[fvoelling]

Hi,

I have a couple of PCs and an iMac on my wired ethernet network (SMC 10/100/1000 switch to Netgear firewall router to cable modem). We just added a PowerBook for my son that has built-in wireless support. What options do we have for a wireless access point type of device that will work with the PowerBook and maybe a Windows-based wireless notebook down the road? Am I stuck with Apple's $100+ Airport offerings or do the lower-priced Linksys, Netgear, etc units work (WAP, router, either/or)?

Thanks,
Frank

[ghporter]

Welcome to the forum!

You can buy ANY WiFi rated access point, connect it to your network, and connect your son's PowerBook wirelessly through it. AirPort is simply Apple's brand name for their WiFi products, and of course Apple tends to comply quite fully with standards, so any standards-compliant equipment will do the job.

You may note that there are wireless routers (typically 4-port wired routers with an integrated access point) that cost less than either an access point or a wired router. No, I don't understand that either. But if price is your limiting factor, you CAN go with a wireless router and simply use only the wireless function. I don't know of a single router on the market today-wired or wireless-that does not at least provide Network Address Translation-a hardware function that provides some "firewall-like" protection (NAT is quite good, it's just not a full-featured firewall), so if your Netgear router is just a NAT router, you could replace it with a wireless router. If the Netgear box is more than just a NAT router, I'd just add the wireless device you choose to your network.

And again, welcome!

[fvoelling]

Thanks! Price is always a consideration, but reliability and performance are a must and I don't mind paying for quality, within reason. I did a little more reading and maybe Apple's Airport Express with iTunes is the ticket after all. I did not realize that it also has a print server built in, which would solve another one of my problems. Question is, will this work with any USB printer, work with Windows XP computers (to print from), and work across the wired connection as well (Apple just says that it "becomes available to everyone on your wireless network")?

Also, Apple mentions a range of 50ft for an 802.11g (54Mbps) connection, which is probably measured without any obstructions. Any idea what a more realistic distance is in a house with drywall construction? And what about interference issues with other 2.4GHz devices (cordless phones, and I also have a Sonos music system and operates on that frequency)?

I really appreciate all your help. I've been a 20+ year user of PCs, have networking and some Unix background, but never really learned much about Macs. It was the extremely positive experience with our iMac and the kids' iPods that convinced me to buy my son the PowerBook, and now I'm lusting after the new 20inch iMac G5.

Frank