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newmacuser
2005-07-01, 21:23
Ok, I finally said to heck with waiting (I have been waiting for an iBook update for the last month). I ordered my new 12 inch iBook with a 60 gig hard drive and I bought a 512 stick of RAM from Newegg. This is my first mac and I am real excited!!! It should be here next thurs. I have been a PC user who finally got tired of all the windows troubles and having to reformat my hd constantly to have it run right. Not trying to turn this into another iBook thread either. My roomate and I have a total of 3 computers. She has a 14 inch iBook g4 and we also have an hp desktop. My question is we have a cable modem plugged into a router (non-wireless) can i plug this airport extreme into the wall and router to have our iBooks wireless? Or would it just be easier to go out and buy a wireless g router? Thanks for any info.

shatteringglass
2005-07-01, 22:32
I have the same set-up as the one you mentioned (AirPort Express base station plugged into the wired router plugged into a cable modem) and it works flawlessly. But you'll have to spend $129 for an AirPort Express base station. It might be less expensive to buy a cheaper wireless G router made by another company that also has another Ethernet port built-in for connecting a non-wireless machine. That setup should work great too.

screensaver400
2005-07-02, 12:14
Personally, I find Linksys's routers to be the best designed and easiest to use. However, they're not without their problems. Just before 802.11g got popular, I bought a BEFW11S4 (802.11b wireless router with 4-port hub). The wan port went bad in it after 6 months, and Linksys made it very difficult to get a RMA number. I ended up posting about the problems and all I had been through to Leoville Town Square, and emailing Linksys the post and responses before they really did anything.

About two years after that, the wan port on the replacement router died, too.

I've tried D-Link and Netgear routers, but I really don't like them nearly as much as the Linksys. I just with Linksys models wouldn't die on me.

To sum it up, buy Linksys, but hope it doesn't die on you.

BarracksSi
2005-07-02, 21:16
I've got an old graphite Airport base station that was still running this spring when I relieved it with an Airport Express. It was just over 5 years old, starting life as a dialup modem and retiring as a wireless connection to my DSL line.

atomicbartbeans
2005-07-02, 22:35
I have the Linksys WRT54G with my iBook, and it works flawlessly. If you go into Staples and tell them that Wal-Mart sells it for $59, then they'll treat you to their 110% price guarantee. Make sure you talk to the manager, not the clerk.