I have little complaint with the card. Like I said, get it for the laptop. It performs better because it has very good antennea in the LCD lid. The iBook is uncommonly good for airport, the Ti is noticeably less so.
Once you have the desktops positioned, any card will give the similar performance. File sharing is another matter. You won't notice a thing on the net.
But the base station is a pass for a number of reasons. There are better home products out there that are easily administered from both your PC and Mac, are significantly cheaper and offer more control.
Get one of those.
Just another note. For the macs at least, do you even need a base station to pass Apple talk packets around? Won't the computers talk to each other?
I'm just talking about sharing an internet connection.
I'm getting the impression I should get Airport, but NOT the apple base station. So, if I got a 3rd party basestation, would my macs see it EXACTLY THE SAME as it would the apple one, or would it be a hassle to set up? Which one do you guys recommend?
We have 5 macs (probably only need cards for 4) and a Dell (Yuck). My thought was that since the dell has an ethernet card and the airport station has a port out to a computer, I would use that for the dell. Will that work?
Another thing, do you think it would be cheaper to plug a wired router into the basestation and wire all the desktops and only have the laptops wireless?
Thanks for the info jesperas. Will those work in iBooks? I'm assuming that somewhere out there in the wide world of laptops, others use built-in antennas, and thus there would be other cards that would go in the Airport slot of an iBook.
And yes, I will be working at the computer store JMoney. When you use Macs you can't have enough money, ever
<RANT>
I'm just saying, price is the only reason Dell is doing so well. All PCs are made by the same 12 year old Japanese kids, I have to laugh when some "dude" proudly says "He got a Dell" or "Compaq" or "Gateway" when I ask what kind of computer s/he has. "Gateway" isn't the answer! They're all the same Hence the price war (which Apple HAS to fight and is.) And losing colleges is extraordinarily bad for Apple, in my opinion. You don't see people lining up to use Dells at Dartmouth. The Macs are always in use, I mean always. To my pride, sometimes annoyance, and sadness/curiousity, considering they're going to get shipped back to Apple, according to rumor.
Actually, I was referring to the Orinoco and SMC Wireless Access Points (WAP), which is the rest of the world's term for "basestation." I'm not sure if the cards they make will fit in the airport slots, but I suppose you could email the manufacturers to find out.
If you're not keen on paying full price for the airport cards, every once in a while, Otherworldcomputing has a sale on a shipment of cards for about half price--talking around $60 each. These are new cards from system pulls. As you could imagine, these tend to sell out as soon as they're listed. Otherworldcomputing will sometimes post advance sale info in the news section of xlr8yourmac.com. Dealmac.com is also a good place to bargin hunt.
When you say airport I will assume you mean 802.11b. IMO, I believe it is worth every penny. I am currently typing on an iBook with an Airport card on a mixed PC/Mac network with a linksys router. Lke others said, I would get a Linksys/d-link etc router /AP so they are much cheaper and does the same thing. Watch out for potential interference that is present in your household though. For example, microwave, 2.4ghz corless phones, and certain early Bluetooth design are known to interfere with 802.11b.
to help clear it up for some people you can use an airport card with your non-apple base station. example i have an iBook with an Apple airport card (found it for $80 online. new) and i have a Linksys base station. it was easy to set up . and the linksys base is easily 100 less than the apple one. (downside, linksys has no modem input like apple one. upside linksys is also a 4 port hub)
I am thinking about getting 2 cards for my Powerbook G4/667 and my kids iMac G3/466. I plan on waiting til Jaguar comes out and use the software base station.
I do have a question for y'all. I thave noticed some Airport cards on ebay. Are there any differences between any older cards or any newer ones?
IIRC the older cards had 40bit encryption and the newer cards have 128, but you could 'upgrade' the firmware in the older cards with a patch from Apple. The older base station; however, was not upgradeable. I think, ICBWT.
