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Peter · Jan 18, 2003, 03:44 AM

If I was to buy an Apple Airport Extreme Base Station, place a standard Airport card in my iBook and a 802.11b wireless network card in my Mums windows laptop, would they all connect? Also does the basestation have an adsl modem built in, and then do I just connect it to my adsl 'point' configure it and there I have a wireless adsl router to all my 802.11b (and possibly g) laptops?
Also do broadband ISP's mind you sharing your adsl connection around your house? A friend said you have to get the ISP to do somthing their end :S

aaanorton · Jan 18, 2003, 10:50 AM

Originally posted by PeterClark2002:
If I was to buy an Apple Airport Extreme Base Station, place a standard Airport card in my iBook and a 802.11b wireless network card in my Mums windows laptop, would they all connect?

Yes.

Also does the basestation have an adsl modem built in, and then do I just connect it to my adsl 'point' configure it and there I have a wireless adsl router to all my 802.11b (and possibly g) laptops?

No. The basestation connects to your modem, which plugs into a phone jack.

Also do broadband ISP's mind you sharing your adsl connection around your house? A friend said you have to get the ISP to do somthing their end :S

Depends on the ISP. Some state that you are not allowed to use the connection on more than one computer, others promote easy networking. In the end, it doesn't really matter, as you can share the signal via a router and keep the network invisible to the ISP.

Peter · Jan 19, 2003, 08:39 AM

If I have to connect the base station to an adsl modem, it would have to be an ethernet modem? But they are very expensive in the UK! �100 or more. So in affect it is a costly solution to getting wireless adsl?

ghporter · Jan 19, 2003, 11:07 AM

Yes, it would have to be an ethernet modem in this case.

aaanorton · Jan 19, 2003, 12:10 PM

Additionally, USB DSL modems require drivers which are almost entirely not available for the Mac. These are also prone to more bugginess than ethernet modems. Do a search here for threads comparing USB to e-net modems... I think you'll find it's worth the extra expense.

Peter · Jan 20, 2003, 04:28 PM

sorry about the everchanging questions, but is there anyway to make this product wireless 802.11b is better - cheaper. Is there anything I can do to make this wireless?
thank you so much for your help so far!

ghporter · Jan 20, 2003, 10:25 PM

Originally posted by PeterClark2002:
sorry about the everchanging questions, but is there anyway to make this product wireless 802.11b is better - cheaper. Is there anything I can do to make this wireless?
thank you so much for your help so far!

Yes. Plug a wireless access point into it. Not at all cheaper, in my estimation.

Peter · Jan 21, 2003, 03:03 PM

okay then, whats the best solution to wireless adsl? everything I have thought of either costs a load or is impossbile ...

ghporter · Jan 21, 2003, 08:09 PM

Originally posted by PeterClark2002:
okay then, whats the best solution to wireless adsl? everything I have thought of either costs a load or is impossbile ...

Where are you physically? If you're in Europe or the UK, I probably can't help you too much, as I'm not terribly well informed about the offerings on that side of the pond. Otherwise, I have some good ideas for North America.

ickettpe · Jan 21, 2003, 08:12 PM

If you have adsl already, then you have the modem (and possibly a router), and what you do is plug in the base station into either the modem or the router. the base station is a router itself. This is all assuming that your network is ethernet based... which is much much better than a usb network IMO.

ickettpe · Jan 21, 2003, 08:14 PM

if you have a usb modem then try getting an ISP that provides the ethernet modem....

Peter · Jan 22, 2003, 10:55 AM

Originally posted by ickettpe:
If you have adsl already, then you have the modem (and possibly a router), and what you do is plug in the base station into either the modem or the router. the base station is a router itself. This is all assuming that your network is ethernet based... which is much much better than a usb network IMO.

I have adsl, but have not bought the hardware yet. I am in the United Kingdom.

aaanorton · Jan 22, 2003, 04:19 PM

The cheapest way to go would be to buy an ethernet DSL modem and an ethernet cable. This would allow you to have either comp on line at once.
Next step up would be adding a wired router to the above, after the modem. Wired routers are cheap and there are a plethora of them on the market.
If you really want wireless, however, you'll need a wireless router instead. these are more than the wired ones, but still not that expensive. They can be had for about $100 US, here in the States. You mentioned an Airport Extreme base station in your first post, but there are other more affordable (and in some ways, better) options out there. I would spend the money on the e'net modem and save on a different brand of router/AP. Unless of course there's some reason you need 802.11g, which it doesn't sound like you really do. Remember that wireless networking is still a premium. If you really want it, you'll pay more for it than wired.

