The National Enquirer reports at 9:25 PM +0900 1/10/05, Carl Freire wrote: >Hey all: > >I'm planning to get a wireless broadband router of some sort in the >near future and have been looking into various options. I had pretty >much ruled out the AirPort Extreme base station due to compatibility >concerns--I still work primarily in OS 9 on my Pismo and would not be >able to administer the base station with OS 9's AirPort 2.0.4 >software.
Sorry to be so slow in replying, Carl. I haven't seen anyone else respond, so I hope this helps. According to <http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75422> you would need a version between 3.0.4 to 4.0 for the Extreme ABS under OS X. You always have the option of picking up a used Snow (Dual-Ethernet) ABS. I tend not to recommend the first-generation (Graphite) ABS's because of their capacitor problem. The Snow base station would allow you to administer it under OS 9.x (Airport 2.0.4). >However, it just occurred to me that I do also run OS X and keep it >up to date, which means the AirPort software in my OS X partition is >compatible. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but that's all I need to >administer the AirPort Extreme base station, right? Yes. >Doesn't matter that my Pismo has only an AirPort card, and not the >AirPort Extreme, >right? Again, yes. You will only get 802.11 speeds, but see my comments below. >My related concern was that, even though I could administer the >saucer only when booted into OS X, once I have it set up it won't >matter if I reboot into OS 9--I would still be able to use the base >station as my wireless hub. Once the settings are in place, it >doesn't matter if I'm in OS 9 or OS X on the computer that set up the >base station; it only matters when I need to perform some >administrative tasks, right? You need compatible software to use the airport *card* in OS 9. The card doesn't really care what kind of wireless access point you are trying to connect to, as long as the protocols are compatible. >All I do is set up the base station to >allow connections to people offering the right password and it runs >on autopilot (more or less) after that, right? At some point you may want to change the ABS password, add/change WEP, use WAP -- OS X only, use MAC addressing, or even change ISP information. But you can also set it up and let it run on autopilot, as you say. >The answers to all these questions seem pretty obvious to me, which >is why I think I really ought to double check anyway :-) So, here I >am, double checking. I have an 802.11g adapter for my other computer >(a ThinkPad) and at some point in the future will probably add an OS >X-only iBook or TiBook to my collection, so the Extreme base station >(or a 3rd party 802.11g router) seems like the best way to go for the >longer term. As is stated frequently on this list, the 802.11g does not offer any real benefits if it is to be used primarily on a Broadband connection. You won't get any faster speeds than if you were using 802.11b. If you move massive amounts of data between computers on a WiFi network, then you will see a significant speed advantage. All of your present, or future 802.11g cards will be backward-compatible with a 802.11b wireless access point. I haven't done any comprehensive research on the Extreme base station, but I suggest if you want to learn all that you can about it, go to <http://www.aple.com/support> and enter Extreme base station in the search box, read all of the links that are listed. The same applies to the Dual Ethernet base station, if you are considering it. >Thanks in advance. HTH, Bob -- If replying privately, please include my name in the To: address, so that my filters won't send your reply to the trash. -- G-Books is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Check our web site for refurbished PowerBooks | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-Books list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-books.html> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:G-Books@mail.maclaunch.com> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-books%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- iPod Accessories for Less at 1-800-iPOD.COM Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal www.1800ipod.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
