original airport vs. airport extreme?

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
need some more purchasing advice. thanks for the responses in the other thread, by the way. very helpful.

my computer (powerbook G4 12-inch) didn't come with airport installed, but it is airport ready. i was going to get the original airport for my computer from a friend, but that didn't work out.

now that i have to buy an airport myself, should i opt for the original, or for exteme? what are the pros and cons?

also, my friend has one of those imacs with the moving screen, and the bulbous bottom, with an older aiport card installed. in the apartment above her, they subscribe to wireless internet. she can connect to their wireless internet for free, without the password, because (we think) of the older airport card. her other roommate just got an airport card for her ibook, and cannot connect to the wireless internet from upstairs, because it asks her for a password she doesn't know. is this because the roommate with the imac has the older aiport card, or is it just a happy accident?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 2
    mr. hmr. h Posts: 4,870member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by michaelacolette

    my computer (powerbook G4 12-inch) didn't come with airport installed, but it is airport ready. i was going to get the original airport for my computer from a friend, but that didn't work out.

    now that i have to buy an airport myself, should i opt for the original, or for exteme? what are the pros and cons?




    You don't have a choice: 12 inch PowerBooks can only use airport extreme.



    Quote:

    Originally posted by michaelacolette

    also, my friend has one of those imacs with the moving screen, and the bulbous bottom, with an older aiport card installed. in the apartment above her, they subscribe to wireless internet. she can connect to their wireless internet for free, without the password, because (we think) of the older airport card. her other roommate just got an airport card for her ibook, and cannot connect to the wireless internet from upstairs, because it asks her for a password she doesn't know. is this because the roommate with the imac has the older aiport card, or is it just a happy accident?



    weird... are you absolutely sure that they are trying to connect to the same wireless network?



    And you are, of course, going to do the morally upstanding thing and tell your neighbours that their wireless network is unsecure?
  • Reply 2 of 2
    pubguypubguy Posts: 108member
    If the airport is asking for a password, one of two things is happening:



    1) someone enabled WEP or WAP protection requiring either a password or key phrase to be entered.



    2) The laptop is at the finge of the signal range. I get this message occasionally if I have a really weak signal. Moving somewhat closer first usually solves the problem.
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