will airport cards work with any 802.11b router?

#1 Tue, 10 Sep 2002 - 09:30

I have a Windows PC with a high speed internet connection and three Macs in my home office. I would like to cheaply convert my home computer network over to 802.11b (AirPort).
I have seen some cheap 802.11b routers for the PC from 80 to 100 bucks. I was wondering if I purchased an AirPort card for my iBook 2002 if it would be able to network to the PC. My other two Macs are PCI based (8600 and PowerBase LP). Does anyone know of any AirPort solutions for these machines?

#2 Tue, 10 Sep 2002 - 10:36

1. 802.11b is a standard (also known as airport) any card works with any Access point.

2. Farallon makes some Wireless cards for older Macs.

#3 Tue, 10 Sep 2002 - 11:27

thanks. i figured any device would, but i remember reading once about 802.11b devices sometimes having trouble with apple's implementation of the standard.

i looked at farallon's site and it looks like the cards only work for OS 9. i need an OS X solution for them.

#4 Wed, 11 Sep 2002 - 13:33

I use the Orinoco AP-200 with no problems. I heard that Orinoco is the OEM for AirPort hardware so that pretty much drove my decision to get it. Apparently you always get better 'native' performance (meaning same brand card/base station) than 'non-native'

#5 Wed, 11 Sep 2002 - 13:51

can someone tell me the best overall setup for an airport setup?
here is what i have.
PC Running Windows XP as the server (want to share its internet connection)
iBook 2001
PowerMac 8600 (OS X)
Powerbase 180 (Linux/OS 9/OS X)

I basically know what I need as a Base station for it. I have found an original "graphite" Airport BS for as little as $149. I have PC tool to configure it. I know I need an Airport card for my iBook. What I really need is an Access Point for a PCI based Mac.