08-27-2006, 05:46 AM

This second question popped into my head just a moment ago. At home we have a wired router connecting three seperate computers to one home network. How would I go about connecting the macbook wirelessly to this network. Would I have to buy an additional router and hook that up to the existing one?

08-27-2006, 09:14 AM

If your have a router with a wireless ability your fine, and can just connect through your current router. If you don't, then I would look into a wireless router, and upgrade your system all at once.
I had problems with my wireless (It's old) but wanted a router with printer control, so I got the Apple AirPort Express Base Station. I just pluged this one into my current router and I was set.

08-27-2006, 01:05 PM

If you do need a wireless router, you don't have to spend the money for an Apple AirPort.

You can pick up any of a number of units by Netgear, DLink, Linksys, etc... there are several on sale every week at places like Best Buy and CompUSA for under $50.

Nearly every one of these routers has a built-in network switch, which means your new wireless router can replace the one you currently have and everything will work perfectly for the existing computers.

Best of luck!

08-27-2006, 04:46 PM

Thanks for the help so far. I'm almost positive that the current router is wired only. Would I have to replace the old one with a new wireless one, and would that wireless router still work with the other three wired systems?

08-27-2006, 05:12 PM

The ideal situation would be to replace the existing router with a wireless one. It'll be a much less complicated setup once you're done.

An easy solution to implement would be to buy a wireless router, plug it into one of the ports on the existing router, and use it as an access point instead of a router. You'll just have to make sure you reconfigure the new router as an access point-- most of the routers on the market allow you to do this very easily.

The major manufacturers (mentioned above) all make Wireless Access Point hardware devices (which is what you'd be turning your router into), but in practice they usually wind up being more expensive than wireless routers. If you buy a wireless router, you could eventually reuse it if you set up another network somewhere else.

Good luck!