[HowlinJohn]

At home, my wife uses an original 233 Mhz Bondi Blue iMac, accesses the Internet via Earthlink dial-up. I've got an old Power Computing clone at home using DSL connection which I've replaced with a brand new 17" PowerBook with Airport Extreme--it is absolutely fabulous. I've used it in several WiFi hot spots across the country, accesses an Internet connection like magic. I bought my daughter an AirPort Base Station, but she doesn't need it anymore because her new apartment has WiFi, so I've got it. Since my wife's older iMac won't accept an AirPort card, is it not correct that I can use the AirPort Base Station (ABS) as a router, and do the following?:
Plug the DSL into the ABS, plug a physical Ethernet cable into the iMac, and let my Titanium PowerBook "sniff" the Internet signal spit out from the ABS. What are the technical steps I need to take to make this happen? Easy-to-grasp directions are humbly requested. Many thanks.

[d00d]

As long as the Airport Base Station has a second ethernet jack for the iMac, it should be as simple as plug and play. By default, it will share that internet connection with wired and wireless computers attached.

[schokid02]

And if the BaseStation doesn't have an extra ethernet port, then you would need to buy an wireless card for her computer. It would also mean that the Base Station isn't Airport Extreme. If that's the case, you might consider spending an extra hundred bucks or so and buying an Airport Extreme Base Station. That way she can be connected via the extra ethernet port and you can get the full benefit of your Airport Extreme card.

[HowlinJohn]

Since I posted my original question, I've taken a closer look at the AirPort Base Station I have. . .it's the First Generation "graphite" model, when Apple first introduced the wireless technology in conjunction with Lucent. Graphite AirPort Base Stations, unfortunately, DON'T HAVE two Ethernet ports. . .and, as I mentioned earlier, my wife's Bondi Blue iMac is the first generation of that model, meaning, it won't accept an Airport card. Am I screwed?

[Rikki-8]

Use a Friendly Net Ethernet Hub (from Asant) - I do with the first generation AirPort Base Station on a 3 computer network (old 7300; G3 Pismo PowerBook with an Airport Card and a G4 Tower - works great!!! - been doing this since 2000 - can access each computer and all peripherals seamlessly)

[d00d]

Well, I'm not sure that's the most appropriate solution. Any computer not connected to the Airport wirelessly will request a separate IP from his ISP and many don't allow more than one to be used. Probably the easiest thing to do would be to buy a cheap wired router and put the base station in bridge mode. That, or actually buy a whole new wireless router (they're rather cheap nowadays <$20).

[HowlinJohn]

If I was to buy a new wireless router, I guess that brings me back to my originally posted question: how do I connect the first generation iMac? The PowerBook is a no-brainer, has an Airport Extreme card OEM. I don't suppose there's some way to make the iMac WiFi ready, is there?

[d00d]

Pretty much all wireless routers (Airport Express is an exception) have at least one (usually 4) wired port available for use by computers. In this case, you'd plug the DSL connection into the WAN port of the new router, connect the Powerbook via WiFi, and the Bondi iMac via an ethernet cable to one of the router's LAN ports.

[HowlinJohn]

Last night I was even looking into a USB-plugable wireless "card" for the iMac, and I found a cool one but it requires at least 300Mhz processor, my wife's first-gen iMac is just 233. So I think the wireless router with at least one wired port onboard as you've described it is the way to go. . .any specific recommendations for the make and model? I see D-Link's name all over the place. Are Mac drivers for such an item a touchy issue, or is Mac compatibility pre-engineered?

[d00d]

I use a D-Link DI-624 wirless router with great success (I think you can get one for about $40 after rebate). I have a Powermac G4 and a Powermac 7600 connected through ethernet, and a Powerbook G4 12" and a Powerbook G3 500 MHz connected wirelessly (802.11g/Airport Extreme for the former and 802.11b/Airport for the latter). All configuration is done through web pages that has worked perfectly for me. Most routers use web configuration nowadays, making the routers pretty agnostic to the platform configuring them.
D-Link is a fine choice, but so are Linksys, Netgear, or any other major brand. I personally think that Apple's wireless base stations are overpriced, unless you want features that are exclusive to them (such as AirTunes or USB printer sharing). I bought the graphite version you have back when they came out for $300. It worked well, but the lack of a LAN ethernet port and the fact that I had to manually replace capacitors in the base station myself (it was an engineering mistake on Apple's part that they only partially owned up to) left me with a bitter taste in my mouth. Nowadays, with Apple's routers starting at $130 (that's the Airport Express which lacks a LAN port), it's hard to justify getting one when another can be had for <$40 (or <$20 if you watch for specials long enough).

[HowlinJohn]

Thanks for the advice. . .I'll gladly drop $40 or so for such super-convenient technology. Once you go wireless, it's hard to stay tethered to any computer unless absolutely necessary. Wish my daughter's first-gen AirPort Base Station had a second Ethernet port. . .but it's been worth the time spent researching this because of the better understanding I have of all the wireless options now.