Peter · Jan 22, 2003, 04:29 PM

wireless adsl is vital - I dont want to be tied near a phone socket

. I intend on adding this router, with this wireless access point. I have been told that this will allow both Macs and Windows to share the internet connection, does this sound right? Thanks

aaanorton · Jan 22, 2003, 05:14 PM

Well, you've gotten fixated somehow on getting a comination modem/router unit. I would not recommend this for a couple of reasons off the top of my head:

� It is nonstandard. The vast majority of the industry has settled on a modem > router > computer set up. Being a Mac user, you'd be wise to embrace standards whenever possible. Is that unit even Mac compatible?
� It ties your modem to your network. If, for any reason, you decide/need to change your ISP (which is NOT uncommon in the broadband world) to another DSL or cable provider, you'll be stuck with that modem/router box and have to either find another ISP that supports it or start over building your LAN, instead of simply replacing the modem as needed.

I think you'd be better off going the other way: getting a modem and a wireless router (just like everybody else). That site you linked to had some cheap modems and I'm sure you could find them at other sites. They also listed a Netgear MR314. This is a highly rated wireless gateway router. It also just makes more sense to bundle the routing and wireless bridging in one box, doesn't it?

ickettpe · Jan 23, 2003, 01:20 AM

If I went wireless so i can roam the house with my iBook, would you suggest the airport or a 3rd party card, and the same question for the AP

aaanorton · Jan 23, 2003, 09:37 AM

Originally posted by ickettpe:
If I went wireless so i can roam the house with my iBook, would you suggest the airport or a 3rd party card, and the same question for the AP

You have to get an Airport card for your iBook, but others make cheaper and arguably better routers than the ABS. Check out Asante and Netgear.

Peter · Jan 23, 2003, 02:49 PM

yes I have an airport card - but I need to know what hardware people recomend for routers ? surely someone has wireless adsl?

aaanorton · Jan 23, 2003, 04:12 PM

Originally posted by PeterClark2002:
yes I have an airport card - but I need to know what hardware people recomend for routers ? surely someone has wireless adsl?

There are easily dozens of threads on this forum discussing quality wireless routers. I suggested models by Asante (I own and am very happy with their FR3004, but the FR1004 looks good too) and Netgear (314 or 814). You could do a lot worse than starting with these in your research. If you're looking for the definitive answer to which is best, good luck. You won't find it here. People are opinionated about these things and debates generally go unresolved.

solvent211 · Jan 23, 2003, 07:26 PM

Something else to consider is that you should check the bandwidth your adsl service provides. Unless you and your mum swap a lot of files between yourselves, you'll probably saturate the adsl bandwidth before you max out a plain ol' airport station (or other 802.11b compliant router) let alone a much more expensive airport extreme station (802.11g router).

Scarpa · Jan 24, 2003, 04:59 PM

I have ADSL and 802.11b setup at my house.

Working from phone jack to computer I have:

-A DSL modem that was provided by the phone company when I bought my DSL service. The modem plugs into the phone jack, and then has a single Ethernet port that serves as the internet gateway to the LAN.

-A Linksys 4-port switch/router. The DSL modem is plugged into the external interface on this device (WAN port). The router is the only 'public' device on my network.

-A Linux box sitting next to, and plugged into the Linksys router. This is the only physically connected computer on the LAN.

-An Orinoco AP-200 wireless access point plugged into the linksys router.

-Three Windows boxes with Linksys USB clients, one PowerBook G4 with an AirPort card.

Note that you can combine functionality of the Linksys router and Orinoco access point into a single device. I already had the AP prior to getting the router so I did not go this route.

This setup is very simple to implement, fairly cost-effective and works well for me so far. The linksys has port forwarding features if you want to expose services on your internal LAN to the outside world. The linksys also acts as a rudimentary firewall, it won't hold up to a sophisticated attack, but home networks generally aren't the target of those type of attacks anyway.

Good luck.