[mrgaskell]

I talked to the IT guys for my school and they said that the school's servers don't support Airport networking of an iBook mobile lab of 20 iBooks, but they are installing "Cisco AeroPorts" which are 802.11b compliant in the ceilings this summer.
My questions is this: is it true that Cisco networks using a static server with manually doled out IP addresses will not support Airport? Could I use the computer-to-computer network option from one connected iBook or iMac to another? Could we purchase extra WAPs to ensure a static loaction and use those instead of a room to room moving airport base station?

Thanks!

jg

[ghporter]

It sounds like they told you two truths that didn't add up. It is possible that the current servers don't support un-authenticated AirPort clients (on iBooks, anyway) because they are using something like a Microsoft NT network. Without a logon script (and the proper tools on the platform-that's your Mac-you can't log into the server and get access to the network. It is also possible that the Cicso access points (which may be fully 802.11b compliant or not-Cisco builds a lot of different boxes) may allow you to make a wireless connection without necessarily allowing you to log into the network. They may further muddy the water by implementing Cisco's "LEAP" authentication, which could keep you from being able to make a wireless connection at all.

The best bet is to contact the head of IT and ask what the actual school policies are-are Mac's specifically not supported and why, how do you go about getting an authorized wireless account, what limitations are there on accounts, etc. <cynical>I'd email the head of IT with these questions so the drones behind the support counter don't make your request "go away" because they don't understand Macs and don't want to learn.</cynical>