.Mac/wireless

hey, I'm getting a 1.42ghz (PPC) mac mini for christmas and have a few questions regarding a .mac account and also wireless networking:

Obviously I get 60 days free with the .mac account, but I'm not planning on upgrading after that, so I was wondering, along with keeping my @mac.com email address, what else will I retain? (i.e. a small amount of server space, addresses, etc.)

Currently I run a wired network with a 4 port router, connected to a cable modem but my family are looking to go wireless. This is useful to me as I'm looknig to have my mac in the room exactly opposite ends of the house to the modem & router. There isn't an airport card in my mini, so what's the best (read cheapest :headphone ) option: a wireless USB dongle, a wireless gateway (it's gonna be in a fixed position, I'm not planning on moving it alot) or an airport card. Also im new to mac, as an experienced(ish) windows networker, will I need any tutorials for interfacing mac and windows filesharing or is it self-explanitory?

cheers for the help!

edit: oh yeah, as the release of leopard isn't far off, how much is it likely to set me back? are we talking >£100 or prices in the hundreds?

As far as the mac min. GREAT CHOICE. i bought one for my 1st Mac when i switched. Still running awsome! Its my home Base networkstation and mass storage device for files and a print server right now.

the .mac.... you wont be able to access it after the 60day trial is up....No emails will be recieved by .mac or anything. cant even login to it after that. It will ask you to add a Reg # or put in a Credit card # to purchase it. Honestly the CC # is the best...NO TAX IS CHARGED.


Cheapest Wireless card.... Alot of Applestores are selling the Airport/ Bluetooth internal card INSTALLED for $99. Thats what i had done with mine. NO biggie.

But i know DLINK has ONE external Wireless card and 2-3 BT dongles....but the internal card is the best honestly and the cleanest too....

But just buying the AP/BT card by apple is $99. i like the free installation. LEss strain. Just drop it off and go.

-J

For the wireless network I would definitely recommend getting an internal card. My girlfriend has a USB one on her Windows PC and it drops the connection about every two days meaning she has to reconnect to the network. No big deal but still frustrating. My internal network card on my MacBook hasn't dropped the connection yet.

I am pretty sure it is a USB problem, because the cable modem used to have to be resetted a lot more until I connected it with Ethernet and that eliminated that problem. I am not sure whether it is exclusively a Windows thing, but for stuff like wireless networks and modems I find USB not to be so good. Although, mice and keyboards and external hard drives seem to work fine. I have also been very impressed at how my MacBook flawlessly joins the different Windows networks I have connected to, both wired and wireless. I used to have problems with Windows, then all of a sudden it would decide to work. This is the same as with anything on a Mac, I plugged in my USB pen drive, external hard disk, printer, digital camera, mobile phone. It all "just worked" without the need to install drivers or search manufacturers websites for an update, so Apple is right about that one!

I personally don't have .Mac and will probably never need it, so I am unable to comment on that.

Congratulations on the purchase of your new Mac.

right ok cheers! thing is, I had a look last night (not allowed to hook it up till monday though!) and the serial has /A on the end...the guy I bought it off who repairs/sells computers says it doesn't have BT/airport, but when I ran the specs on google it says it does...so I dunno! but airport sounds the best way to go then! :headphone pity about the .mac thing, on the apple website it says you keep your account/login but tbh I found the site abit vague about it all really anyway!

what's the networking gona be like? I've ran a few PBs off my router for interne access for relatives and it works off the bat, but I can imagine importing my docs/music will be a tad trickier than that. I'm not bothered about taking stuff off the mac and onto the windows machines cos frankly...they suck! and I've got office for mac if I need to open ppts and spreadsheets...

Also, one last thing which I feel might cause a huge problem...we run on machine as a print server for an HP officejet. I've heard Macs don't get on well with them, not to mention having to mess around with the windows print sharing crap! Worth the effort to set it up, or should I just unplug the printer from the pc and whack it in the mac when I want to print?!

thanks agan guys!

donbenjy said:

what's the networking gona be like?

Click to expand...

Its pretty easy, just share the files on the PC, then on the mini go to Finder> Network> then browse for your PC's name and there you go.

Hey, so I got my network, internet and files setup within an hour of plugging in my mac for the 1st time today! a few little niggles really:

1) Can't seem to get my windows shared USB printer to work. Well It gets recognized in the printer folder but its a fairly old model (HP Officejet K60). I googled stuff and found a driver pack for old HP machines and i THOUGHT I installed it and it said ok (there was an installer in the DMG and after, it appeared in apps). But then I couldn't find the driver in the selection bit. Granter this was abit rushed this morning and I havn't looked at it again since, but I'm probably missing something stupid out!

2) Getting used to the mac keyboad layout: Just a few things with this:
-where's the forward delete key? I'm using an old emac/imac coloured keyboard w/ black keys btw. This one's been annoying me all day and a google suggests that there is one there!
-the difference between enter (on the num pad) and return (above the arrow keys)
-*** is this key: §/± above tab for?
-why does numlock make a weird noise when I press it (sounds like it doesn't have a function)? Is it always on?
-Is there a way to assign F1 thru F8 to stuff like volume (ala the notebooks?) I presume not on this one, but it'd be nice.

3)I find myself being productive with less than a days work on a new computer...Why doesn't anything need fixing?!

oh yeah one last thing...will acquisition insist on telling me to buy the full version every 15 minutes? not that I'm too bothered.