cdr wrote:

I do like the standalone wireless access point solution the best. This means that I can forget all about my current wired modem/router (which works OK), and simply plug in this new gadget.

TP-Link TL-WA701ND seem cheap enough from Amazon

Hopefully, it will be fairly straight forward to get the iPod to connect to it OK...

Should be, you might have to jump through an initial hoop to give the
access point an address that doesn't clash with your existing router,
from there I'd expect it to come pre-configured for WPA2 (though you
ought to set your own encryption key, and SSID name) after that your
Wireless devices should see it, ask for the encryption key and connect,
getting an address allocated from your existing router.