iMac and Netgear Router

Have just had my ADSL turned on (yesterday) and have my PC up and running through my DG834 no probs. However, my mum has an iMac (of which I know very little about) and i've gone through the , very unhelpful, manual, tried the help and done a search online to try and get it to use the built in ethernet port but to no avail.

The router light for my PC is on, the router light for my mums mac flash on and off every 20 seconds or so. I don't know if i'm still supposed to go to internet connection thingy to get online or if it's just like a PC where you go straight to the browser.

It's using DHCP as is the router, everything else is empty on the mac. But I just keep gettin an error that there's no connection.

not sure tbh - how are you trying to connect the mac to the router (via cable or wireless). I have the same router on my mac and I connect through wireless and I had a couple of issues at the start but it ended up being my isp that needed to resolve the issue?

As I am not a techie or anything close so apologise if this question may be irrelevant but could the isp be one that does not support mac? I dont think it should be an issue but having demon as mine, which was recommended by apple then they have always been very helpful - maybe you isp could offer the same help if no-one can help here?

If you know the ISP's dns servers, try to set the iMac ethernet up using "Manually". Or in other words, statically assigned addresses. I would imagine it would resemble this,...


192.168.1.101
255.255.255.0
192.168.1.1

ISP.DNS.xxx.xxx (you know what DNS is , yes?)

Also try ifconfig from /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app. At the prompt type in ifconfig. It will tell you the ip address of the Mac. Similar to ipconfig in windows. Look for en0 as your interface.

homer_j - my ISP is ADSL4Less, not great I realise but wanted some1 cheap. I don't quite understand how an ISP can be Mac incompatible?? Am connecting via ethernet not wireless.

MacsWork - when I changed it to DHCP manual and entered the details the ISP gave me it still didnt work. I entered the IP address & the primaray DNS & 2nd DNS but still the page not found error. do I need to open Internet Connect before I try to get on the web or not?

Ok,..

one thing,...using dhcp. not dhcp with manual ip is what you want. if your ip is 169.254.x.x you aren't getting an ip from the router. this is important, you need a correct ip. this should be verified in the router interface under dhcp lease table. it will show the iMac's name and ip.

second,...ISP's are not platform specific. that's why they use internet protocols.

third,....can you ping your gateway? in this case your router. if so you're doing well. can you ping your isp's dns servers. required for web surfing. the dns should be in the router interface as well. if not, on the pc from the command prompt type in ipconfig /all this will show what it's using for dns. if your dns on the mac is correct, try to ping www.google.com this should resolve.

fourth,...if the light is still intermitent, try a different port on the router. or a differnet cable.

in all honesty it really isn't this difficult ;o)

yeah think i've sorted it. i took the router downstairs and plugged it straight into the mac using a different cable and it worked straight away. then took it back upstairs and used the stupidly long cable I had for my PC and it gave me an error saying the signal was weak, so it was the cable. Have a new one coming today.
thanks for your help