I'm in the market for AirPort, so here is a hypothetical:
*I have two computers: One 17-inch iMac connected to an HP LaserJet 1200se printer and one TiBook. Using Airport, can I wirelessly print from the TiBook to the printer connected to the iMac?
EDIT: It's somewhat rude of the below poster to ask a vastly more complicated question after mine.
My head is spinning. I understand so little about networking/sharing. But I have a question. (Sorry to butt in iDude but maybe it will be pertinent to you too)
ANyway, we are getting Earthink cable soon. Their easiest solution to network the computers was via the phone lines. The device they use is called something like a Home Gateway. I don't all whaat it consists of(modem, router?). One computer is connect with an Ethernet cable. Again, its CABLE to the home. But broadband is shared with the rest of the computers through an active phone line. The advantage is that you dont have to start with laying Ethernet cables. And you can use the phone. Perhaps its like a DSL modem, I dont know.
Earthlink says its as fast as the main computer; there is no slowdown from the phone lines.
Is this a viable solution? Absolute top speed is not a necessity.
I will do it myself, btw, cause if Earthlink does it, there is a $10/mo extra charge.
Too many questions, too much confusion. Here's some answers:
- The Airport Base Station is a router, but not a hub.
- Jaguar will let you share your wired or wireless internet connection with any other Mac either via LAN or through a WiFi connection, via Rendezvous and Jaguar's software routing capabilities.
- Airport cards will work with other brands of WiFi routers (such as D-Link).
Matsu, you don't need a Base Station to get two Airport-equipped Macs to talk to each other as long as you're running Jaguar. Rendezvous makes all the difference, it's really f'n cool.
Are you getting Charter cable with support by Earthlink? I am in LA too (Pasadena) and as far as I know, Earthlink does not provide their own cabel service in LA.
In any case, just get any 802.11b compatible router/hub combo (for example, linksys BEFW11S4 which I have and is common and well-liked) and an airport card. The router will have a port that goes to your cable modem, and four port that allows you to plug in your ethernet cables from your PC or Mac. Everything should just be plug and play (DHCP) including the wireless.
You are correct, Earthlink does not own the cable. In my case, they are going through AOL/TW lines in my area--Torrance.
Now for the important thing, and I hope you return to the forum to read this: THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! Your solution is perfect for my home. I did not know you that there are routers that provide wired/wireless connections. I should have. I mean, Ive seen pictures of the wireless routers with all those ports on them. Duh. Its so obvious now. This solution is particularly elegant for me because my Mac is the only computer among the 3 that presents a physical problem in terms of running an ethernet to it. And the others would be impossible or difficult to go wireless. They will go ethernet and Ill just buy an airport card!
At home I run my macs on the internet from roadrunner cable service. Now, through the new Airport Base Station I run everything througout a decent Manhattan apartment (old walls, thick paint, odd corners, interference from the neighbors, unknown outlets--you know all the special features of life in NYC). At one time I have no trouble running 2 cubes, a powerbook and an iMac all on the web at once. This beats paying TIME WARNER CABLE for extra outlets. The speed is terrific and the signal indicators are all near the top of the scale. I now use my .Mac account as an offsite hard disk, just sending things from one computer to the disk and then copying it down superfast. I use that rather than the unwired file sharing I could rig because it works.
Comments
Once you have the desktops positioned, any card will give the similar performance. File sharing is another matter. You won't notice a thing on the net.
But the base station is a pass for a number of reasons. There are better home products out there that are easily administered from both your PC and Mac, are significantly cheaper and offer more control.
Get one of those.
Just another note. For the macs at least, do you even need a base station to pass Apple talk packets around? Won't the computers talk to each other?
I'm just talking about sharing an internet connection.
[ 08-05-2002: Message edited by: jesperas ]</p>
We have 5 macs (probably only need cards for 4) and a Dell (Yuck). My thought was that since the dell has an ethernet card and the airport station has a port out to a computer, I would use that for the dell. Will that work?
Another thing, do you think it would be cheaper to plug a wired router into the basestation and wire all the desktops and only have the laptops wireless?
