also, why is the internet so much faster on this ibook than on my mini?

To connect to your phone, just get any wifi equipped router with a speed and protocol that matches or exceeds the speed and protocol of the usb thingie you get.

The base stations are pretty much commodity items now, so just buy the cheapest one. You connect to these things via a built-in webserver, so they don't need to be Mac-specific.

For the remote units, get the USB thingie or get a CF card, or whatever best works for you. Almost commodity too, although software drivers will matter here.

When you initially set things up, don't use WEP/WPA; once you've got things running, add in the encryption.

The speed may be faster if you had a 10Mbps ethernet card on the mini and are using a 100Mbps ethernet card on the ibook.

thanks ortho--should i stick with the same mfr for all or does it not matter?

(The cheapest that supports the speed and protocol you need; it's probably best to aim for a B+G protocol, at 54Mbps or 54x2 (108Mbps), while avoiding any weird proprietary speed schemes.

But if you're just going to be browsing the web, who cares? (If you'll have more than two computers or expect to be slapping around binaries or music from multiple machine at once, you'll want to look a bit more closely. With B Wifi a 11Mbps I was able to stream mp3s to my handheld with no problem, and browse the web too.)

Same mfr may ease things up, but go for cheap and if two cards refuse to play nicely, take one back. at this point, I've found this stuff just works.

yup, i just want to surf and stuff without the wire, and go outside to Bryant Park at lunchtime or something with the ibook and be able to surf and stuff, and use it when i travel, and fly.

OK, i got these so far: all on this page:
(they were cheaper than amazon)

NETGEAR REFURB¹ 54 Mbps Wireless Router with 4 Port 10/100 Mbps Switch
$23.99

NETGEAR REFURB: 54 Mbps Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter
$15.99

I still have to get one more adapter--they only had one at that price. Or maybe i don't? Can i leave my mini tethered to the box?

The mini can just plug into the the router

oh, i didn't want to pay 79 or more for the old apple airport card -- and i can't use the new extreme card or anything on this ibook, so i decided to go with the usb.

thanks arse--that's what i was hoping someone would say! i'm all set then, as soon as i get it and get it all to work.

i'll probably be posting more questions then--i've never ever done wireless, nor surfed outside or anything.

amberglow, if you have problems with the documentation be sure to ask for help with security.

will do...i'm a little worried about that, and i don't want to give all my neighbors free internet.