big thanks in advance</strong><hr></blockquote>
What you can do is buy an Orinoco Wavelan card and a PCI carrier. Stuff that in the PC, install the drivers, ba da bing. Your PC is wirelessly connected. I'm betting you could find the whole setup for somewhere around $120.
Connectivity software: It depends, but if you're using OS X, you can mount SMB/CIFS shares with no problem. You can also run a samba server on your Mac in order to allow your PC to mount its shares. If you're in OS 9, it gets a little more involved. You will need to grab Connectix DoubleTalk (which works great) and/or PCMacLAN for the PC in order to really be sure you can access your AppleShare volumes.
<strong>Can you print from a wirelessly connected laptop?</strong><hr></blockquote>
You should be able to, as long as the printer is network capable, or you are able to USB Share it in 9.x. Wireless networks from a usability standpoint are pretty much the same as Ethernet. The only exception is I believe some will not allow you to piggyback AppleTalk onto them. Such is life. AppleTalk is pretty outdated anyway, and Apple has all but entirely moved over to TCP/IP.
I used Airport for the first time this week. I was traveling and needed to email something. I walked into a restaurant* opened my 'book, and presto--I was on the internet. Beautiful.
*The restaurant "Wrap" on Newbury St. in Boston has an Airport network free for customer use. So you should buy a yummy wrap and support them and their initiative. The Peking Duck wrap is good.
You should be able to, as long as the printer is network capable, or you are able to USB Share it in 9.x. Wireless networks from a usability standpoint are pretty much the same as Ethernet. The only exception is I believe some will not allow you to piggyback AppleTalk onto them. Such is life. AppleTalk is pretty outdated anyway, and Apple has all but entirely moved over to TCP/IP.</strong><hr></blockquote>
I have an hp LaserJet 1200se- the $400 dollar one without the print server. Can I do it?
I have an hp LaserJet 1200se- the $400 dollar one without the print server. Can I do it?</strong><hr></blockquote>
Well, I'm guessing you have it connected via USB, so if you're running OS 9, you can USB share it. If not, you'll probably have to wait until Apple reimplements USB Printer Sharing into OS X. if worse comes to worst, you can just plug the USB cable into the portable for quick prints. That shouldn't be too much of a hassle.
I hate to be the first one on the "cons" column, but my 400mhz TiBook just won't work beyond 30ft or so from the base station. And I am sure I am not alone here, as I have read similar reports from other original TiBook users. My wife's graphite iBook 466 works well beyond 100ft range.
I hope newer TiBooks have better Airport range.
Anyone knows how to improve the original TiBook airport range?
I have an hp LaserJet 1200se- the $400 dollar one without the print server. Can I do it?</strong><hr></blockquote>
You can share the printer as outlined above if you are using Mac OS 9, or, I believe that model supports a Print Server (which is basically a parrallel to Ethernet adapter in most cases) which would make it another node on your network. If you do decide to go the printserver route, be sure to make sure that the Print Server Admin Software is Mac OS Compatible.
Comments
But the best part of all? When you get a new computer, it takes literally like 10 minutes to snap the 99 dollar card in and you are on the network.
Airport is a beautiful thing. I love it.
at least i know someone out there is using airport
The other setup I've used is a Mac via Air and a Windows machine on ethernet. That situation works as well.
Personally, I have my machine setup as a WebServer running 24/7 without a wired connection to the internet and it works really well.
It took exactly five minutes to get everything configured and up and running, and it's been working flawlessly since I installed everything about two months ago.
This is all set up in a two story house that's about 5000 square feet, total. Everyone uses the connected at the same time and it seems pretty fast regardless of who is doing what. My boyfriend tends to monopolize the connection, he's constantly on audiogalaxy, gnutella and hotline, but no one in the house has seen a hit in speed because of it. Granted, the rest of us just check our email and surf, no hardcore music and video downloading.
We also share a 40GB firewire harddrive over the connection, for mp3s, applications, printer sharing, etc. It's too slow to sync my iPod with, but iTunes plays mp3s off the harddrive without a hitch over the airport connection.
The coolest thing, I must say, is checking my email at the breakfast table in the am while eating my cheerios. who needs a newspaper, just pick your favorite from the web and enjoy wherever.
total cost of the whole setup was about $430.
