[Mr Creosote]

The Bluetooth and Airport Extreme on the pb is something that I *think* I understand but am having trouble relating it to how I would actually use it.

For example, can I connect to my BT Adsl internet connection by wireless from a 17inch pb? If so, do I need any other bits over and above what is supplied with the computer as standard?

Next is the Bluetooth. Can I connect to printer, scanner, digital camera if they are "bluetooth enabled"? I am sure my current peripherals arent bluetooth but would be as simple as if I get a 17inch pb and replace my peripherals with bluetooth peripherals that I can just communiacte with them wthout USB wires?

Thanks!

[AssassyN]

Hi there!! To connect a 17" PB wirelessly to the internet, you'll need to purchase a wireless internet base station seperately. For example, an AirPort Extreme Base Station. Also, Linksys and other companies make these as well, but to reach the "Extreme" speeds (54Mbps) you'll need an 802.11"g" (not "b") Base Station, and currently Apple and Linksys make the best. By purchasing that Base Station you allow your 17" PB to have everything it needs to connect wirelessly to the internet in your home. Away from home, however, the 17" PB can connect to practically any public wireless network, such as a school's wireless network, by simply coming from within range (such as in the library).

Currently the 17" PB doesn't support Bluetooth printing (b/c OS X doesn't support it, not just the PB), but you *can* connect your Bluetooth enabled cell phone, Palm Pilot or PDA, or digicam via Bluetooth. In this case, the only thing you need to connect is that device to be held close to your 17" PB, and possibly some free connecting software found at www.versiontracker.com . No other accessories are needed to sync Bluetooth accessories with your 17" PB in the majority of situations.

Hope this helps, and feel free to post other questions!

[Mr Creosote]

Thanks very much Assassyn!
So, all I have to do is get this Airport base unit thingy, give it power and shove my phone line jack into it.
Then magically the 17inch pb will connect to the base Unit?
Do I have to tell the pb to talk this way? (excuse me, I am new to Apple).
One obvious concern is how does the base unit knows its talking to my pb and not sending my emails etc to someone else? Is there some sort of security with this?

I dont use mobile phone stuff so the Bluetooth facilities probably arent much use to me, but the ability to sit in the garden while surfing the net via Airport does appeal!!! Tell me, does it REALLY work well?

Thx again.

[Mastrap]

Originally posted by Mr Creosote:
Thanks very much Assassyn!
So, all I have to do is get this Airport base unit thingy, give it power and shove my phone line jack into it.
Then magically the 17inch pb will connect to the base Unit?
Do I have to tell the pb to talk this way? (excuse me, I am new to Apple).
One obvious concern is how does the base unit knows its talking to my pb and not sending my emails etc to someone else? Is there some sort of security with this?

I dont use mobile phone stuff so the Bluetooth facilities probably arent much use to me, but the ability to sit in the garden while surfing the net via Airport does appeal!!! Tell me, does it REALLY work well?

Thx again.

The base unit doesn't hold any information about your email settings or anything like that.
Think of it as a cable that isn't a cable. All it does is forwarding your information from the base station to your PB and vice versa. You can find the settings in your "Network" settings in the system preferences. Security is provided by giving your wireless network a password.
To give an example my wireless network at home is called "HOME". When I switch on my iBook it automatically sees this as the local network and logs in with a password specified by me. When I am at work the same thing happens, only the network is called "WORK" (yes I know, I am creative like that ).

It works extremely well. I am typing this from the comfort of my sofa in my living room. My DSL connection arrives two rooms down the hall.

[AssassyN]

Originally posted by Mr Creosote:
Thanks very much Assassyn!
So, all I have to do is get this Airport base unit thingy, give it power and shove my phone line jack into it.
Then magically the 17inch pb will connect to the base Unit?
Do I have to tell the pb to talk this way? (excuse me, I am new to Apple).
One obvious concern is how does the base unit knows its talking to my pb and not sending my emails etc to someone else? Is there some sort of security with this?

I dont use mobile phone stuff so the Bluetooth facilities probably arent much use to me, but the ability to sit in the garden while surfing the net via Airport does appeal!!! Tell me, does it REALLY work well?

Thx again.

Hehe, you've kinda got the idea!

You plug the cable/DSL/phone line into the Base Station and then Run the AirPort Setup program on your PB in which it'll connect to it, and from then on it'll connect wirelessly. And the Base Station itself doesn't hold any personal information; as stated, think of the base station as an invisible wire and nothing more, it just connects your PB to the internet using an invisible wire, but all your email settings and such are still only stored on your hard drive. The Base Station includes a firewall that blocks foreign invaders from invading your network without your password.

