Connecting two different Macs?

I'm sure this has shown up in a previous thread, so I apologize in advance, but I could not find the answer to my question.

I have a Emac w/o airport express, and I ordered a PB w/ airport express. I have a basic cable modem hooked to the Emac..but what would be the easiest/cheapest solution to have them both connected at the same time?

buy a linksys or d-link, or belkin, or netgear wireless router, if you want wireless, its easier if you want wired, but:
connect the cable connection to the back of your cable modem, plug the ethernet cable from the , modem to the router, plug another ethernet cable from the router to the emac, so the emac acts as a sort of hub, then once the emac has internet, which it would at that last step, on the powerbook, open safari and enter the routers ip address that it comes with in the manual, it takes you to a setup screen, set it up, make sure you enable wep,turn on your AP card and it should automatically pick up the signal, and thats it, you should have wired internet on the emac and wireless on the pbook. make sure you turn file sharing and appletalk on if you plan to share files between them, and in network preferences on the pbook, make sure you make it so that the airport card is the method you are using to connect to the internet.

Thanks for the help, I just was looking at the routers, I just wasn't sure if my powerbook ap would work with it. Simple enough. Thanks!

most routers will work, even if they say pc, as long as the manufacturer supports macs at all, and it has the requirements you need.

i bought a $20 AT&T wireless router in San Diego a couple of months ago. and it worked fine. A lot of routers can be set up through internet apps with out having to use the install disc.

I just got a linksys wireless router today, I haven't gotten the pb yet in the mail but I'm having trouble accessing the internet through the router with my Emac. Of course the software is just for PC, but I am able to get in the setup app by just typing the router ip in safari, but I'm sort of lost.

Anybody know the important steps to set this up, am I missing something?

october said:

I just got a linksys wireless router today, I haven't gotten the pb yet in the mail but I'm having trouble accessing the internet through the router with my Emac. Of course the software is just for PC, but I am able to get in the setup app by just typing the router ip in safari, but I'm sort of lost.

Anybody know the important steps to set this up, am I missing something?

Click to expand...

There really aren't any steps if you just want to share the connection. It is as simple as plugging it in.

Turn off your modem, router and computers.

Plug in your router
Then turn on your modem
When it cycles on, then turn on the comptuers

That is really all there is to it.

Ive tried that, it just doesn't seem to connect. Should the IP in network settings be set up with my providers IP or the routers IP? I tried to do the "assist me" under network and it says it can't connect automatically and then asks for the IP, Mask, and Router IP, ive tried a combination of things and it still does not work..

any ideas?

october said:

Ive tried that, it just doesn't seem to connect. Should the IP in network settings be set up with my providers IP or the routers IP? I tried to do the "assist me" under network and it says it can't connect automatically and then asks for the IP, Mask, and Router IP, ive tried a combination of things and it still does not work..

any ideas?

Click to expand...

If you set it to DHCP, it should get that information for you automatically.

I try to do it automatically and it pops up this.

nevermind, i actually figured it out with the help of this site

Hopefully setting up the PB will be easy. Thanks for everyones help.

october said:

I'm sure this has shown up in a previous thread, so I apologize in advance, but I could not find the answer to my question.

I have a Emac w/o airport express, and I ordered a PB w/ airport express. I have a basic cable modem hooked to the Emac..but what would be the easiest/cheapest solution to have them both connected at the same time?

Click to expand...

There are two ways:

1. Hook em to gether with an Eithernet cable and turn on file sharring then go to network in finder and do what you need to.

2. But i perfer this, puting one if Target mode and the it becomes an external firewire dirive. It is alot faster and less settings to mess with. Here are some helpful instructions

is it normal for a router to make your connection a little bit slower?

Not that Im aware of......obviously if you are splitting bandwidth between multiple connections....but not on the whole I dont think

october said:

is it normal for a router to make your connection a little bit slower?

Click to expand...

Yes the connection that comes in your wall is alot faster. The technology is not avalible to make wireless networks faster then 56mb.

yea, also, are you using wep?

Macman said:

yea, also, are you using wep?

Click to expand...

how do i know if im using wep? right now I'm not even wireless, i'm wired for the moment on my emac. I also notice on the cable modem that the send light will not light up but occasionally when it used to always be blinking.

october said:

how do i know if im using wep? right now I'm not even wireless, i'm wired for the moment on my emac. I also notice on the cable modem that the send light will not light up but occasionally when it used to always be blinking.

Click to expand...

if when you connect wireless you have to type in a pass code the you are using WEP if this is a home network then you mostlikly you are not using it if you are on a network at work then you probably are.

o, then never mind, but when you go wireless, and are setting it up, you should have the option to enable WEP(wireless encryption protocol), then set it to require a password to use it, this is so no one can piggy back and use your connection freely, which will slow your speed down.

Wall ---> modem ---> router ---->computer a and b