AirPort is a local area wireless networking system from Apple based on Wi-Fi and is certified as compatible with other 802.11b devices. Now of course, products from a major company would be costly. There is just no way around it. An AirPort Express Base Station would cost you $129.00, while it would be $70 more for the AirPort Extreme, add to that tab the AirPort Extreme card coming in at $79.00. You don't have to say it. A hefty price tag, I know.

Thankfully, there are daredevils like Mark Hoekstra from Geek Technique, that is willing to go the extra mile to look for cheaper alternatives. In this tutorial that he made, all that you need is a Lucent WaveLAN Orinoco Silver card and a lot of patience.

Those that want to try this how-to, just make a note that Mark's iBook is a dual-USB with 600MHz G3 and 384MB with a modified keyboard. Now that you have the bulk of what you need, let's get to it.

This would be the first of the things to go in your card. Remove the black plastic from the card. According to Mark, he wanted to do it with care but unfortunately, the only way to remove it is to pry it open.

After that, next to go is the metal. Just use brute force to remove it.

Next, trim the plastic frame that leans on the metal and make up for the tightest spot under your keyboard. I found this picture quite horrific because it reminded me of a credit card being split in two.

Desolder both of the internal antennas, since you'd be connecting to the antenna provided under the hood of the iBook. Make a test fitting.

Here, Mark, finished his project by neatly covering it with duct tape. And you're done if you get this once you start your machine up.

To keep or not to keep? It's entirely up to you.