The (original) Airport card is essentially the same (internally and performance-wise) as the Lucent PCMCIA cards, except the pin/antenna configurations are different. Although I have no direct experience, it seems from what I have read that the older PBs and the original iBook have the best range w/Airport cards. I don't know about a comparison between Airport and PCMCIA cards.
(IIRC, don't the later versions of the Airport sw update the encription firmware in the card to 128 bit?) For the cost (!!) of Airport cards on eBay, though, a wireless USB may be the better solution. The D-Link DWL-122 was, I believe, the only officially supported USB wirless stick for the Mac (the Belkin F5D6050 was supported, too, but it's not a stick, but a wired unit with antenna - works great on my original Bondi iMac), and only had OS X drivers. Some of these are available on eBay for 1/3 the cost of an Airport card (!). The successor, the DWL-G122, does NOT have Mac drivers, and I believe is a different chip set. Oops, forgot about the USB stick from MacWirless.com for $100 - they say up front that some people have had problems with the OS X driver. Check their site: <http://www.macwireless.com/html/products/11g_11b_cards/11bUSB.html> There are a couple other USB sticks available with hacked drivers; I'll see if I can dig up more if you're interested. Ralink Corp has come up with some OS X drivers for USB wireless parts that use their chipset: <http://www.ralinktech.com/supp-1.htm> You might check their forums for info on the brands supported. Here's another site for wireless cards/USB sticks with available driver support under OS X: <http://home.earthlink.net/~metaphyzx/Wireless.htm> I'm exploring the same option for a Tangerine iBook I just bought off eBay w/o an Airport card (should have held out for one that had the card). Mac OS 9 support is *especially* difficult to find for 3rd party USB sticks. I think the macwireless stick is the only one with OS 9 support. Regards, Bob Eye Dallas, TX P.S. If anyone has a good source of Airport cards for a *reasonable* price, please forward. Thanks. --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Hello all > I'lm about to switch my e-mail over to a G4 Cube ans > I want to have a powerbook that will share the same > mail files. > The concept is to store the mail files on a CF card > in a USB reader attached to the Cube. > For portable use I'll plug the card into a powerbook > and pick up wherever I left off. > Unfortunately I can't do this with my Lombard since > the wireless card occupies the sole card slot so I'm > considering trading up to a Pismo. > My question is, how does the internal Airport card > compare to a PC wireless card (like the Cisco I'm > currently using). > I'm more interested in range (the cisco card won't > work in a few rooms) than speed. > I guess the original airport card doesn't support > more advanced encryption, not a problem here at home > but possibly a consideration when travelling. > > Thanks > > Andrew in Ann Arbor -- 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------
