What do i NEED to go Wireless? PLEASE HELP

Question

I have a Powerbook Titanium Ethernet 15" with 550/512/60. I am connected to the internet via a Cable Modem from Adelphia.
I am clueless.
So could someone please give me a list of what i need so i can move my powerbook around the house and not be hooked up to the cable modem.
thanks, Gordon

Answer 1

Dear Gordon,
A few points.
Please don't for 1 minute think I'm trying to be in any way churlish but this query might have got a quicker response in the Titanium PB forum. I only say that because it took me about 20 mins to find the answer I'm about to give and much longer to type as I'm not familiar with the nuances of your hardware
Having said that, I'm more than happy to try to assist a fellow thespian.
To get wireless you need;
a) Some means for your PB to send/receive wireless signals.
Originally, this would have been an 802.11b (11Mbps)Airport card installed in your machine. This would give you a slow but adequate connection by todays standards. The current main standard is 54g (54Mbps Megabits per second). It is not cost effective, nor a good idea to get an original card. It will be slow and expensive.
So - You need a compatible card. Apparently, Apple uses or used to use the broadcom chipset to make Airport cards. Consequently a good 54g card based on the broadcom chipset should be plug and play in your card slot and behave just like a native Airport Extreme card (54g), especially if your OSX is up to date.
This card is the one I think you need therefore is the Sonnet 54 card.OtherWorldComputing has it for $70, but I rcommend shopping around - it doesn't work better if you pay more for it.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonnet%20Technology/G54CB/
$55 here
http://www.provantage.com/sonnet-g54-cb~7SONT038.htm
b) You need something for the Airport extreme card to talk to - this is a wireless router - again 54g.
This bit is easy - if you have a cable modem, it will have an ethernet connection, so all you need is the router.
There are many options, but you can get them reasonably cheaply - I picked mine up for $70 with $60 in rebates from circuit city. - This netgear one is on sale at $59 with $30 of rebates and you can probably pick it up from the store;
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Netgear-Wireless-Router-WGR614-/sem/rpsm/oid/7288 8/catOid/-12980/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do
(If the link doesn't work - go to circuit city and type 54g in the search box)
An alternative is a Belkin f5d72304
There are many alternatives, so if you can find a good price on a 54g router (with at least 4 ports) take it up.
Once you get the router - take a look at the instructions, but essentially what you will do is plug the internet to the router and then configure it to do2 things
a) Connect itself to the internet through the cable modem.
b) Allow the Powerbook to connect to it wirelessly (and route Powerbook traffic to/from the internet). So the router sits as if at the junction of 2 circles the powerbook and the internet, each of which only touches the router, not the other circle.
You will configure the router by connecting the router with a cable to the PowerBook and connecting to it from your web browser. Once you type in the address of the router you will get the config page where you can change settings.
You will need to enter the username and password for the WAN(Internet Cable Account).
You will also need to enable wireless networking, create a name for your network and then enable wireless security so that any Tom Dick or Harriet can't just come and get onto your network.I would recommend WPA Personal. You will need a password or phrase - I would recommend a mix of letters and numbers that are not immediately obvious - e.g HenryIrving
1838 or some such. Also disable ssid (this disables the broadcasting of the network name - to connect you type in the name of the network and the password instead of having the name presented to you). These are basic and essential security precautions.
Lastly you will then connect your Sonnett card - it should be recognised immediately as an airport card - you will get the "fan" icon on the top of the toolbar. Click that and select "other" for network - type in the network name, type of security (WPA Personal) and the password and you should get a connection. You can make this the default network from the system preferences.
That's all. Phew! If you do all that and eat your greens I'll tell you more about security. Spelling mistakes are gratis.
Best of luck.
PS - Whilst you can use almost any 54g router, do not be tempted by a cheaper card for the PowerBook - they may not work properly.