networking

I recently bought the 12" iBook G4, and had an Airport Extreme card installed at the Apple Store. We didn't purchase a base since frankly, being able to be online from any room in my house would probably be dangerous for my marriage! (we're both such geeks) However, my university and local library system both have WiFi installed and it has been a godsend.
Set up was incredibly easy. My university requests that before any wireless connection is made to their system that you take your laptop in for them to set it up. They warned me how fussy and difficult the process could be, especially since they were a PC based system. But we literally turned it on and. it. worked. It's been the same when using it in the library.

I bought this card for my iBook, and a regular Airport card for my G4 desktop. The cards install in a snap, following the directions at the Apple website (go to Support, they have pictures, and it's truly EASY.) I ran the Airport Setup Assistant (which comes on new Macs, or you can download from apple.com), and I was online wirelessly in less than fifteen minutes.

I run my desktop and the iBook off the Airport Extreme base station, and my husband was able to get a compatible card for his PC laptop and connect it to the network easily, too. And the network's password-protected, so we don't worry about someone else signing on and having access to our computers. It's wonderful for us both to be able to be on the internet at the same time, from anywhere in the house, with no perceptible slowdowns in speed.

Can't recommend the cards (and the base station) highly enough. They're incredibly simple and offer you tons of freedom. If you're debating whether the card is compatible with your Mac (you'll need either a regular Airport card or Airport Extreme), there's a list on the Apple website that's very easy to locate in the support area. Both computers using Airport cards and those using Airport Extreme cards can connect using the Airport Extreme base station.

My experience with the AirPort Extreme card has simply reaffirmed my faith in Apple. I literally popped the card into my PowerBook (this took all of a minute or two) and when I restarted my computer it was asking to connect to my wireless network. It couldn't get any easier. Reception is great and I've not experienced any of the problems some other Aluminum PowerBook owners have with reception. At the same time I installed this, I also installed a Microsoft wireless card on my girlfriend's Toshiba laptop. It took a good 3-4 hours to get that connected to the network due to driver issues, etc.. If you've got an AirPort Extreme-capable Mac, don't even consider using a PC Card for wireless. This card is the way to go!