[FAQ] - 802.11b networking

[sturner]

You must use a router to link all of your computers to one access. You have contracted for only one access license. The router will be that one access license. The computers you connect to the router will not be seen by the ISP.

D-Link is evidently becoming accepted by Apple. Keep an eye on their products. Otherwise, Linksys is a good solid company. As an alternative you could look into Maxgate. There are others that will work as well.

[jaeyongdavid]

I have tested linksys BEFW11S4 with my ibook and a desktop PC. It works fine. No hassle. I have constructed a wireless home network.

[zra]

I have a D-Link DWL-1000ap wireless hub and a Hawking Router. I had the router before I bought my Powerbook, I added the Wireless hub later. I use these with my Powerbook via internal Airport card, I was also able to easily get my friend's Powerbook on my network with his PCMCIA Lucent 802.11b card. As well as the Beige Mac G3 and 2 PCs at my house which are wired to the network. The D-link was on sale a while back as was the Airport card, the whole thing cost me around $180.00, the router was $60.00 after rebate, I've since seen routers as low as $29.00.

I can walk 2 houses in either direction on my street and maintain a connection. I can also connect from any point in my house or any part of my front or back yard. If I wanted to I could share my connection with my neighbors. Then Hub can be secured by excluding mac addresses or wep encryption.

The cool thing about the D-link vs. the Linksys and Netgear stuff, I have used, is the D-link will do regular plain old Appletalk, all my Macs whether wired or not show up in the Chooser while the others I tried will not. You can of course do Appletalk via IP with the other products. I just like having everything show up in the Chooser.

[hugheba]

I have an old powerbook that I want to keep in another room and connect to my wireless network, the only problem is it has to working PCMCIA slots and no USB ports.

If I get another access point, SpeedStream 2623, like the one I already have, can I use the Ethernet port on it to hook up to my Powerbook.

If I just make sure both access points are on the same network it should work correct?

Or is there another solution to get my Powerbook with only an Ethernet port for networking connected to my network without running cable all over the house?

Thanks for your help...

[sturner]

Theoritically that should work. Check your documentation for the product, and/or call the support at the company to see if the uplink will let you connect to a node rather than a LAN.

[J5]

Hey all - just a quick update for this thread - there is a driver available for tons of cards. Check it out here:

http://wirelessdriver.sourceforge.net/

There is also a link on there to a list of supported cards, whether they use wep encryption, etc. Hopefully it will help someone looking to setup their network.

J5

[kymikai]

is it better to use the airport card as oppose to other pcmcia wireless card? I mean it costs a little more, but it seems to be more native and works with all the sys util?
Thanks for the advice.

[bossa nova]

Anyone have any problems with the linksys and wep? I can't get it to work. Turning it on turns off any routing once-so-ever.

Thanks!