[Maflynn]

I'm thinking of getting broadband (cable) and using the airport base station. I have a few questions related to that. I did try seaching the forums before posting

1. With the AEB do I need anything inbetween the cable modem abd the base station?

2. I have a 15"al with an airport extreme card, will that be compatible with the older "B" airport?

3. What issues or increased configuration am I faced with if I purchase a non apple wireless router? I'm partial for apple not just will look good with the rest of my equipment but works a lot more seemlessly (usually)

Thanks
Mike

[chabig]

1) Nothing but a cable

2) Yes

3) The non-Apple equipment will work just fine. Apple's base station is perhaps slightly more seemless and you should definitely get it if you need to use Appletalk on your network (I need Appletalk to communicate with my old Laserwriter IIg printer, for example). Also, Apple uses the Airport Admin Utility to configure the base station. With other brands it's usually done through a web browser interface.

Chris

[Maflynn]

Thanks,
As mentioned, that apple equipement offers a little more peace of mind due to the intergration and compatabiliy.

Mike

[aaanorton]

I think the Apple base stations are actually less compatible, because Apple changes terminology. Apple's is also the only proprietary set-up available now, which I really don't like. The 3rd party options are stupid-easy to config. They generally offer more options, have better reception and cost considerably less than Apple's. I'd look at a good 802.11b wireless router like the Netgear MR814v2, which you can pick up for 28 bucks.