Airport Extreme, or will iTV to it all?

[malcolm]

Hello,
I have an old iMac in the basement, connected via DSL, and two powerbooks upstairs (one old, with the older version Airport card, the other with an Extreme Airport card). Until recently, everything worked well, but now, for whatever reason, the wireless router (supplied by Bell) in my basement seems to have lost its wireless capabilities. I can:
1. get a new wireless from Bell (free). My problem - - I don't know how to configure it, and Bell doesn't like to help Mac owners.
2. get an Apple Airport Extreme base station. Problem: I've heard the range isn't great, and I'd hate to have the extra expense of adding an Airport Express. On the positive side: I think (hope) this would be easy to set up, so I wouldn't need help from Bell.
3. wait for the iTV, if someone can tell me whether, along with sending tv signals here there and everywhere, would also allow me to connect to the internet wirelessly. I have no idea what the iTV box is going to do, so I have to ask.
Thanks for any advice.
mhcbc

[malcolm]

I'm sorry about the typo in the subject field: what I meant to ask was 'or will iTV do it all'...
(will it take the place of an Airport Extreme for wireless connection to the internet, as well as doing its tv stuff?)

[torifile]

I don't know for sure but I don't think that the iTV does connection sharing.

Personally, I wouldn't get an ABS - they're over-priced for what they do. I just picked up another netgear router for $40. I've had one for 2 years without a single problem. Configuration is easy and usually only a one time thing.

[malcolm]

Thanks for the reply, torifile. I know the Apple Extreme unit is overpriced, but after wasting two hours trying to connect wirelessly to a SpeedStream 6520 wireless router (and Bell Technical help wouldn't help, because I want to connect with a Mac), and failing... I don't know what to do.
Maybe a Netgear or Linksys is more Mac-friendly that this Speedstream?
Cheers,
Malcolm

[torifile]

The netgear requires basically no setup. Just plug it in and it works. You can *choose* to change the default settings but that's entirely optional and easy to do via their web-based admin pages.

[malcolm]

thanks. I'll get one on my way home from work. I appreciate the help.
Malcolm