$50 each for the Airport Cards from otherworld computing, I only had to buy two, one for my pismo and one for my b/f's ibook, our roomie with the Ti already had one.
The basestation was a little shy of $300, and the fifty-foot ethernet cable was $10 from the gateway accessory store. I wanted to put the basestation in my room (it's awfully pretty at night, white blinky lights and all), but I needed to connect it to our other roomie's PC, so I needed a big f'ing piece of cable. I know, gateway sucks, I only bought it from them because they had the best price on huge lengths of cat5. and if it makes you feel better, I registered the screenname gatewaysuckscock when I ordered from the store.
Overall, a very pleasant experience, easy to set up and live with. Though, could be cheaper.
ciao,
michael
I ve an iMac and will sure connect via airport with no problem,
but for my PC, do i need extra software in order to 1) use airport for internet access ; 2) share files with the iMac??
Big thanks in advance
Airport lets me go online without any wires running through the house and with AOL is works great.
It's actually a little faster than using the intrernal modem, I really like using it.
<strong>thanks sooooo much for all your replies!
I ve an iMac and will sure connect via airport with no problem,
but for my PC, do i need extra software in order to 1) use airport for internet access ; 2) share files with the iMac??
Big thanks in advance</strong><hr></blockquote>
What you can do is buy an Orinoco Wavelan card and a PCI carrier. Stuff that in the PC, install the drivers, ba da bing. Your PC is wirelessly connected. I'm betting you could find the whole setup for somewhere around $120.
Connectivity software: It depends, but if you're using OS X, you can mount SMB/CIFS shares with no problem. You can also run a samba server on your Mac in order to allow your PC to mount its shares. If you're in OS 9, it gets a little more involved. You will need to grab Connectix DoubleTalk (which works great) and/or PCMacLAN for the PC in order to really be sure you can access your AppleShare volumes.
Hope this helped.
<strong>Can you print from a wirelessly connected laptop?</strong><hr></blockquote>
You should be able to, as long as the printer is network capable, or you are able to USB Share it in 9.x. Wireless networks from a usability standpoint are pretty much the same as Ethernet. The only exception is I believe some will not allow you to piggyback AppleTalk onto them. Such is life. AppleTalk is pretty outdated anyway, and Apple has all but entirely moved over to TCP/IP.
*The restaurant "Wrap" on Newbury St. in Boston has an Airport network free for customer use. So you should buy a yummy wrap and support them and their initiative. The Peking Duck wrap is good.
<strong>
You should be able to, as long as the printer is network capable, or you are able to USB Share it in 9.x. Wireless networks from a usability standpoint are pretty much the same as Ethernet. The only exception is I believe some will not allow you to piggyback AppleTalk onto them. Such is life. AppleTalk is pretty outdated anyway, and Apple has all but entirely moved over to TCP/IP.</strong><hr></blockquote>
I have an hp LaserJet 1200se- the $400 dollar one without the print server. Can I do it?
<strong>
I have an hp LaserJet 1200se- the $400 dollar one without the print server. Can I do it?</strong><hr></blockquote>
Well, I'm guessing you have it connected via USB, so if you're running OS 9, you can USB share it. If not, you'll probably have to wait until Apple reimplements USB Printer Sharing into OS X. if worse comes to worst, you can just plug the USB cable into the portable for quick prints. That shouldn't be too much of a hassle.
any cons?
would love to hear ' NO!'
just kidding, anyone?
I hate to be the first one on the "cons" column, but my 400mhz TiBook just won't work beyond 30ft or so from the base station. And I am sure I am not alone here, as I have read similar reports from other original TiBook users. My wife's graphite iBook 466 works well beyond 100ft range.
I hope newer TiBooks have better Airport range.
Anyone knows how to improve the original TiBook airport range?
<strong>
I have an hp LaserJet 1200se- the $400 dollar one without the print server. Can I do it?</strong><hr></blockquote>
You can share the printer as outlined above if you are using Mac OS 9, or, I believe that model supports a Print Server (which is basically a parrallel to Ethernet adapter in most cases) which would make it another node on your network. If you do decide to go the printserver route, be sure to make sure that the Print Server Admin Software is Mac OS Compatible.
--PB
Ripping apart your machine to expose the two antennas attached to the airport antenna wire will quadruple your airport range. And ruin your computer.
The TiBooks make good bombshelters and BAD airport receivers!