Going Wireless...hardware question.

K

kafene

Registered
I currently have a wireless network, but my Mac G4 is wired. I'd like to go wireless with 11g. The Airport Extreme card is not compatible with my Mac G4.

Here are the options I'm looking at. Get a PCI Wireless 11g from MacWireless.com

or

This is the main question, would I be able to just buy another wireless router instead and have it as my "wireless card"? I mean, get another wireless router I can hook up to my Mac to connect to my current wireless network. That way, I can just go over to Fry's and buy another one and have it done with.

Thanks.

kafene.
 
routers dont work like that.

why do anything though? your g4 is a desktop so its not like you need mobility and its already on your network.
 
I have to contradict fbp_
At least the airport express would do it and I think regular wireless lan access points or routers can do that as well, but am not very sure.
 
As for the need for wireless on a desktop, sometimes it is necessary, especially if you can't wire your home or apartment. It's less of a hassle to set up everything wireless than it is to run Cat-5/5e/6 cable through the walls. Sure, it's not as fast as wired Ethernet, but it's an easier (and sometimes the only) solution.
 
fbp_ said:
routers dont work like that.

why do anything though? your g4 is a desktop so its not like you need mobility and its already on your network.
Click to expand...

As nixgeek said, I need this desktop to be wireless. I live in a condo where this is only ONE phone jack. It's in the kitchen. To have access via the modem, the phone line would have to go all the way from the kitchen through the dining room and into the living room. Stupid setup, but that's how my condo's set up.

My other option would have been to setup one of those "wireless phone jacks" that plug into the electricity socket. I don't know how fast those are though.

kafene.
 
If you can't get a wireless NIC for the desktop machine, look into a wireless bridge. Apple's new AirPort Express is supposed to support this or Linksys makes one. I'm sure other's do as well. Funny thing is that they usually cost about as much as a router.
 
There are lots of wireless routers that will work in bridge mode from nearly every brand that makes wireless routers, many of which are way cheaper than Apple's. I believe my LinkSys WRT54G works in bridge mode and you can get them pretty cheap if you use a price search engine like http://www.pricegrabber.com
 
I ended up just getting an Airport card (11b). The rest of my network is 11g, but putting this Airport card into my Mac will bring everything else (my wireless network) down to 11b speed, which is fine, except I spend the extra money back when I bought the stuff just for the g speed, which sucks.

kafene.

(just in case people don't know, if you put an 11b into an 11g network, it brings the entire network down to 11b, regardless of whether you have g or not).
 
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