My parents want to set up a wireless network in our house. The iMac is going to be directly connected and the VAIO is going to be on the wireless LAN. Is this even possible? It seems that all the routers other than Apple's need to be connected to a Windows PC to be configured. If I got the Airport basestation, could I use either an Airport card or some other brand in the PC? What about an Airport v3.0? How likely is that?
New Airport at MWSF?
- Thread starter bjurusik
- Start date
the next AirPort cards are still a bit away. you can use an AirPort base station or any Wireless Access Point, really. You have a VAIO to configure it, right?
For the VAIO, you can take any WiFi compatible card. I've just bought mine a D-Link DWL-650+ card (that can do 22 Mbit if connected to a capable WAP with the Texas Instruments chipset).
WiFi basically 'just works' if it's real WiFi.
For the VAIO, you can take any WiFi compatible card. I've just bought mine a D-Link DWL-650+ card (that can do 22 Mbit if connected to a capable WAP with the Texas Instruments chipset).
WiFi basically 'just works' if it's real WiFi.
Do I want a WAP or router? I got the impression an access point was just to boost the signal the wireless router sends out. I was thinking of getting a Netgear mr314 or mr814, connecting cable moden and iMac to it, and then having either a USB reciever or PCI card on the VAIO. Would that work?
I don't like the USB receivers especially, as I think USB wasn't built for networking... But basically, yes that should work fine. I don't know the Netgear gear, but they're certainly fine, too. itanium just bought a third party (I mean non-Apple) WAP or router, I guess he can talk about it better than I can, because I'm using the first (graphite) AirPort Base Station, which works fine as a NAT-Router, too. (I only get 5 IPs by my net provider with the account I have, the AirPort allows me to use more devices and also a bit of security with Masquerading.)
I think I will go with that setup. It's too bad an Airport Base Station is so expensive. Not to mention, the Airport BS has no switches on it, so if you wanted more than 1 computer 'wired' to it, you'd have to buy a seperate switch. And if something is released at MWSF, a 30 day return policy would be perfect. What is the exact date of MWSF?
The next version of Airport will probably be released in early to mid 2003.
This is because the IEEE 802.11g protocol will be finallized in early 2003. It's the logical choice to use for Airport 3 because it's backward compatible with previous Airport hardware, and doesn't loose any range like 802.11a does.
Linksys already has 802.11g hardware out, which it promises will be upgradable to the final spec once it's released.
So, I guess it's up to you if you would like to wait for Airport 3, go with what's available for 802.11b(Airport 1&2), or go with the linksys hardware and hope they live up to their promises.
This is because the IEEE 802.11g protocol will be finallized in early 2003. It's the logical choice to use for Airport 3 because it's backward compatible with previous Airport hardware, and doesn't loose any range like 802.11a does.
Linksys already has 802.11g hardware out, which it promises will be upgradable to the final spec once it's released.
So, I guess it's up to you if you would like to wait for Airport 3, go with what's available for 802.11b(Airport 1&2), or go with the linksys hardware and hope they live up to their promises.
jeb1138
Carioca
Access Points are what makes a network wireless, and sometimes they come bundled with a router/switch/etc as well. The Apple BaseStation is an AP bundled with a bunch of other stuff. But standalone access points are no different than bundled access points (unless companies put more effort into bundled AP's, which I haven't heard but could be true).
I've already posted here a couple times with my rant on this but it's been a while and the situation hasn't really changed so....
Airport Base Stations are WAY overpriced. Around $200 overpriced. My roommate just got a D-Link wireless AP + Router + 4-port 100Mbps switch with full 24-hour Mac support for US$130 at CompUSA. I'm sure you could get it even cheaper elsewhere. You can get the Linksys equivalent model that I've had for the past year for under US$100. Compare that to US$300 for an Apple Basestation, and it doesn't even have a switch built in. The only reason to even think about getting a basestation is if you use dial-up, and even then there are much, much cheaper 3rd party solutions out there, I just haven't tried them. (Can't go back to dialup after using broadband! No! I won't!
)
I've been using a Linksys Wireless Acess Point + Router + 4-port switch in our Apartment network for a little over a year now and it works perfectly. We share a cable modem connection and drilled a hole to our neighbors' apartment next door and connected them up too (shh! don't tell my landlord!). 2 people downstairs and one across the hall get in wirelessly as well. And I'm no networking expert!
