mac and windows

harryson0605 · Nov 11, 2008

i have an alluminium imac connected to virgin cable with ethernet, i also have an older windows xp pc which i want to let my son use for internet. i want to set up a wireless network and need advice. the pc has a wifi card but ive lost the antenna and i do not have a wireless router. what i need to know is what is the best money no option network and the best budget network identifying the make and model of wireless router.
also should i buy a new antenna for the old wifi card or use a usb device if so could you recomend a usb device compatible with the router.
just to complicate matters i would also like to connect a wii and psp

chscag · Nov 12, 2008

Do some shopping around. I know you want specifics, but it's a simple matter of going to any retailer who sells routers and USB add on WiFi receivers. As a router recommendation, D-Link routers are generally easy to setup and support OS X as well as Windows.

Buying a USB receiver add on device for the XP PC makes more sense and will probably be less expensive than a new antenna for the older card. Just about any USB device will work OK and most if not all are supported by Windows.

I have my own network at home setup exactly that way. A total investment of around $100 - $150 should be adequate.

Regards.

harryson0605 · Nov 16, 2008

i bought a cheap belkin router for £50 which came with a free usb wifi for the pc. i have set this up and now have an internet connection to the pc and wii wirelessly. my mac is connected via ethernet to the router. how do i get the pc to see the mac so i can share i tunes library. also how do i determine whether my imac is working with g or n wireless.

kipo · Nov 17, 2008

harryson0605 said:
. my mac is connected via ethernet to the router.

.

Hi Harryson0605 I want to ask you when you connect via the ethernet to the router how do you 'disconnect/disable' the mac from the internet aside from the obvious of pulling the ethernet cable out?

I just wanted to know because before on windows to turn the pc off you have to disconnect the pc from the internet and you would normally do that through 'network connection' but on the mac I cant seem to find the function of where you do that from? and it seems odd to just pull the ethernet cable out without having to diconnect/disable it first?

THeBadMonkey · Nov 17, 2008

kipo said:
Hi Harryson0605 I want to ask you when you connect via the ethernet to the router how do you 'disconnect/disable' the mac from the internet aside from the obvious of pulling the ethernet cable out?

I just wanted to know because before on windows to turn the pc off you have to disconnect the pc from the internet and you would normally do that through 'network connection' but on the mac I cant seem to find the function of where you do that from? and it seems odd to just pull the ethernet cable out without having to diconnect/disable it first?

Why are you disconnecting the web connection before powering off? it makes no difference to the PC and they tend to prefer a steady connection.

harryson0605

Try the Dlink DI-624 wireless router, it will provide you with G speeds, a firewall, DHCP all the usual filtering options. I have one at home that I use with my Virgin cable and it works a treat.

As for the Windows box have you tried going to maplins to get a new aerial? they are a standard connection and that would be your cheapest option. Total cost About £55 for the router and £5 for the aerial.

As for top end no holds barred try the Basestation Extreme from apple as this will allow you to share usb devices such as external hard drives and printers without needed a host machine. At this point it would then be easier to buy an N class adapter for the windows box. This would cost more with the basestation running to £119 and then £40 ish for an N class card. Buying the aerial from maplins would also work in this instance but you wouldn't be running the hardware to its full potential.

kipo · Nov 17, 2008

THeBadMonkey said:
Why are you disconnecting the web connection before powering off? it makes no difference to the PC and they tend to prefer a steady connection.

Are you not supposed to? Its the way I've always done things or was told to I guess

My usual PC windows routine:
Disable internet from 'network conncections' > do all the virus scans etc (is windows afterall) > turn pc off

is that not the correct way then?

cwa107 · Nov 17, 2008

kipo said:
Are you not supposed to? Its the way I've always done things or was told to I guess

My usual PC windows routine:
Disable internet from 'network conncections' > do all the virus scans etc (is windows afterall) > turn pc off

is that not the correct way then?

It's not correct or incorrect, it's just unnecessary.

kipo · Nov 17, 2008

^ Oh right, so you normally just leave your pc/mac connected to the internet?

I don't know I just always assumed if its still connected to the internet viruses could still attack you or something I don't know now

Actually come to think about it I tend to disconnect it because sometimes I use my pc to do my work but if its connected to the internet all the time I'd never get any work done so yeah its usually turnt off if I don't need the internet.

So back with the macs you don't need to disable/disconnect it from the internet then?

THeBadMonkey · Nov 17, 2008

kipo said:
^ Oh right, so you normally just leave your pc/mac connected to the internet?

I don't know I just always assumed if its still connected to the internet viruses could still attack you or something I don't know now

Actually come to think about it I tend to disconnect it because sometimes I use my pc to do my work but if its connected to the internet all the time I'd never get any work done so yeah its usually turnt off if I don't need the internet.

So back with the macs you don't need to disable/disconnect it from the internet then?

On your PC you should have some firewall software such as comdo firewall, some anti virus like AVG and anti spyware/malware products like adaware 2008 and spybot search and destroy. Those will be enough to protect you in most circumstances. if you have a router then you may have a firewall in place on that as well (or possible can configure one) so you are safe there as well.

The mac, well as far as I am aware you don't need any of the above the only precaution being not running as an admin on the machine.

cwa107 · Nov 17, 2008

kipo said:
^ Oh right, so you normally just leave your pc/mac connected to the internet?

I don't know I just always assumed if its still connected to the internet viruses could still attack you or something I don't know now

Actually come to think about it I tend to disconnect it because sometimes I use my pc to do my work but if its connected to the internet all the time I'd never get any work done so yeah its usually turnt off if I don't need the internet.

So back with the macs you don't need to disable/disconnect it from the internet then?

If the machine is turned off, there's no risk of any kind of security threat, unless you have the machine set to allow "wake on LAN" (not usually a default setting).

If the machine is left turned on all the time, but doesn't necessarily need to access the Internet, then it might be wise to manually disable the Internet connection.

It's a matter of how much risk you're willing to accept. If you have a router between the computer(s) and the modem, then the risk is very, very low as most routers have at a minimum, a NAT firewall - which makes your computer essentially invisible to incoming connections.

Also do note that both Mac OS X and Windows XP (SP2 and greater) ship with a built-in software firewall turned on. This gives you an even greater degree of security.

harryson0605 · Nov 17, 2008

THeBadMonkey said:
Why are you disconnecting the web connection before powering off? it makes no difference to the PC and they tend to prefer a steady connection.

harryson0605

Try the Dlink DI-624 wireless router, it will provide you with G speeds, a firewall, DHCP all the usual filtering options. I have one at home that I use with my Virgin cable and it works a treat.

As for the Windows box have you tried going to maplins to get a new aerial? they are a standard connection and that would be your cheapest option. Total cost About £55 for the router and £5 for the aerial.

As for top end no holds barred try the Basestation Extreme from apple as this will allow you to share usb devices such as external hard drives and printers without needed a host machine. At this point it would then be easier to buy an N class adapter for the windows box. This would cost more with the basestation running to £119 and then £40 ish for an N class card. Buying the aerial from maplins would also work in this instance but you wouldn't be running the hardware to its full potential.

thanks for the info, i went for a cheap belkin router which is working well.
do you know how to change the wireless settings on the mac ie select either b,g or n.

cwa107 · Nov 17, 2008

harryson0605 said:
thanks for the info, i went for a cheap belkin router which is working well.
do you know how to change the wireless settings on the mac ie select either b,g or n.

You would select the speed that the router operates on in the router's configuration web page. All of your clients, be they Mac or Windows, should automatically connect at the highest speed rating they support.

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