I have the 17" PB and the AirPort Extreme Base Station, and it works extremely well; I'm very, very satisfied. Read more in detail in my review by clicking HERE for a better description. But yes, it works extremely well up to around 150 feet away, and that range can be extended by connecting an external antenna.

Feel free to post any more questions if you have any!

[legionare]

Just a minor correction: You shove your phoneline into the DSL modem, then you run the Ethernet cable from the DSL modem RJ-45 port to the AirPort base station's RJ-45 port. Also, don't say "base station" when talking to the PC-using crowd. You'll get blank stares, as that type of device is commonly known as an "access point" to them.

[retep]

Just to make a few points clearer...

Dial-up connetion
Plug phone line from wall socket directly into Base Station.

ADSL
ADSL cable comes out of the wall and into an ADSL modem. Then an ethernet cable connects modem to Base Station.

Cable
Cable comes out of the wall and into a Cable modem. Then an ethernet cable connects modem to Base Station.

Base Station sends signal to Airport card in Powerbook which receives signal.

Correct?

[mikeplokta]

Originally posted by Mr Creosote:
The Bluetooth and Airport Extreme on the pb is something that I *think* I understand but am having trouble relating it to how I would actually use it.

For example, can I connect to my BT Adsl internet connection by wireless from a 17inch pb? If so, do I need any other bits over and above what is supplied with the computer as standard?

Next is the Bluetooth. Can I connect to printer, scanner, digital camera if they are "bluetooth enabled"? I am sure my current peripherals arent bluetooth but would be as simple as if I get a 17inch pb and replace my peripherals with bluetooth peripherals that I can just communiacte with them wthout USB wires?

Thanks!

As a BT ADSL customer you'll also need to buy an ADSL modem with an Ethernet port. The Alcatel "frog" supplied by BT has a USB interface and won't connect to a wireless base station.

[AssassyN]

Originally posted by mikeplokta:
As a BT ADSL customer you'll also need to buy an ADSL modem with an Ethernet port. The Alcatel "frog" supplied by BT has a USB interface and won't connect to a wireless base station.

Thanks for furthering the detail of the actual connections that need to be made in using an AirPort Extreme Base Station...and to Mr Creosote, if things are still unclear feel free to post any further questions!

[Mr Creosote]

Originally posted by mikeplokta:
As a BT ADSL customer you'll also need to buy an ADSL modem with an Ethernet port. The Alcatel "frog" supplied by BT has a USB interface and won't connect to a wireless base station.

Thanks very much for pointing that out. Its the Adsl modem that I use so it wont work with the Airport base station. Oh well.
I wonder what these Centrinos are like

[AssassyN]

Originally posted by Mr Creosote:
Thanks very much for pointing that out. Its the Adsl modem that I use so it wont work with the Airport base station. Oh well.
I wonder what these Centrinos are like

There's a possiblity that a USB-to-Ethernet Adapter would work though.

[Voch]

Another way would be to enable Internet sharing (I've used it in Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Mac OS X) on the machine that has the ADSL USB device plugged into it and disabling AirPort's routing capability, but now we're talking about some serious networking setup beyond plug-and-play AirPort.

USB ADSL modem <-> computer w/ USB port and network card <-> AirPort base station via Ethernet

[AssassyN]

Originally posted by Voch:
Another way would be to enable Internet sharing (I've used it in Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Mac OS X) on the machine that has the ADSL USB device plugged into it and disabling AirPort's routing capability, but now we're talking about some serious networking setup beyond plug-and-play AirPort.

USB ADSL modem <-> computer w/ USB port and network card <-> AirPort base station via Ethernet

Ahhh, this is very correct, but certainly not for the Networking (or computer) newbie as it's much more technical than the standard hookup, but it's certainly do-able.

[Mithras]

Originally posted by Mr Creosote:
Thanks very much for pointing that out. Its the Adsl modem that I use so it wont work with the Airport base station. Oh well.
I wonder what these Centrinos are like

A centrino (or any other wireless notebook) will likewise require a wireless access point, which will likewise require an ethernet plug, which will likewise require a different DSL modem than your USB modem.

[Mr Creosote]

Originally posted by Mithras:
A centrino (or any other wireless notebook) will likewise require a wireless access point, which will likewise require an ethernet plug, which will likewise require a different DSL modem than your USB modem.

I didn't mean that how it came out.
I am looking for reasons to get the 17inch pb!
The default will be yet another (pause for yawns) Win PC and I am just trying to find things that the Apple will give me that the Win won't.