We have a total of 2 Mac's and 11 PC's connected (we have a switch and a hub uplinked to the router as well). The 2 Mac's and 4 of the PC's can (and do) go wireless as well. I use my PowerBook to configure the Router via its webpage configurator all the time. Works great!
I would never, ever recommend getting an Airport Basestation and I can't figure out how Apple can get away with charging so much for it except that people are so scared of wireless networking that they will pay around 3 times as much for an already expensive product just so that it's Apple branded so that they'll know it will work with their Mac. Trust me, third party solutions will work (at least the LinkSys, the D-Link and every other AP I've tried) and they will work in the same way, they are easy to configure, and they will generally work better/have more features.
Most wireless access points today are configured with a web browser, so almost all are Mac compatible even if they don't say so (like my Linksys).
I've been playing with my roommate's D-Link 614+ for a couple days and I've been very impressed with it. Better range than the Linksys, many more configuration options (and I thought the Linksys had a lot!) and 24-hour support, including for Mac's! (Linksys doesn't offer support for Mac's.)
Still, if I were thinking of putting together a network like bjurusik is talking about I would definitely get the new Linksys 802.11g hardware that devoferns mentioned. You can read about it in their press release here:
http://www.linksys.com/press/press.asp?prid=94&cyear=2002
The "Wireless G Broadband Router" has a list price of only $150! That's half as much as Apple's BaseStation, it's 5 times faster, is more configurable and has a 10/100 5-port ethernet switch! I think I'm definitely gonna have to upgrade my equipment for Christmas!
I've already posted here a couple times with my rant on this but it's been a while and the situation hasn't really changed so....
Airport Base Stations are WAY overpriced. Around $200 overpriced. My roommate just got a D-Link wireless AP + Router + 4-port 100Mbps switch with full 24-hour Mac support for US$130 at CompUSA. I'm sure you could get it even cheaper elsewhere. You can get the Linksys equivalent model that I've had for the past year for under US$100. Compare that to US$300 for an Apple Basestation, and it doesn't even have a switch built in. The only reason to even think about getting a basestation is if you use dial-up, and even then there are much, much cheaper 3rd party solutions out there, I just haven't tried them. (Can't go back to dialup after using broadband! No! I won't!
)I've been using a Linksys Wireless Acess Point + Router + 4-port switch in our Apartment network for a little over a year now and it works perfectly. We share a cable modem connection and drilled a hole to our neighbors' apartment next door and connected them up too (shh! don't tell my landlord!
). 2 people downstairs and one across the hall get in wirelessly as well. And I'm no networking expert!We have a total of 2 Mac's and 11 PC's connected (we have a switch and a hub uplinked to the router as well). The 2 Mac's and 4 of the PC's can (and do) go wireless as well. I use my PowerBook to configure the Router via its webpage configurator all the time. Works great!
I would never, ever recommend getting an Airport Basestation and I can't figure out how Apple can get away with charging so much for it except that people are so scared of wireless networking that they will pay around 3 times as much for an already expensive product just so that it's Apple branded so that they'll know it will work with their Mac. Trust me, third party solutions will work (at least the LinkSys, the D-Link and every other AP I've tried) and they will work in the same way, they are easy to configure, and they will generally work better/have more features.
Most wireless access points today are configured with a web browser, so almost all are Mac compatible even if they don't say so (like my Linksys).
I've been playing with my roommate's D-Link 614+ for a couple days and I've been very impressed with it. Better range than the Linksys, many more configuration options (and I thought the Linksys had a lot!) and 24-hour support, including for Mac's! (Linksys doesn't offer support for Mac's.)
Still, if I were thinking of putting together a network like bjurusik is talking about I would definitely get the new Linksys 802.11g hardware that devoferns mentioned. You can read about it in their press release here:
http://www.linksys.com/press/press.asp?prid=94&cyear=2002
The "Wireless G Broadband Router" has a list price of only $150! That's half as much as Apple's BaseStation, it's 5 times faster, is more configurable and has a 10/100 5-port ethernet switch! I think I'm definitely gonna have to upgrade my equipment for Christmas!