Last summer I purchased an "Airport Express" unit from the SF Apple store. The setup was plug&play, and thereafter the PowerBook could go online from any room in the house (finished attic and separate entrance downstairs office as well) and even from the misnamed "garden" behind the structure. To my surprise, the SO's new iBook couldn't detect the network from downstairs (I'd always heard that the iBook's plastic chassis was actually a more conducive substrate for these purposes than the PB's aluminum), so I purchased a second Airport Express, powered up in the living room about a dozen feet from the base station. The setup in this instance wasn't quite as effortless, but it required fewer than 150 seconds sustained attention, and now my home network is as studly as anyone could wish anywhere in the house. More: its signal is pretty darn vigorous across the street, the street being four broad lanes carrying 20,000 cars each day (hey: it was all I could afford). I should probably take steps (since the SO is an attorney and needs to assure confidentiality) to secure the network, but having been the beneficiary of home systems left unsecured—I once downloaded a graphic from my own organization's website that was for some reason not to be had from within the institution's firewall by the simple expedient of crossing the street with my laptop and downloading the picture from an anonymous public connection—I will probably take my time.

cordially,