[real]

Originally posted by Mr Creosote:
I didn't mean that how it came out.
I am looking for reasons to get the 17inch pb!
The default will be yet another (pause for yawns) Win PC and I am just trying to find things that the Apple will give me that the Win won't.

we understand dont worry but you will need a enthernet dsl modem if you want to make this work, is that going to be a hassle with your isp. dealing with an isp is sometimes really hard. oh yeah it works great been useing wifi for 2 years now. i love it
real

[velocipede]

I've just scanned this thread, so I'm not sure if it's been mentioned, but what about a USB-to-ethernet adapter? I've seem them quite a few places, and I can't imagine they're very much $$. Could be an easy, cheap workaround. Of course, you could also buy a new DSL modem, not sure how much $$ those are at this point though. Either way, for any wireless solution you'll need to find a way to hook up your modem to any wireless base station, which would be true for Mac or PC.
(oh wait, now I see someone brought this up...well, the adapter still could be a cheap option)

[AssassyN]

Originally posted by velocipede:
I've just scanned this thread, so I'm not sure if it's been mentioned, but what about a USB-to-ethernet adapter? I've seem them quite a few places, and I can't imagine they're very much $$. Could be an easy, cheap workaround. Of course, you could also buy a new DSL modem, not sure how much $$ those are at this point though. Either way, for any wireless solution you'll need to find a way to hook up your modem to any wireless base station, which would be true for Mac or PC.
(oh wait, now I see someone brought this up...well, the adapter still could be a cheap option)

Yep, the USB-to-Ethernet adapter is the exact thing I proposed.

[Mithras]

Originally posted by Mr Creosote:
I didn't mean that how it came out.
I am looking for reasons to get the 17inch pb!
The default will be yet another (pause for yawns) Win PC and I am just trying to find things that the Apple will give me that the Win won't.

Well, as you no doubt know, the 17-incher gives you:
1. Integrated 802.11g networking
As far as I know, the 17-incher is the only notebook (other than the 12-incher ) with integrated 802.11g.

A Centrino (and other PC notebooks) has integrated 802.11b, which is still cool, but slower. You could also buy a Linksys card to have 802.11g in a PC, but then you'd have an ugly little stub sticking out.

2. Integrated Bluetooth too
There are PC notebooks with integrated Bluetooth, but they are few and far between. And certainly none have Bluetooth + 802.11g.

With Bluetooth, you can do things like:
* use a bluetooth cell phone in your pocket to connect to the internet, wherever you happen to be.
* automatically display a phone number on your big 17" screen when a phone call comes in on your bluetooth cell phone. (Useless, but neat)
* Wirelessly synchronize your Palm Tungsten|T or Sony Clie with Bluetooth.
* Use programs like Romeo and Sony Ericsson Clicker to control your Mac via cell phone.

3. 17-inch screen, of course
That's the selling point, obviously.

4. Digital (DVI) video output
This is a big one. If you want to have tons of screen real estate, you'll want a nice flat-panel display to augment your Powerbook's screen.

And as far as I know, the Powerbook is just about the only notebook with a digital video out, which gives you clear, crisp display on an LCD; PC notebooks have old-fashioned VGA, which can gives smudging and wandering, mis-aligned pixels.

5. that nifty keyboard-lighting effect

6. 1000 Mbit Ethernet networking
Probably won't make a difference for you, but 10x faster networking goes to show that this is a serious notebook.

[AssassyN]

Originally posted by Mithras:
Well, as you no doubt know, the 17-incher gives you:
1. Integrated 802.11g networking
As far as I know, the 17-incher is the only notebook (other than the 12-incher ) with integrated 802.11g.

A Centrino (and other PC notebooks) has integrated 802.11b, which is still cool, but slower. You could also buy a Linksys card to have 802.11g in a PC, but then you'd have an ugly little stub sticking out.

2. Integrated Bluetooth too
There are PC notebooks with integrated Bluetooth, but they are few and far between. And certainly none have Bluetooth + 802.11g.

With Bluetooth, you can do things like:
* use a bluetooth cell phone in your pocket to connect to the internet, wherever you happen to be.
* automatically display a phone number on your big 17" screen when a phone call comes in on your bluetooth cell phone. (Useless, but neat)
* Wirelessly synchronize your Palm Tungsten|T or Sony Clie with Bluetooth.
* Use programs like Romeo and Sony Ericsson Clicker to control your Mac via cell phone.

3. 17-inch screen, of course
That's the selling point, obviously.

4. Digital (DVI) video output
This is a big one. If you want to have tons of screen real estate, you'll want a nice flat-panel display to augment your Powerbook's screen.

And as far as I know, the Powerbook is just about the only notebook with a digital video out, which gives you clear, crisp display on an LCD; PC notebooks have old-fashioned VGA, which can gives smudging and wandering, mis-aligned pixels.

5. that nifty keyboard-lighting effect

6. 1000 Mbit Ethernet networking
Probably won't make a difference for you, but 10x faster networking goes to show that this is a serious notebook.

This is a seriously great breakdown of the 17" PB benefits! Great post man!