Idiot question about Macs
 

:doh: I'm totally ignorant about Macs forgive this dumbass question. The wife has 802.11b built-in to her Powerbook. I've got an 802.11g router and she's can't hang with the 11Mbps speed of "b" anymore. Can we upgrade her 802.11b to "g" and what is the cheapest way to do that? If it's like anything else with laptops, an internal solution is probably very expensive as compared to an external solution. Thanks for any advice.

If this were a PC issue I wouldn't have had to ask.

Is your router exclusively "g"? Most these days support a, b and g.

Here you go. http://www.apple.com/powerbook/wireless.html

My ibook has an internal Airport or WiFi card. It's an airport extreme card, which supports 802.11G. Depending on what model your Powerbook is, you may be able to upgrade this card. If so, they're typically not that expensive; usually around $100.00.

Another alternative would be to purchase a WiFi USB dongle. It's external. They are fairly cheap, and I've seen them run as low as $20. If you go this route, just make sure you purchase one that has support for OSX.

I think my router is exclusively "g" but it's not the router that's the problem. Her Mac needs a "g" WiFi card. An "a" and "g" would be cool. Running "a" is fast and more stealth because people rarely run their WiFi on "a".

Any of you Mac Powerbook users hear anything about this device? It looks like it could be the answer to the problem. (Distance is not the issue. It's speed.)

Or this one.

Let me just ask why 11mbps is too slow for her...

Keep in mind most broadband internet (like a fast cable) would be in the 1-4 mbps range. Therefore meaning your wife would see absolutely NO difference going from 802.11b to 802.11g speedwise if you had internet slower than 11mbps (pretty much any household user).

She might be able to eek out a little more distance with her powerbook if she has an 802.11g card, but at far distances the speed drops substantially.

If she has an Aluminium powerbook, then she is good to go and can buy an airport extreme card. But i'm guessing she probably has a titanium one, and that wouldn't support apple's extreme card.

Therefore you are stuck with buying a USB dongle (which I wouldn't recommend) or buying a PCMCIA card (which I would recommend!).

I am hoping to get more speed for uploads rather than increasing distance. She's doing a fair bit of uploading and while she could plug into my router, she does much of her work from another room where it is not possible to run ethernet cable. I'm seeking a way to get better upload speeds as compared to 802.11b. I know it's not the best way but it's worth a shot to improve the situation.

You are correct that she's using a Ti Powerbook and the Airport Extreme is a no-go. I am inclined to go with an 802.11g PCMCIA card too. Thanks for the suggestion.

PS: This is one reason I hate Macs. It's a PITA to get stuff that is Mac compatible without paying out the nose.

Now, now, Kevin... be nice. :)

This has nothing to do with the fact that it is a Mac. It's got eveything to do with the fact that it's an OLDER Mac. You would have the exact same problem with an older Wintel laptop. If I remember correctly, your CEO has a TiBook, right? if that's the case, upgrading the wifi card to an 802.11g takes all of 10 minutes and #10 torx screwdriver.

I agree with xx3, though: I doubt you're gonna see any improvement in speed. Your wireless connection (even "b") is already faster than your ethernet connection. That's where your clog is -- not in your wireless setup.

If you no longer have the manual for that PowerBook, let me know. I can find it for you.

Juan

Don't mean to say the obvious, but your ISP usually caps your upstream speed to be 1/4 of your downstream speed (as most people never upload anyway).

Hmm, come to think of it maybe you are talking about uploading to another computer in the local area network...

She will get some more speed out of that. Her Airport card probably gives her around 4mbps and a 'g' card would give her around 15-20 mbps. Unfortunately thats just how the real-world works (god damn you theoretical speed! haha).

Also, if she is trying to get faster speed and does get the g card, you will need to remove anything b that is still connected to the network, otherwise you will still be getting a 11mbps (really 4mbps)...

Then again, think of all the things you SAVE money with when you buy a mac (iLife, Antivirus, OS itself...). They more than make up for it. Kaefer is right though, newer powerbooks support G (just like mine).