Airport wifi on iBook question

If you have broadband and a router that sends a wifi signal, you can get wireless internet. Same goes for if you're at a coffee shop, or on a campus, or anywhere that offers wireless internet. The airport card just receives that signal for the wireless internet.

Just for your information you don't have to use an "Apple" Airport base station (Extreme or Express) for wireless networking. You can also use pretty much any 802.11g wireless router. For instance I use a Netgear wireless router with my Macs.

aircard is a mac name for a wifi module. now all you need is a router (any ol b or g router will do)

No.

You contact your broadband provider and they give you a modem. A lot of them will also give you a wireless router now for home networking. The wireless router is what you need to use your laptop anywhere in your house. If your provider doesn't give you one you can get one at Best Buy for under 30 bucks.

You connect the cable/phone line to the broadband modem, the modem to the router, and then the router itself can be wired to desktop/laptop computers and/or used wirelessly.

Just to clarify that point above...many high speed ISP's will offer to support the wireless network for you, and offer a wireless router to work alongside the DSL or cable modem they provide. They charge a nominal monthly fee. Generally, the fee is around $3-5.00 a month in my area, so I'd suggest just buying your own wireless router instead, as you'll come out ahead within a year. However, if you want them to support your wireless connection to the router, you may want to pay the monthly fee. Most people would not require that, though.

Where this does become helpful is that many cable modem providers only really support you plugging one computer directly into the cable modem. If you put a router(wireless or otherwise) inbetween your computer and the modem, that's one more component they aren't familiar with that could cause connectivity problems. So using their wireless router allows them to support that component as well. I just mention this because some people aren't all that technically adept, and for them, the added cost makes the available support worthwhile.

Most should, but it'd probably be better to run down to Best Buy and get your own. I recommend the Linksys WRT54G myself.

Np

i'd echo the recommendation to simply get your standard broadband, and to purchase your own wireless router.

for the broadband providers in your area, make sure to ask what their rates will be if you provide your own cable/DSL modem. some providers will take a usually unnoted "rental fee" off your bill if you have your own equipment.

also, many broadband providers will charge you a premium for "providing" you with wireless internet. i have my wireless network setup with my own d-link router, which distributes my internet from my time warner internet connection. i have had ZERO problems w/ my wireless and hence internet connectivity. my girlfriend has had a cable modem and wireless router from netgear provided to her, by time warner, as part of their wireless broadband service. long story short, it's flaky as hell and requires a manual reset every other day it seems.

IMO, do the broadband connection and wireless networking separately. you'll save money in the long run (TW charges a $10/mo premium for the wireless modem/router. the cost of my d-link 11g router after rebate? $20) and have a more reliable wireless experience.

how do u do a nuts and bolts diagnosis of your broadband connection if u think the router is flaky? (if u haven't already reset your wireless router to see if it helps) u simply plug the broadband modem directly into your computer to see if the net is accessible that way. if it isn't, then u need tech support from your broadband provider and your router is peachy. if your internet works fine via the modem, then u know to troubleshoot your router, which in most instances simply requires u to reset the router to its default configuration. the number of times i've had to reset my router in the last 3 years? my old 11b router w/ 2 years of service: 1x. the newer 11g router: 0, it's been flawless. i wish i could say the same for the wireless gear time warner "gave" to my gf. well, she is switching to "regular" broadband as i'm giving her my old 11b router for a more trouble free wireless broadband experience.

We have a Netgear router at work and it's a piece of shit. It can't handle any big downloads with too many connections for long before it crashes like a lead airplane.

Meanwhile, my Linksys handles some really heavy downloading perfectly. Infact, today I lost my net connection and had to reset the modem and not the router!