[Techtalk] re 802.11 # 2

[jlo]

> 	I am looking to "hook-up" one Orange iMac without any  wires
> available. Later maybe a Linux Mandrake box.
[snip]
> The Big Question!
> 	I need to know If a "access point" is a special hardware
> requirement or *can my server act as an "access point," using the
> available and installed PCI adapter and the Intel 2011 card*. I have
> enough routers and to much hardware as it is. Budget is very tight,
> plus buying a "access point" seems redundant. The server is a P150
>


Andrew, I can't answer your Linux questions but I have several comments 
on the Mac of things.  First off, does your orange iMac have a slot for 
the 802.11b card?  That color came in two different versions, here's 
links to the spec pages:
slot loading iMac
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=43100
5 flavors iMac
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=43099
and a page on how to identify which model you have:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58669
If it has the slot, once the card is installed, from the Mac side of 
things it is capable of connecting without an access point. Laptops 
routinely set up peer-to-peer connections without an access point.  If 
it doesn't have the slot, your only recourse is to connect the access 
point to the ethernet port of the iMac and then the configuration might 
get interesting.  The base station acts as a router, while the card in 
your linux box might want to act as a "client", so to speak.  But in 
terms of network connectivity, perhaps the linux box could be configured 
as one might configure for a firewall (two interface cards, one to the 
"inside" and one to the "outside").   And I fear I have now exhausted 
all the knowledge I have, not having had the cash to get wireless 
networking going with my machines.

Jane

The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new 
discoveries, is not "Eureka!" (I found it!) but "That's funny ..." -- 
Isaac Asimov