Wireless networking is de rigeur these days, but in large buildings or crowded urban environments it can sometimes be difficult to get connections working reliably throughout a facility. Extending your WiFi network allows you to provide strong coverage through a home or workplace while allowing wireless devices to roam about and keep connectivity.

The most reliable way I’ve found to extend WiFi network coverage is to create a single network with multiple Wireless Access Points, connected via a wired backbone to a single internet router. Here’s how this is done.

Following its move to shun T-Mobile and begin selling Verizon devices instead, a screenshot from Radio Shack’s internal system reveals the retailer is set to begin selling the CDMA model of Apple’s iPhone, and its iPad 2, from September 15.

That’s right, folks — that downtime earlier today wasn’t to introduce new products, but to update the online store instead. Apple has made purchasing the iPad 2 a much nicer experience, and seems to have tweaked things behind the scenes to make its online store a lot snappier.

The Apple Store is currently down. Nothing is rumored, AFAIK, but we all know that Apple loves surprises. Let’s hope it’s something big!

Anyone got any wishes?

Thanks Steven in Settle.

Pioneer has just launched its own versions of an AirPlay-equipped system, and they’re characteristically bigger and badder than the rest of the crowd.

The problem with battery cases is that they’re so big. Wrapping one around the iPhone 4 turns it from slim-and-sleek into a thick brick of a phone; and if you wanted fat and ugly, heck, you would have bought an Android phone.

But the PhoneSuit Elite iPhone 4 battery case ($80) changes everything. It’s the first case I’ve really felt comfortable carrying around in a jeans pocket, and it’s powerful and fast to boot.

A few short months ago, we wondered whether the wee ones should be learning their ABCs with iPads.

The answer appears to be yes: Fall 2011 brings a bumper crop of U.S. preschools launching iPad programs. From Maine to Tennessee, kids are saying teary goodbyes to their parents and being greeted in schoolrooms with sympathetic teachers (we hope) and Apple’s magical device.

Since we can no longer carp about people smoking, it would seem we have to find some bone to pick with fellow diners in restaurants.

Case in point: a server in a busy San Francisco restaurant (where else?) wonders if it is a breach of etiquette 2.0 to bring your own mobile entertainment to the table.

Google has just released an HTML 5 optimized iOS web app for its Google Music cloud service.

Now you can play your tunes on any iDevice from the browser.

Want to take your boring iOS screenshots and add a little flare? Are you a developer looking for an easy way to create iPhone and iPad mockups of your app screenshots?

Screentaker is a new app in the Mac App Store that lets you easily bring your iOS screenshots to life.

With Apple releasing new laptops every couple of years, what’s a Mac lover to do with the obsolete models he’s abandoned in favor of the newest and shiniest new model? Here’s one “ingenious” Mac fan’s solution… and it’s enough to make even this hardened tech journo weep a tear of admiration as he remembers his own cinder block furniture days of post-frat bachelorhood.

We put out the call, and Cult of Mac readers answered time and time again. After four galleries of some stellar, reader submitted Mac setups, we’ve got our final roundup.

This one may just be the best yet. Enjoy the fifth and final round of the Cult of Mac reader ‘Coolest Mac Setups’ series!

Have you tried Turntable.fm? You should: it’s like being in a club where five kick-ass DJs war amongst themselves trying to spin the illest track, except at any time, you can hop up on stage and show them how it’s done.

Turntable’s a fantastic service that very understandably got all sorts of people — including us here at Cult of Mac — excited a few months ago. The only problem? Turntable.fm is dependent on Flash, and therefore can’t be accessed from the road on your iPad or iPhone.

Guess what’s about to change?

In iOS 5, Apple introduced a slew of new features and updates to the most advanced mobile operating system on the planet. While users had to rely on third party hacks or jailbreak workarounds to enable an Emoji keyboard before, Emoji has been added as a standard keyboard in iOS 5.

The iPhone 5 is imminent. Apple’s shipping times on the iPhone 4 are already slipping, and according to Cult of Mac’s own release timeline, it’ll be announced as early as September 21st and ship on October 7th.

That gives us a pretty good idea when the iPhone 5 will be released, but that still leaves a lot of questions. How fast will the iPhone 5 be? Will the iPhone 5 support 4G and/or LTE speeds? Will the iPhone 5 have a bigger display?How much storage will the iPhone 5 have? Will the iPhone 5 be a world phone? Will the iPhone 5 have a capacitive home button? And so on.

We think we know. Here’s our best guess based on the rumors so far and what Apple has done in the past exactly what the iPhone 5 will look like once it is released.

Steve Jobs might not be as charitable as Bill Gates but Apple’s trying to improve its image when it comes to charity by instituting a great new employee policy: they’ll now match all of their employees’ charitable contributions up to $10,000 a year.

Disgruntled video editors who were unsatisfied with their Final Cut Pro X purchase earlier this year seem to have turned to Adobe’s products instead. The company’s video tools for Mac have seen a 45% growth year-over-year, undoubtedly thanks to the fiasco that surrounded Apple’s latest Final Cut following its release.

For those concerned Android was catching up with Apple’s iPad, JPMorgan analyst Mark Moskowitz has this message: stop your worrying. “Beyond the iPad, there has not been another high-volume tablet offering, yet,” he told investors Thursday. When one does, don’t look to Mountain View, but Microsoft for a credible Apple competitor.

The school year has begun, and students everywhere are starting to hit the books. For the busy student, keeping track of one’s academic schedule is essential.

On the Mac, iPad and iPhone, iStudiez Pro is the best school planner available. The three apps sync with one another wirelessly to keep all of your assignments and info up to date on all of your devices.

Despite its upcoming ‘spaceship campus‘ in Cupertino, Apple will need a third campus by 2015 because of the rate at which the company continues to expand. The inaugural hearing to discuss the second site are set to take place tonight in San Francisco, but Apple may already be thinking about a third base.

Japan is the next stop in Apple’s far-reaching attempt to stop the spread of Samsung rival devices. The tech giant has filed suit in Tokyo asking the court to suspend sales of the Galaxy S and Galaxy S II smartphones, as well as the Galaxy Tab 7 tablet. The Galaxy S is outselling the iPhone in this tech-obsessed Asian nation.

Dying to get your hands on an iPad 2 before the weekend? Don’t order one from the Apple online store, then, because a whole host of Apple’s gadgets have had their shipping times mysteriously extended.

Mac OS X Lion adds a new feature that helps your Mac recover from crashes or freezes. I’m not sure how well it works since my Macs don’t crash all that often, but Apple built it into Mac OS X Lion so I might as well use it.

Wait, is this a joke?

The people responsible say no, but still: I have my doubts.

Every time some company ships a touch tablet, the press immediately compares it to the Apple iPad.

“Motorola Xoom Android Tablet May Be First iPad Killer,” enthused MSNBC.com back in January.

As it becomes clear that Amazon’s long-awaited tablet is really an Android-based Kindle optimized for buying things from Amazon.com, some headlines are suggesting that it’s not a competitor to the iPad after all, but just a glorified eBook reader.

“No Worries, iPad, Amazon’s Android Tablet Is Just a Nook-Killer,” said Forbes.com.

These headlines have it all wrong. The upcoming Amazon tablet not only competes directly against the iPad, it’s the only tablet that does so.

No other company besides Apple and Amazon are selling tablets as part of a larger strategy to control the future of music, movies, TV shows, books and more.

Read the rest of the story here.

(Picture courtesy of WIRED.)