Hotspot Nirvana

I must admit that while I spend my days thumping high-tech I rarely get all nerdy at home. There have been a few exceptions to this rule (my evil home theater system being the only real deviation).

I use a an Apple MacBook Pro at home. I wish it would have an AMD processor inside of it but clearly Apple has chosen to bend at the will of Intel's dollar power so alas I am stuck having to juggle a mixed PC/Apple lifestyle.

Recently I got the coolest valentines day present ever - the new Apple Airport Extreme. Yes, you know you are a nerd when the coolest present you can get is a wireless base station.

This was a prep gift for the expected Apple TV (which has since been delayed again). So with this gift came the decision that it was time to get my wireless at home fixed properly.


I have an oddly shaped loft. It goes in an "L" formation which makes for horrible 802.11 signaling. Keep in mind that the 802.11 signal is a parabolic signal.

Furthermore my mixed PC/Apple usage means that I can't really achieve the 802.11n that the Airport Extreme buys me. So this gave me the excuse to start figuring out ways to extend the reach of my base station using 802.11/g.

I acquired an Airport Express quite some time ago with the high hopes of bringing it with me as a tool when I traveled. This worked well until I managed to loose it in Poland (seriously, Warsaw Marriott I am not calling you idiots again). The Airport Express is cool because it allows you to extend the range of your existing Apple wireless signal using their nifty little Airport WDS (Wireless Distribution System).

With my airport express in hand I now have my base station and an extension that will allow me to get signal into my bedroom. On top of that I have finally created a strong enough signal to make it downstairs to my coffee store of choice.

Yes, I took the nerdy way of making my loft into a "hotspot".