[Forseti]

Hi,

I vaguely remember reading somewhere on Apple's site that Extreme base station has more signal range than the previous models.
Is this the raw range with just the base station? Or do they mean more range "capacity" with the antennas connected?
I'm not sure which one to purchase for my future 17" PB.

I'm also not sure how the Airport signal works.
I plan on having the base station up stairs and use the PowerBook down stairs. If I have, say 60% Airport reception down stairs, does that mean I get 60% of the total bandwidth I can get with a physical ethernet connection? Does this also mean higher ping?

If the only advantage AE base station has over the previous models is increased BW and printer sharing, I don't have much of a reason to get the AE base station, do I? I mean 54Mbps is overkill for a single user. I don't use printers either. But if there is a difference in the signal range, I might go for the AE base station.

Also, does the Airport signal do any harm to human bodies?

Thanks.

[someone]

Hey,

I was at the Apple Company Store a few days ago, and I recall them saying that the AirPort Extreme base station doesn't inherantly have a larger range (for that you'll need the antennas + the antenna version of the APBS, ~$50 more).

I'd assume that "60% reception" means "60% of the theoretical max this base station can put out." not sure, tho. And yes, lower speed = higher ping.

I bought the "graphite" APBS (v1.0) in late 1999 or something, and i think it was $299. The Extreme base station is $199. Good buy--i don't see why you'd ever get the graphite or snow base station.

Last, I'd assume that the 802.11b/g signal doesn't do any physical harm, otherwise we'd be seeing a ton of hospitalizations around the world . I mean, think about what your radio does...it just picks up signals floating around the air; radio doesn't harm anyone...

hope this helps. sorry for the wordy explanations.

[Forseti]

Hi,

Thanks for the explanation.
I don't think 50 feet would be enough for me to use my PB down stairs, with the AEBS up stairs, so I think I'd have to go with the antenna. Pretty expensive, maybe around 300 with the antenna. Hrm.

[aaanorton]

One cool thing about the AEBS is that you can add an additional AEBS to the LAN to increase the range via wireless bridging. This approach should work far better than the antennas Apple is selling, which I've read are somewhat lackluster. You can also shop around for other wireless router out there. Do a search on this forum and you will find MANY threads discussing various models. One current hot item is the Netgear MR814.