[MPMoriarty]

Ok, this is weird behavior.

I can get a connection to the Internet from my base station by hooking up my cable modem to the airport base station for about two days and then I lose the connection. I can still connect to the airport base station, but the Internet is inaccessaible. This is weird because about a month ago, everything was working fine. In fact, I was able to hook up my PC to my base station via ethernet and be able to access the Internet.

But it's like the base station just stops letting you connect to the Internet period. I know it's not my cable modem because if I hook up my iBook directly to the cable modem, I can browse the Internet fine.

[Big Mac]

You've got your answer right there - it's most likely the base station failing on you. Routers don't last forever, you know, and that's especially true for ABSs.

[MPMoriarty]

I would figure that if I can still connect to the ABS to configure it and I am getting a signal level that everything with the base station is peachy.

Is there such a a thing as "partially" broken with ABS?

[ghporter]

Yes, an ABS has a router and a wireless access point in it; the router seems to be going out on your ABS.

And that's really a networking question, you know. It should be in the Networking forum, NOT Peripherals. It even says so in the header for the Peripherals forum...

[MPMoriarty]

I guess then I will have to get a new router. Any suggestions on 3rd party ones since an Airport Extreme base station is pretty expensive.

[ghporter]

Any WiFi certified wireless router will work fine for you. I happen to like Linksys products, and would recommend the WRT54GS (but not the version 5 hardware-they goofed up on that one). A lot of people like Netgear and D-Link products. Since wireless networking is standards-based, all you have to do is make sure the product you buy meets those standards; a WiFi certification on the label tells you that it does.

Plus the third party products are a LOT less expensive. If you look at the Sunday ads for the big electronics retailers (BestBuy, CompUSA, Circuit City, etc.) you may find a wireless router with integral 4 port wired switch for less than $50 after an instant rebate, and maybe less after mail in rebates. It's worth shopping for.

Oh, and don't be shy with questions when you get your replacement. Apple uses different terms for wireless features than the rest of the industry, so you may need some translation to get the thing set up. We're here to help!

[MPMoriarty]

I might have ask some follow up questions. Apple's airport base station made networking extremely simple. Too simple if you ask me. I just hope that if I buy a wireless Linksys or Netgear router that they are too hard to configure.

[ghporter]

You won't have too much trouble with either Linksys or Netgear. And as I said above, if the terminology slows you down, ask here and we'll translate. Mostly though, it's pretty simple with almost any hardware.

[tooki]

I had serious quality problems with both D-Link and Netgear. Linksys has been OK.

tooki