question about macs and wireless

[attgig]

I have a friend who has an ibook, and she wants wireless. are the apple airport stuff the only way to get wireless? or can she get a generic USB controller or whatnot to get wireless for her mac? or do they specifically have to be designed for a mac?


like i go to macmall, thinking that everything there should work with a mac.

but then i go to something like:
http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail.asp?dpno=498649
or
http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail.asp?dpno=291468
which doens't list a mac in the list of compatible os's

am i missing something?

[eSDee]

Mac Mall sells PC and Mac compatible stuff, just so you know. Don't buy stuff from there and think that it will automatically work on your Mac. That said, there are many generic USB wireless devices that will work with your Macintosh. I'll see if I can dig some up.

[ribitch]

i believe dlink and smc make adaptors that work on a mac, but they are external usb ones, and the drivers are rarely if ever updated.

Because apple has making each and every mac with an airport expansion port for the last 5 or so years, it is much harder to find a nonairport solution. 3rd party manufacturers just do not have a big enough market to justify the R&D needed to make a product. I would just have her get an airport card. Its integrated, it works, and apple actively maitains the drivers

[kimchicowboy]

i believe dlink and smc make adaptors that work on a mac, but they are external usb ones, and the drivers are rarely if ever updated.

Because apple has making each and every mac with an airport expansion port for the last 5 or so years, it is much harder to find a nonairport solution. 3rd party manufacturers just do not have a big enough market to justify the R&D needed to make a product. I would just have her get an airport card. Its integrated, it works, and apple actively maitains the drivers
:stupid: just get an airport. :)