One of those IT Nazi's are ya? :p I did ask for the cable, although I think I swiped the extra laptop battery that I carry.

The cable folds up rather small and it lays flat under my laptop in my bag. Certainly cheaper than the router.

In Windows XP / 2000, there's a setting to turn your computer into a router. :) No need to buy extra equipment and have to lug them around.

Thanks, I was unaware of that. But it really doesnt solve the problem, unless you have two computers with you. If you are in a hotel and dont want to have your computer tied to the wall you need to have something other than your computer as the router.

Hotel Comparison
 

Picking up on this discussion has anybody found problems with using there portable devices in any specific hotel chain?
I am particularily interrested in Marriott hotels in the US.
Also does anyone have experience of using them with PDA's I have an IPAQ 4700, just loaded skpe and intrigued with the idea of using them as a phone.

It's too bad I've been away from FT for so long and missed your post. I decided to send the unit back and ask for a refund many months ago. The one thing I was hoping Apple would include in the APE is a way to charge your iPod also. I already have to carry that power supply. If only the APE could be used instead, I would buy another one in an instant.

Linksys has a nice one, the Linksys Compact Wireless-G Broadband Router WRT54GC. I picked one up for a trade show we were doing, worked great. Nice and compact, but does need power cord, which is also pretty small. One of my colleagues liked it so much he bought it for himself to use while traveling. Amazon has it on sale right now for $49.99, link here

Wireless Routers in use with WiFi providers
 

Can you connect a wireless router to a WiFi connection like those provided by Wayport or T-Mobile HotSpot?

Those already are wireless routers essentially. So you dont need to. But no, you cant.

Actually, some can. Or, that depends on how you see things... :p

The 3-Com Travel Router that I carry has three different mode of operation; access point, router, and client. In the client mode it connects to another wireless router or access point and provides a computer with network access through the Ethernet port. So, in a way it is a wireless router that connects to a wireless provider, but in another way it is not really a wireless router when the switch is in the client position.

As I said, it depends on how you see things... :p

Well, yes, I stand corrected a bit. I may have under-interpretted the question. Thanks for pointing this out. The Apple Airport Express will do that as well with some base hardware configurations at least. I dont know that you can do that to someone elses network though. Sort of interesting if you could....hmmmmmm......

unless you want to login and pay once to the network but allow multiple people to use it, then u need something like that?

I am wondering if I can use the Apple APE or the 3-com unit, in client mode, to extend the range of my upstairs wireless router. I do not get very good reception downstairs, where I usually use my laptop, and hope to put something downstairs (not directly hooked to LAN), that would amplify my upstairs signal. I hope I made myself clear...

FDuvall

I carry the little netgear. It is especially handy when I travel with my wife -- we can both use the internet at once on our laptops.

don't think so
 

I don't think so, a year ago this is what I wanted to do with my APE, but it doesn't have WDS, or something similar which is WIRELESS DISTRIBUTION SERVICE. The only one I found that does that, acts like a repeater per se was the SMC travel router. Works great like that.

It seems if I have the Apple Airport Base Station + APE or two APEs, than it will work in repeater mode. But I currently have a Linksys WRT54G, so I think I am stuck with buying a Linksys Range Extender (WRE54G), or possibly a high-gain antenna kit.

The range extender is relatively expensive ($100.00) and doesn't do very much. I was hoping a travel router would be dual-use at half the cost.

The SMC unit has 5 modes: AP/Bridge/Repeater/Point2Point Bridge/Point2Multipoint. Now THIS is what I need. Thanks,

FDuvall