Airport Alternatives?
Does anyone know of any good alternatives for a wireless cable modem router. I like the idea of the airport but can't stomach the 400 dollar setup cost. I have seen many alternatives in computer stores but they all seem to be for windows.
Any Suggestions?
[ 07-31-2002: Message edited by: jayny ]</p>
Any Suggestions?
[ 07-31-2002: Message edited by: jayny ]</p>
Comments
<strong>Does anyone know of any good alternatives for a wireless cable modem router. I like the idea of the airport but can't stomach the 400 dollar setup cost. I have seen many alternatives in computer stores but they all seem to be for windows.
Any Suggestions?
[ 07-31-2002: Message edited by: jayny ]</strong><hr></blockquote>
I just had the same problem, but for a different reason. I just purchased an AirPort base station and card for my new Mac, but have an old PowerBook G3 that doesn't support AirPort cards. Any router should work with any OS, provided you have a compatible 802.11b network card for the computer. If you have a Mac that can take an AirPort card, and just don't want to pay for the base station, just buy one of the cards, as they are compatible with any 802.11b network. Then, find an 802.11b compatible router at a computer store. Setup the router, and you should be ready to go. Another option is to go with a third party card as well. Asante's AL1011 PCMCIA card has OS X drivers in beta, and full support for OS 9. Hope this helps.
802.11b is a standard that isn't platform specific. Just like you can have USB on both a Mac or a PC. Same as that you can have ethernet on a Mac or a PC. Apple just calls 802.11b Airport. Just like Apple calls IEEE1394 as 'firewire' instead. And Sony calls it something else. It's all the same thing, jsut different names.
<strong>And Sony calls it something else.</strong><hr></blockquote>
I believe Sony calls it iLink.
[ 08-01-2002: Message edited by: chweave1 ]</p>
<strong>In total I think we spent 159 for the router, 100 for one wireless card, and i sitll have to buy something to connect her original bondi-blue iMac to the network.</strong><hr></blockquote>
I honestly don't think you are going to find much of anything to connect an original iMac with. The newer "old" iMacs offer some AirPort support, but you still have to purchase an adapter so that it fits in right. The only thing that would work easily and cheaply would be a USB adapter, which they don't seem to make for Macs. You also might be able to find a device which would allow you to use PCMCIA cards on your iMac (I have seen such things, I just don't remember where). Then, you could buy a PCMCIA card that woudl work with the Mac (such as the one I reccomended in my previous post). My personal thoughts on the matter? An old Bondi Blue iMac like that can't do much at all anymore, and those new 17" things look awful nice....get the drift?
<strong>
I honestly don't think you are going to find much of anything to connect an original iMac with. The newer "old" iMacs offer some AirPort support, but you still have to purchase an adapter so that it fits in right. The only thing that would work easily and cheaply would be a USB adapter, which they don't seem to make for Macs. You also might be able to find a device which would allow you to use PCMCIA cards on your iMac (I have seen such things, I just don't remember where). Then, you could buy a PCMCIA card that woudl work with the Mac (such as the one I reccomended in my previous post). My personal thoughts on the matter? An old Bondi Blue iMac like that can't do much at all anymore, and those new 17" things look awful nice....get the drift? </strong><hr></blockquote>
You could try the 802.11b to USB adapters, but the one I have sucks personally (I have the Linksys one). I don't know if it's just the specific one I have or all of them in general that suck. But that should work, if you're willing to try it.
<a href="http://www.macworld.com/2002/07/reviews/routers.html" target="_blank">Link</a>
Netgear and Zoom both got "4 mice".
Hope this helps,
Blizaine
<strong>Does anyone know of any good alternatives for a wireless cable modem router.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Try the Linksys WAP11. It works fine with Apple hardware, and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005854B/" target="_blank">Amazon</a> has it for $118.46!
If it's not advanced enough for you, there are several other Linksys products that come in under the price of Apple's AirPort.
I get your drift, and would normally say 'Yes he's right, i'll look into buying a new one.' But, alas, its my mom's computer, and I have no say in its retirement/decommission. But if I find that there really is no way of hooking it up, ill relay what you said to my mom. THanks!
PYR3
Call me stupid, but i have to ask. Wouldn't the fact that it's hooked up to the computer thru USB nullify the advantage of having broadband OR is USB's speed equivalent to 802.11b?
[ 08-01-2002: Message edited by: chweave1 ]</p>
<strong>Scifience
I get your drift, and would normally say 'Yes he's right, i'll look into buying a new one.' But, alas, its my mom's computer, and I have no say in its retirement/decommission. But if I find that there really is no way of hooking it up, ill relay what you said to my mom. THanks!
PYR3
Call me stupid, but i have to ask. Wouldn't the fact that it's hooked up to the computer thru USB nullify the advantage of having broadband OR is USB's speed equivalent to 802.11b?
[ 08-01-2002: Message edited by: chweave1 ]</strong><hr></blockquote>
802.11b is 11Mbps. Most broadband is 1.5Mbps or 3Mbps or less for Cable or DSL(most college connections are 10Mbps). USB is 12Mbps. Granted that 12Mbps is shared by all devices strung together, but I seriously doubt that my printer (which I barely use) and my USB mouse use all that much bandwidth. Might be different with you, but I don't think that the 1.5Mbps from your broadband will be that affected by other devices since that's only a fraction of the USB theoretical bandwidth and even your broadband bandwidth is subject to network conjection and the like. This is assuming USB 1.1, which you most likely have since USB 2.0 isn't integrated into Macs, USB2.0 is a whole different ballpark (post if you want me to expand on USB2.0)