setting up a mac mini wireless network

Okay... there are going to be various things in this request...

First of all... I'm looking to buy a used/refurbished mac mini to hook up to our HDTV for watching online TV content and setting up a home theater system... and I want to network this computer with our main intel iMac so that we can play iTunes from the iMac on the mac mini.. .which will be hooked up to speakers. Following me here? Is there anything that we need other than to have both computers Aiport ready?

I also want to replace the wireless router that came from our internet provider with a Time Capsule as a back up for both computers. Does this make sense?

Also, can somebody recommend a good source for refurbished macs? I was about to go with Gainsaver... which had great prices, but then I read independent reviews on another site. Can somebody recommend a reputable company with good prices????

Thank You!

guess I stumped everybody.

MacWorld Magazine did a feature in their July 2009 issue on building a Mac Mini Media server. I have also seen several web articles in the past when I was considering doing this. A quick google search ought to turn up several hits. Swapping your time capsule for your router is normally easy, following the menus should walk you through the process; if it doesn't I suspect you can get help here. To "stream" iTunes you will need an Airport Express or
Apple TV. The Airport Extreme built into the Time Capsule lacks this capability (don't ask me why). There is also a program called Air Foil that looks like it might do what you want, but I have never used it.

As far as stumping the folks here, most of them know far more than I about all things Mac, but they don't necessarily camp on the site and I suspect some of them might have been put off by the phrasing of your question and follow-up.

A reputable company for buying a refurbished Mac...try here Refurbished Mac - Apple Store (U.S.)

Thanks a lot! Actually... my follow-up got you to reply! Nothn' at all before I posted that. Anyway... don't take me seriously. Yeah... there is a lot of stuff on the internet and it has overwhelmed me... which is why I posted this. That is interesting that you need a specific piece of hardware to access your iTunes. I figured if you were networking 2 computers then each should be able to share each other's files?

Anyway... I will look into this Air Foil program then...

Thanks again!

btw... things come up very rarely on the refurbished apple store that are specifically what I need. I've tried it many times....

mossanimal said:

That is interesting that you need a specific piece of hardware to access your iTunes. I figured if you were networking 2 computers then each should be able to share each other's files?

Click to expand...

I probably misunderstood your original question . . . you can share iTunes libraries accross the network with no problem. But if you want to stream from your Mac to a remote set of speakers you'll need the Airport Express.