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Totally new to Airport - what's this list of names I'm seeing?

G

GanChan

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 21, 2005
617
27
This iBook I just bought is the first Airport-equipped computer I've ever used, so I don't know anything about it really. I did notice that when I clicked on the Airport icon on the desktop, it showed me a list of what appear to be the names of about half a dozen networks. Are these just local networks that I'm picking up inside my apartment, or are these networks that have previously been used on this computer? Because, um, this computer was supposed to be new when I bought it....:confused:
 
mad jew said:
They're networks that the AirPort is currently finding. :)
Click to expand...

Wow, I must be surrounded by neighbors who are cool as me! :D

seriously though, what's the range of an iBook's built-in Airport?
 
The iBook's range is pretty darned good, but if you're getting that many networks listed, odds are your neighbors are either close or use boosted base stations.
 
The range (maximum distance from the router that still receives signal) is dependent on a lot of different factors such as interference, router broadcast power and network usage at that time.

FWIW, the networks being picked up aren't necessarily other AirPort base stations. More likely they're a mix of different branded 802.11B or 802.11G wireless routers. :)
 
Not uncommon to see four to eight or more different networks in urban apartment buildings. By now most people have wised up and secured their networks to some degree so you probably can't access them, but remember that if you can see their network they can probably see yours.
 
Johnny Rico said:
Not uncommon to see four to eight or more different networks in urban apartment buildings. By now most people have wised up and secured their networks to some degree so you probably can't access them, but remember that if you can see their network they can probably see yours.
Click to expand...

They all appear to be secured.

I think there are probably a lot of students renting here, so lots of Wi-Fi etc.

I don't really plan on running Airport much anyway, because it seems to hog the battery.
 
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