Which Airport? Extreme or Capsule?

Hello,

I have been a Mac user for a long time, but as I had lits of computers in the house I never had to get the Mac online.
I am happily using a G5, fairly basic version, running 10.5 or the very last on the old style processor. Mostly I run FCP and office for Mac.

I want to get online, and from the basic research I have done, a Capsule might be the best option, my computer has no airport card so from what I can tell I can plug the capsule into a USB port and off I go!

However, j also know from being a long time Mac user that there might be hidden traps, for instance some airports won’t run with a particular OS, or some OS need a special app to see an airport.

Sorry about being fairly ignorant, my macs have always perfectly so I never needed to repair them, the wintel machines in the house, however, are a constant hassle.

Any thoughts on a good capsule or extreme? Or even a link to an “apple Mac internet for idiots” would be very handy too.

Cheers, Gareth

OK,
Well I found an old copy of my Mac osx bible, and after a bit more research I think an airport express is my flavour, however I still cannot find out if I need to buy an airport wifi card to enable connection to the express, or can I simply plug the express straight in to the back of my G5?

Cheers, Gareth

You should only need that if you plan to use it disconnected. If you have no wifi card, you cant use wifi from your computer. Make sure your G5 has the right kind of connection for the Express. I dont know what that is, because I have never had either of them.

Does the G5 have ethernet? I’m guessing you’re not near a cabled port?

A cheap WiFi bridge with ethernet will sort you out if it does. Plenty of WiFi extenders have an ethernet port in them too.

This. An AirPort card for a G5 would be quite a find, they are not easy to come across. The G5 PowerMacs have a wired ethernet in them.

If you are near your Internet router, then a UTP cable from the back of the G5 to a spare port would be the easiest.

Thanks for all the replies,
I will jump on the mac tonight and see what it has under the hood, it is a 2ghz model so it seems, from what I could find on ebay, that most airport cards are for the 1.8ghz model G5.
So, if my G5 has inbuilt ethernet, do I simply connect a cable to the box and connect the other end into a router such as airport express?

Sorry for seeming ignorant, I have been spoilt with wintel wifi dongles…

I found this online, I reckon it might be the best fit, but I will check tonight to see if I have ethernet inbuilt and a plug in the back.

Cheers, Gareth

I believe that model can connect to a 3rd party wireless network in bridge mode which you could then plug into your Mac…

But honestly, you don’t need Apple hardware to make this work. Unless you have some reason to want/need Apple hardware, I wouldn’t limit yourself and would look to something different.

This example is under $60, can boost your WiFi (which might be handy anyway) and will do what you want… also new with warranty.

For a little more you can step up to a Wireless AC model:

I’m sure there are plenty of other options out there for more/less cash too.

G’day,
I actually have one of those extenders lying around, I will buy a short cable, computer shop should be able to help me out, I will see how I go,

Thanks for that…

Gareth

Well I’m back online with my Mac, not since the heady days of OS 9 have a taken a Mac online, last time I was searching for a copy of virex I think, and exploring HyperCard’s.
I used a WiFi extender I had lying around and a cable. In had trouble getting any sites to load due to SSL lacking an over write or something, SK downloaded via my laptop a copy of tenfourfox, a free ware web browser for the G3’s, G4’s and PPC G5’s. It works great, just have to start finding and downloading graphics updates etc.

I might even boot the G5 into classic mode and explore some HyperCard samples!

Thanks for all the help, Gareth

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awesome to hear you got it working :smiley: