Connecting two iMacs & a cable modem

Kinniken

Kinniken

Registered
Need help there... how can I connect two iMacs (one on OS 10.1, one on 9.2) and a cable modem together so that they both have internet access and can share files and a printer? And how much will it cost me?
Additional requirement: they need to share the same IP, or my ISP will know I have more than one comp connected (I'm not supposed to)

TIA,

Kinniken
 
Hi Kinniken,

You need a router.

I've got a Linksys EtherFast Cable/DSL 4 Port Router (BEFSR41). It has 4 ports for your machines, but presents only one face to your ISP. By default, it acts as a DHCP server, but you can also assign your Macs their own local IPs. It will probably cost you ~ $79.

It has a lot of configuration options, but the default settings worked for me, right out of the box. I've been very happy with it.

-tony
 
Also, check Versiontracker.com for GUIs for mentioned deamons, they might help you if you are not comfortable with the terminal
 
Routers aren't that expensive now, and they give you a hardware firewall too. We used software routing for years and once we switched to a hardware router, we were much happier with it. Buy one if you can.
 
I'd also suggest a hardware router if you can afford the money. Benchmarks show that hardware routers eat much less of the bandwith than most software solutions. Not all have built in Firewalls, but since OS X has a built in software firewall which is running all the time, this isn't that important. Still, a hardware firewall is more comfortable. It is just easier to have a small black box sitting there which does all the work for you. And it consumes less power than a Mac which is running all the time to serve the connection to the Ethernet. I am using the Barricade router from SMC, and it works like a charm!
 
I know that I will probably get slammed for this, but I did exactly what you want with an Airport base station. Worked like a treat. My file server is OS9 and my day to day machine (iBook) is on OSX.

I do have problems printing to a USB shared printer on the file server, but I know that I could fix it if I wanted to (by not using USB print sharing) but all the apps that I need to print from I run from classic anyway, which can see the shared printer.

I mainly did that because the cable for the modem entry into the house was no where near my study, and I hate to cables.

Of course you don't get the bandwidth of a hardware router. The Router will allow you to plug in enthernet (but not airport) enabled devices in the future as well.
 
we're running 2 imac off an smc barricade with the built in firewall and a printer connection which we don't use since we each have our own. like the linksys they are now running about $70 - $90. We love ours. i ran a second software firewall behind it that used to report 2 or 3 times a day. nothing since using the router. When i researched my options to set this up i decided the speed of the router was worth the extra cost over a hub. and routers sold for about $30 more then.

btw - ulrik, you make it sound like osx's firewall comes already running out of the box. my understanding is that it is not. in fact it comes wide open if you don't close off certain sharing protocols. the osx firewall needs to be configured to work. i know there is a 3rd party app to help do this for those of us who are command line challenged. i'm guessing there is probably a good thread or two on the subject on this site somewhere as well.
 
3 choice:

-AirPort. Cool, modern, no cable BUT way too expensive. This one is out.
-A router. Was my first idea, and you all seem to agree its the best. I have one problem though: cost. The router you recomend me may be worth 80 $ in the US, but in France they ship for 280 €!!!! (300$) Even including a 20% taxe, its a pretty stiff increase... I can pay up to a 100 $. No more. Do you know of any online store where I could by a router which would ship it to France?
-Using one of the computer as a software router. Look like the cheapest solution, and I'm not too concerned about cost. However, the iMac doing this would have to be my mum's (it's right next to the cable modem), and its running OS9... is that a problem? What would be the price of a hub? Its bound to be more expensive here, but since its a more comon product the price difference will likely be less important.

Lastly, excuse my ignorance but what is the difference between a hub and a switch?

TIA,

Kinniken
 
the router is priced 280 € in France, which makes about 250 $ not 300 $... its expensive but not that much ;-)
 
Originally posted by Kinniken

Lastly, excuse my ignorance but what is the difference between a hub and a switch?
Click to expand...

A switch is basically a "smart" hub that eliminates packet collisions. With a hub, if two computers send a packet at exactly the same time, a collision will occur, and neither packet goes through (and then each computer has to send a packet again). A switch will store each packet, and then send them one at a time to the appropriate port on the switch.

In a large network, switches are definitely the way to go, but if you are just connecting two machines I don't think it matters so much.
 
Use Brickhouse. I have my OSX machine running brickhouse and the rest of the machines in the house going through it for internet access. The only thing is, Im not sharing any printers.

Hope this helps
 
Use Brickhouse. I have my OSX machine running brickhouse and the rest of the machines in the house going through it.
 
Kinniken,

buy it from the UK. I bought my BEFSR41, which works a treat, from buy.com

They want a tad more than $100 (£83.36 - about €135) though.

However, if you go to:
http://www.gb.buy.com/thankyou

you can get an extra £10 off (~€120)...

There may be cheaper places - eg. dabs.com, macwarehouse.co.uk...

Jim
 
135 Û + shipping costs is more than I can spend though...

For the other option (using a hub), I feel a bit stupid: if I choose to do this, there is no obligation for the comp physicaly near the hub & cable modem to do the routing, is there? For if there is none, I can have my comp running OSX doing it =)
I just need assurance that my ISP will not see the difference, and I would like to know what happens in two cases:
-the computer doing the routing is shut down. Will the other stop having Internet access, or will it just get it directly?
-more important, what happen if I switch the Routing comp back to OS9 for a while (I still need to for some things)? Will it have Internet access, will the other comp still have it? My main problem would be to have both of them request an IP....

This look like the best (meaning in my case cheapest ;) ) way... just want to make sure I wont get into trouble with my ISP.

TIA,

Kinniken
 
Originally posted by Kinniken
135 Û + shipping costs is more than I can spend though...

-the computer doing the routing is shut down. Will the other stop having Internet access, or will it just get it directly?
-more important, what happen if I switch the Routing comp back to OS9 for a while (I still need to for some things)? Will it have Internet access, will the other comp still have it? My main problem would be to have both of them request an IP....

Kinniken
Click to expand...

To put it simple: if the routing daemon is not running, the internet connection is NOT routed, so if the OS X machine is shut down, the other Mac won't have a connection. Same when it runs OS 9. That's the drawback compared to a hardware router. The machine has to be running, and a Mac consumes a bit more power than a hardware router.
 
I'll go and buy a hub monday.

I might need help for the setup, both for OSX (the router) and OS9 (the routed). Or will brickhouse do all that for me?
 
Hang on, to do NAT with just a hub, surely you need to have 2 ethernet ports on the machine doing the routing? ie. the ISP network is connected to one port, and the machine routes to the second port which is connected to the 2nd machine/hub.

Perhaps I'm missing something, but otherwise what's to stop the 2nd machine directly accessing the ISP connection?

Jim
 
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