And yes, I will be working at the computer store JMoney. When you use Macs you can't have enough money, ever
<RANT>
I'm just saying, price is the only reason Dell is doing so well. All PCs are made by the same 12 year old Japanese kids, I have to laugh when some "dude" proudly says "He got a Dell" or "Compaq" or "Gateway" when I ask what kind of computer s/he has. "Gateway" isn't the answer! They're all the same
</RANT>
Will those work in iBooks? <hr></blockquote>
Actually, I was referring to the Orinoco and SMC Wireless Access Points (WAP), which is the rest of the world's term for "basestation." I'm not sure if the cards they make will fit in the airport slots, but I suppose you could email the manufacturers to find out.
If you're not keen on paying full price for the airport cards, every once in a while, Otherworldcomputing has a sale on a shipment of cards for about half price--talking around $60 each. These are new cards from system pulls. As you could imagine, these tend to sell out as soon as they're listed. Otherworldcomputing will sometimes post advance sale info in the news section of xlr8yourmac.com. Dealmac.com is also a good place to bargin hunt.
The Airport is a router and a hub?
The linksys/d-links will work with Apple Airport cards?
I'm confused.
I do have a question for y'all. I thave noticed some Airport cards on ebay. Are there any differences between any older cards or any newer ones?
Thanks.
I'm in the market for AirPort, so here is a hypothetical:
*I have two computers: One 17-inch iMac connected to an HP LaserJet 1200se printer and one TiBook. Using Airport, can I wirelessly print from the TiBook to the printer connected to the iMac?
EDIT: It's somewhat rude of the below poster to ask a vastly more complicated question after mine.
[ 08-07-2002: Message edited by: ShawnPatrickJoyce ]</p>
ANyway, we are getting Earthink cable soon. Their easiest solution to network the computers was via the phone lines. The device they use is called something like a Home Gateway. I don't all whaat it consists of(modem, router?). One computer is connect with an Ethernet cable. Again, its CABLE to the home. But broadband is shared with the rest of the computers through an active phone line. The advantage is that you dont have to start with laying Ethernet cables. And you can use the phone. Perhaps its like a DSL modem, I dont know.
Earthlink says its as fast as the main computer; there is no slowdown from the phone lines.
Is this a viable solution? Absolute top speed is not a necessity.
I will do it myself, btw, cause if Earthlink does it, there is a $10/mo extra charge.
- The Airport Base Station is a router, but not a hub.
- Jaguar will let you share your wired or wireless internet connection with any other Mac either via LAN or through a WiFi connection, via Rendezvous and Jaguar's software routing capabilities.
- Airport cards will work with other brands of WiFi routers (such as D-Link).
Matsu, you don't need a Base Station to get two Airport-equipped Macs to talk to each other as long as you're running Jaguar. Rendezvous makes all the difference, it's really f'n cool.
Hope that helps...
Are you getting Charter cable with support by Earthlink? I am in LA too (Pasadena) and as far as I know, Earthlink does not provide their own cabel service in LA.
In any case, just get any 802.11b compatible router/hub combo (for example, linksys BEFW11S4 which I have and is common and well-liked) and an airport card. The router will have a port that goes to your cable modem, and four port that allows you to plug in your ethernet cables from your PC or Mac. Everything should just be plug and play (DHCP) including the wireless.
You are correct, Earthlink does not own the cable. In my case, they are going through AOL/TW lines in my area--Torrance.
Now for the important thing, and I hope you return to the forum to read this: THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! Your solution is perfect for my home. I did not know you that there are routers that provide wired/wireless connections. I should have. I mean, Ive seen pictures of the wireless routers with all those ports on them. Duh. Its so obvious now. This solution is particularly elegant for me because my Mac is the only computer among the 3 that presents a physical problem in terms of running an ethernet to it. And the others would be impossible or difficult to go wireless. They will go ethernet and Ill just buy an airport card!
Life is good again.