Airport--Grey, Snow, Extreme?

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
I just got a couple of airports cards for my powerbook and my kids iMac. It works great but it does not seem that using the iMac and OSX as a software base station supports printing. File sharing and the internet work great, but I have to make sure the iMac does not go to sleep while I'm using it. So I have been thinking of getting a real base station.



I realize I can not use extreme on my current hardware. But I could use an extreme base station at my cards lower speeds. But I don't think I want to spend that much just yet. So that leaves me with the original Grey ones and the Snow versions.



What is the difference between the two?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    kecksykecksy Posts: 1,002member
    Grey can only support 10 users, has one ethernet port, and doesn't support AOL. Snow supports 50 users, has dual ethernet ports (one WAN, one LAN), and works with AOL. The snow also looks better, IMO. Can you still find grey basestations? They're like 4 years old.
  • Reply 2 of 6
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    printer sharing SHOULD work with a software base station as long as both computers are running 10.2.x



    but regardless you should look into the $199 ApE BS so you can hook up your (USB i assume?) printer so that everyone can use it



    hth



    -Paul
  • Reply 3 of 6
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    The best thing about the Extreme basestation is the optional antenna port on the $250 version. Add one of <a href="http://www.hyperlinktech.com/web/re09u.php"; target="_blank">these</a> for extreme range.



    The antenna above provides 8 dBi gain for $80. The Dr. Bott omni provides 3.5 dBi gain and is more expensive.



    In the end, even the $199 base without the antenna option is a good deal compared to the old models.



    [ 03-07-2003: Message edited by: Eugene ]</p>
  • Reply 4 of 6
    dubosedubose Posts: 4member
    whoa.....have not seen this thing out there........are you using it?

    Looks to be a better opyion than the dr. Bott deal.



    thanks



    Sam
  • Reply 5 of 6
    a@rona@ron Posts: 201member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by dubose

    whoa.....have not seen this thing out there........are you using it?

    Looks to be a better opyion than the dr. Bott deal.



    thanks



    Sam




    Im using one and I also built my own from a kit. I built a 9 dBi gain antenna for $40, add in the cost of a pigtail ($20) and it comes to a grand total of $60. They work well on extending the range of the basestations (since the Apple ones only put out 35-40 mW). However, I'm thinking of buying a basestation made by EnGenius that puts out 200 mW on eBay for cheap.



    A@ron
  • Reply 6 of 6
    The first two Airports only do printer sharing through a mac ... so that mac has to be awake all the time .... only the new Extreme can share a printer directly from the base station ...



    I have the same problem where i always have to wake up the iMac before I can print from my iBook... oh well ... still easier than fiddling with cables !!!
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