Cable modem question

pensfan

pensfan

Registered
My wife and I are both, unfortunately, on dialup now. DSL isn't available in our area and while cable modem is, we're not cable subscribers. We have DirecTV and, as a result, the cost of the cable modem is much more expensive.

I'm considering the switch and I have two questions

1. We both have Earthlink. Is there any way to just pay a small monthly fee to Earthlink to keep the e-mail address so we don't have to change?

2. Can two people share the same cable modem or will we have to pay the fee twice like we're doing now for our dialup accounts.

My wife has a G4 450 and I have a 500 MHz G3 iMac. We're both running 10.2.3.

Thanks and happy holidays to all.
Kevin
 
Hello, pensfan. In response to your questions:

1.) You would have to call up Earthlink about that...
2.) By using a router, such as from LinkSys, you can plug both machine's ethernets into the router and share the cable connection approximately 50/50.
 
For question number 1: get their cheapest dial-up plan (about ten bucks a month). It's limited dial-up. Once you have your cable modem running, you will be able to check your mail through their website, without using-up any of your allowed earthlink time.

Or... for about 5 bucks a month (it's what I pay) you can get your own domain name (yourdesiredname.com) and webspace and have plenty of email addresses for you and your family. I reccomend it. Now's the best time to make the change, because you might be leaving earthlink.

For question number 2, the short answer is yes. And the long answer is... http://www.speedguide.net/reviews/linksys/index.shtml

Note: At the bottom of the page linked above is the table of contents.
 
Thanks.
Another question, though. If I get an Airport base station and two Airport cards, can both computers use the cable modem connection to access the Internet at the same time at different sites?
And is Airport the best solution for wireless networking, or is there another way I should look?
Thanks so much,
Kevin
 
If I get an Airport base station and two Airport cards, can both computers use the cable modem connection to access the Internet at the same time at different sites?
Click to expand...

Yes, that's what I have right now.

And is Airport the best solution for wireless networking, or is there another way I should look?
Click to expand...

That's arguable. Subjective. Airport is more expensive. $299 for the airport base station, and $99 bucks for an airport card. You only need one card, though. You'd connect one computer to the airport base station with a cable, and let the other one be wireless. Or you could have them both wireless (2 cards).

So, you'd need at least 400 bucks. If you try hardware NOT made by Apple, you'd probably pay around 250 (base station and card), maybe even less. That's an estimate that is stuck in my mind. I'm not looking at figures.

Since both of your computers are desktops (not portable), you won't get the juice out of having a wireless network. Too much of a luxury, unless you reallly-REALLY want/need to avoid running cables from one room to another.
 
And I forgot to tell you the benefits of getting an airport base station. Since it's made by Apple, 100% compatibility. Instructions are specifically for Apple computers -- yours. Not much to do, though. The wiring and setting up was simple, as was expected, being an Apple product. Also, your decision to buy or not to buy from Apple, depends on your view of Apple products... their quality... is it particularly high? If so, then that's what you can expect from the Airport Base Station.
 
[link]http://www.maczone.com/cgi-bin/zones/site/product/index.html?id=000388804&page_name=product_tech_spec[/link]

An example of an access point that is cheaper and more than twice the range (distance between it and the computer receiving the signal) than the airport base station. Cost: 131.98 Then you add the card for 59 bucks. There you have it, you save more than 50%. The question is, would it bring you any problems? Only those Mac users who've purchased a third-party wireless access point would be able to tell you... but man... it's a great price... great range...
 
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