Mac-compatible WiFi and other options

[ffutures]

I'm thinking about networking the old iMac and putting it in my bedroom. There doesn't seem to be a lot of point getting an Airport card, it only gives you slow 11b connectivity in this model. So the main alternatives seem to be some sort of USB WiFi dongle (which would need to use PPC Mac compatible drivers), a long cable, a bridging adapter (which connects the network port of the computer to the WiFi network), or networking via the electrical mains. All have pros and cons:

• USB Wifi - probably cheap, not sure which adapters work and have suitable drivers, and SLOW since I think this may be USB 1.1
  
• Cable - free, since I already have one, but a bit inflexible and I really don't fancy doing the work to get it up there without cables dangling everywhere. I already have too many!
  
• Bridging adapter - about £12 and up, some need a separate power supply, others can get power from USB. Again I'm not sure how compatible these are with PPC macs; presumably you have to program in the wifi password etc., at least.
  
• Network via mains - simple but a bit pricy, around £25 for one pair of adapters.

Cable is probably the most practical choice, but I really don't fancy wiring it up, followed by network via mains. Can anyone give me any pointers?

Comments

[dandello.livejournal.com]

Via the Mains means dirty power if you have HiFi.
I use a bridging adapter for my desktop (the wifi antenna needs to be 10 feet away from the machine to get a clear shot to the router) and it works really well. The Netgear ones are easy to set up.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Thanks - good to know. I hadn't thought about hifi, and I'd imagine there'd be the same problem with my home cinema amp etc.

I'll have to find out more about bridging adapters, I've never used one.