Is Airport Basestation Necessary?

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
I seem to remember way back when airport was first introduced that if you had a mac with an airport card plugged into the net you could use that mac as the basestation. Is this true or was this a dream? If it is true, can you still do this in OSX and if so, how?



I currently have an iMac plugged into my DSL modem. I'm looking into getting a laptop and two airport cards looks a lot cheaper than two cards plus a basestation...



rr.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    bodhibodhi Posts: 1,424member
    No software base station in OSX and my gut tells me there never will be. Apple would rather you buy the base station.
  • Reply 2 of 11
    You don't have to buy an Apple basestation, you can use any wireless basestation as long as it's 802.11 complaint. I bought a SMC wireless unit for half the price of an Airport base station...
  • Reply 3 of 11
    gordygordy Posts: 1,004member
    There are instructions for setting up a Software Base Station on OS X at VersionTracker.com.



    EDIT: <a href="http://www.versiontracker.com/moreinfo.fcgi?id=13335&db=mac"; target="_blank">Link</a>



    [ 02-12-2002: Message edited by: gordy ]</p>
  • Reply 4 of 11
    enderender Posts: 353member
    Your best bet is still a good quality wireless access point. It does not matter much which you choose though. You can get the Airport base from Apple, or any number of linksys, and other company's wireless APs.



    They also tend to get better range/speed than a software base station. At least in my experience. Less of a pain in the ass too.



    -Ender
  • Reply 5 of 11
    [quote]Originally posted by Bodhi:

    <strong>No software base station in OSX and my gut tells me there never will be. Apple would rather you buy the base station.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Good point. Another reason Macs cost more.
  • Reply 6 of 11
    Uh, guys, did any of you actually read what gordy linked to?



    [quote]Originally posted by gordy:

    <strong>There are instructions for setting up a Software Base Station on OS X at VersionTracker.com.

    EDIT: <a href="http://www.versiontracker.com/moreinfo.fcgi?id=13335&db=mac"; target="_blank">Link</a>

    </strong><hr></blockquote>



    There is software base station functionality on MacOS X. It's a bit tricky to set up right now, but the functionality is there.



    Bye,

    RazzFazz
  • Reply 7 of 11
    If you are getting the Linksys, remember, appletalk does not work with a wired computer to a wireless computer/printer.
  • Reply 8 of 11
    quaremquarem Posts: 254member
    [quote] There are instructions for setting up a Software Base Station on OS X at VersionTracker.com. <hr></blockquote>



    I am using the Software Base Station hack for OS X between an iBook and an iMac. Its works great. Basically all you are doing is accessing Mac OS X's built in NAT addressing to accomplish this. It is very easy to set up, probably 15 minutes tops if you have some experience using Mac OS X.
  • Reply 9 of 11
    hmmm...

    Thanks for the response. I read through the tutorial and I think that (as the mac I would be configuring is my fiance's iMac) I might just shell out the extra clams for the basestation -



    I'm pretty sure after reading through apple's site that I won't need an airport card for her iMac, and can just use the WAN port to connect that to a basestation... (please correct me if I'm wrong!).



    rr.
  • Reply 10 of 11
    [quote]Originally posted by RazzFazz:

    <strong>Uh, guys, did any of you actually read what gordy linked to?







    There is software base station functionality on MacOS X. It's a bit tricky to set up right now, but the functionality is there.



    Bye,

    RazzFazz</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Yea but it's not from Apple. Apple's goal is to sell a card+station = $400 rather than 2 cards+software = $200.
  • Reply 11 of 11
    [quote]Originally posted by Scott H.:

    <strong>

    Yea but it's not from Apple. Apple's goal is to sell a card+station = $400 rather than 2 cards+software = $200.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Well, the functionality is from Apple, all that's needed is already included with OS X.



    All that version tracker project does is walk you through the setup, it doesn't provide any basestation functionality itself.



    I agree though that Apple should have included a user-friendly setup walk-through in OS X per default.



    Bye,

    RazzFazz
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