Connecting to Wireless Internet

The MacBook can be programmed to remember different wireless routers. A wireless router will allow the computer to connect to the Internet without a cable.

Connecting At School

The wireless routers that Apple produces are called "airports". In the school building, I have named airports: Shannon, Dallas, SeaTac, Miami, and LaGuardia. There are four wireless routers available for the Windows tablets in the building. We won them as part of the CDWG/Discover prize package. They are named Discovery1, Discovery2, Discovery3, and Discovery4. All nine routers have passwords. The passwords are four characters for the Apple airports because it allows our older iMacs to connect to the Internet. The Discovery routers are ten characters. I have programmed in the airport codes on the MacBooks.

Connecting At Home

To connect to the Internet at home, you must use the icon at the top of the screen. It looks like the image to the left of this paragraph. The more bars that are dark black on this icon, the stronger the signal you are receiving and the quicker the Internet will respond to you.

When you click on the icon, you will see a list of wireless routers near your current location. If the router has a gray lock symbol. It look like the image to the left of this paragraph. You must know the password for the router in order to connect to it. Other routers are open to the public (such as NETGEAR on the list on the right). You can openly connect to the router. If you have a wireless router at home and it has a lock symbol, you will have to find out who has the password. Some routers, like FIOS, have the password on the router as a label.