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Mac networks

Badly Shaved Monkey

Anti-homeopathy illuminati member
Badly Shaved Monkey
Joined
Feb 5, 2004
Messages
5,363
I've just bought a second Mac. I know the vast majority here are Wintel slaves, but many probably have enough general knowledge that they might be able to help a poor acolyte of Steve Jobs.

I have a BT wireless router and the new machine is wired to that with an ethernet cable. What is the minimum I need to reattach my old machine to the internet? The solution will need to be wireless because the router only admits one ethernet connection. Do I just stick one of those wireless thingies in the back of my Mac or is the Apple Airport system something I should look at? I don't intend to get any more computers so am not looking to create a bigger network. I am also not very bothered about accessing one computer from the other, but sharing a single printer would be nice.

Everything I have read on this subject has assumed a level of computing common sense that I lack and I would be grateful for any help.

Thanks
 
If you are going to have to buy a wireless thingy for your old computer and you could easily run a cable instead, I suggest you buy a network switch. This may be a little cheaper option and means you don't have to worry about exposing your network through the wireless router -- assuming you can turn the wireles component off and the router has a built in DHCP (the ones I know about all do).

This I know will work because it is the way Mrs Toronto's Mac is set up on my home network.

(PS I am an eComstation-OS/2 user so you can trust my advice!) :D
 
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Thanks for that. Does the switch need to be manually set to allow one or the other computer to access the internet or is it a clever electronic device that allows both machines to speak to the internet at the same time?
 
Badly Shaved Monkey said:
Thanks for that. Does the switch need to be manually set to allow one or the other computer to access the internet or is it a clever electronic device that allows both machines to speak to the internet at the same time?
Click to expand...

It requires absolutely no setup what-so-ever. It even recognizes whether the cables are straight through or not. The current version of what I have seems to be the "D-Link - DES-1105 - 5-Port" switch. About $20 CDN.
 
Thanks. I'll try and get one. I'll let you know when I'm sitting in front of the smoking wreck of my new toy.
 
Can you attach the Ethernet cable to the old machine, and go wireless with the new machine? Assuming it's one of the new Macs, it has a built-in Airport card that should easily detect any wireless networks in the vicinity.

Obviously, you'll want to set up the network to be as secure as possible (follow the router manufacturer's instructions).

Otherwise, the network switch is not a bad idea.
 
unless you need the speed of the wired connection, go wireless to the router with the new mac and wired with the old. Looks like only Mac Pro desktops don't include airport extreme by default.
 
rightbrain said:
Can you attach the Ethernet cable to the old machine, and go wireless with the new machine? Assuming it's one of the new Macs, it has a built-in Airport card that should easily detect any wireless networks in the vicinity.

Obviously, you'll want to set up the network to be as secure as possible (follow the router manufacturer's instructions).

Otherwise, the network switch is not a bad idea.
Click to expand...

Ah, that was what I wasn't clear on. I didn't know whether mention of AirPort in its specifications meant that it was 'wireless-ready' but I still needed a piece of hardware for the coimputer itself. Also I assumed that it would need an Apple AirPort hub to handle the wireless traffic, but you are saying that it should be able to talk to my router.

OK, I'll see what I can find out about its hardware from its help files.

Thanks.

I'll get back to you.
 
But, now a problem has appeared.

I went to open an Word e-mail attachment and out of the blue Word 2004 spontaneously downloads itself as a "test drive". How the hell did that happen?
 
Because a lot of Macs have the MS Office "test drive" on them.

Next time, "control"-click on the icon, and a menu will open up asking for what program to use.
 
snooziums said:
Because a lot of Macs have the MS Office "test drive" on them.
Click to expand...

I didn't. It wasn't previously on the computer. It downloaded when I double-clicked on the attachment instead of opening my old copy of Word. It then made itself the default even after I set "Open with" for all .doc documents!

Any ideas?
 
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