Most Mac computers today come equipped with an Apple Airport Card installed. AirPort makes connecting to the Internet or other computers easy—without the wires. With AirPort, you can connect to the Internet, email, local servers, and shared printers without the hassle of being tethered to a short leash.

If you've got an Apple Airport Card and access to a wireless network, regardless if it's an AirPort network or something else, I'll show you how to connect your Mac to a wireless network and get online, as well as how to troubleshoot issues if you come across any.

1. Open Internet Connect
   Open Internet Connect in the Applications folder and click AirPort in the toolbar. If you don't see the AirPort icon in the toolbar, you either don't have an AirPort card installed or it hasn't been installed correctly.



2. Make Your Connection
   If AirPort is turned off, click Turn AirPort On. Then choose your network from the Network pop-up menu. If you're prompted for a password, enter it. If the network you want to join is not in the list, choose Other and then enter the network name and password. Then click Connect.

Tip: For faster access, select the "Show AirPort status in menu bar" checkbox in the AirPort pane of Internet Connect, which will allow you to select networks and turn AirPort on and off from an AirPort menu (the icon looks like a slice of circular pie).

Additional AirPort Information
For help setting up an AirPort Extreme or AirPort Express base station, use the AirPort Setup Assistant or the AirPort Utility (you can find it in /Applications/Utilities). For more information on using AirPort, choose Mac Help from the Help menu in the Finder and enter AirPort in the search field.

Apple Airport top 10 trouble shooting tips.