Tuesday, April 11, 2006
boring technical question
Most of you should skip this as it's just a plea for some technical advice...
If anyone out there knows anything much about wireless networks for Macs then please drop me a line. The missus has use of a wireless enabled iBook at present and wishes to share the use of my broadband connection. Now, as far as I can tell, if we went so far as to buy an Airport base station then I'd additionally have to get an Airport card for my G4 to make use of it. This seems like a deal more faff and expense than is warranted.
However, I'm led to believe by some sources that it might be possible to leave the G4 directly connected to my router (a Voyager 205 if that makes any difference to anything) as it is now, fit an Airport card and have it operate as a Software Base Station providing internet access to the iBook directly without the need for an actual physical base station at all. Anybody clever out there know if this is indeed the case?
Also, how do I tell if my G4 is "Airport Extreme-enabled"?
Sorry about all that. Normal service will be resumed shortly.
Update:
Up and running now. Thanks to everyone who offered advice, especially Matt B and Pete. Got a Belkin Wireless G Router in the end which was up and running happily (with the old router as a modem) in about five minutes flat.
Sorting out the security settings then took about 3 hours of frustration and could still use some tweaking but still, on the whole a happy result.
Comments:
Is your G4 a laptop? if it is then it will most likely be enabled. If not you click the blue apple (sorry if I'm being patronising, I don't know how much you know about it at all) and then about this mac and then more info. There will be an airport card in the hardware list if you have one and this will say whether it is airport extreme or not. The 'extremeness' of it is what kind of card you have I think.
I take it you have a physical router and no wireless broadcasting thingy (you see I'm not really very technical either) then I don't know if you can do what you're suggesting or not. I do know that you can use a generic base station rather than an airport one and it will be cheaper. But they can be much, much more faff...
I don't know if this is any help at all.
I take it you have a physical router and no wireless broadcasting thingy (you see I'm not really very technical either) then I don't know if you can do what you're suggesting or not. I do know that you can use a generic base station rather than an airport one and it will be cheaper. But they can be much, much more faff...
I don't know if this is any help at all.
Sorry, should have thought to say it's a desktop/tower type thing rather than a laptop. It definitely has no Airport card at present but further delving online and advice from the estimable Mr Pete Ashton have led me to believe that the machine I have is a G4 FW800 (apparently pretty much the last model they had before switching to the G5). This means that it is indeed "Airport Extreme-enabled" and that, theoretically at least, it can (once fitted with an Airport Extreme card) share the broadband connection wirelessly with the wireless-enabled laptop without the need for an Airport base station.
Whether or not I am in any way clever enough to make this happen is a whole 'nother matter. We shall see.
If anyone understands all of the above and has any further advice - particularly with regard to any security issues that might arise - then do please say.
Whether or not I am in any way clever enough to make this happen is a whole 'nother matter. We shall see.
If anyone understands all of the above and has any further advice - particularly with regard to any security issues that might arise - then do please say.
he you have an apple? I have osx. and I just got airport express base station today. I am trying to hook up my nintendo ds and boy what a NIGHTMARE. i have been working on it for 3 hours with no success. If anyone out there knows how to hook up a Mac to a DS let me know immediatly!
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