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Airport Base station alternative opinions
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Shipped to another country by the US to be tortured so they can avoid Int. law.
Status:
Offline
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Hi,
Just wondering what recommendations you all have to an airport base station alternative? I need one which has roughly the same spec as the airport one, ie, built inmodem and antenna, I've checked out the ones by netgear and so on, would like a littl;e input before jumping in.
cheers.
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Administrator  Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: San Antonio TX USA
Status:
Online
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It's hard to find wireless base stations that include a modem, but some include a serial port to use a standard (usually PC-type) external dial-up modem. You get to pick the modem, and the whole box isn't trash if the modem dies.
You want to look for a few specific features, in addition to those you mentioned. Look for the literature to explicitly state that the device uses a web browser interface for configuration. Look for at least 128-bit WEP (wired equivalent protection-the encryption scheme that is standard in 802.11b implementations). Look for the capability to upgrade the device's firmware yourself-new features may come out that you will want to implement, such as the replacement for WEP.
I'd also advise you to look for a device with external antennas and preferably two of them. External antennas are inherently larger and better at radiating and intercepting signals than the tiny "patch" antennas found in most internal-antenna boxes. These are, almost without exception, a fancy plastic case around a metal box with a PCMCIA wireless card plugged into it. Those cards have relatively poor antennas, and thus lesser performance than devices with larger antennas. Also having two antennas means that the radio sytem in the device is capable of dealing with interference and signal reflections much better than single antenna models-a definite plus.
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Glenn -----
OTR/L, MOT, Tx
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Shipped to another country by the US to be tortured so they can avoid Int. law.
Status:
Offline
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Thanks for all the help GH, makes it a bit more understandable for me, got the aiport card, now to hunt for the router.
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Administrator Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: San Antonio TX USA
Status:
Online
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Make sure you shop around! As I understand it, UK and European vendors tend to charge a premium because... I guess because they can.
Make sure you post what you buy and your experiences with it. Enquiring minds (and numerous newbies) want to know. 
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Glenn -----
OTR/L, MOT, Tx
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