Connecting two old macs on internet.

[macmithos]

Hi everybody.Greetings from Rio de Janeiro/Brazil.
It is my first time here and I've found the site because I was making a little search on Google and I thought that someone could somehow help me. First of all, sorry if my english it is not as good as it should.
I just got married (nobody is perfect) but anyway, and fortunatly my wife is also a macmaniac as I am. She came to live with me and brought her iMac (G3 350MHz - 128MB RAM - Mac OS X 10.2.5) along. I also have an iMac (G4 800MHZ - 512MB RAM - Mac OS X 10.3.9) and it has a broadband connection to internet through a cable modem. We would like to use a router to devide the connection to our computers. Should we use an Airport base from Apple or from any other company? I know that my computer can support an airport card (which one I really don't know) but I think that hers doesn't support a card. Should we do a wired net between the two computers and have the possibility of sharing a printer ? What would be the best for us ?
Thanks to you all in advance.

 

[Tommo]

If the Macs are close together you should be able to connect them to each other and from system preferences > sharing > Internet on the iMac you should be able to share the internet connection with the other machine. Cheaper than fitting an airport card and hub.

 

[barhar]

Her Mac: 'G3 350MHz - 128MB RAM - Mac OS X 10.2.5' - has no 'Airport card' support. However, a PCI to 802.11b or 802.11g card can be installed.

Your Mac: 'iMac (G4 800MHZ - 512MB RAM - Mac OS X 10.3.9)' - can support an original 'Airport card', for 802.11b.

Yes, an 'Airport Base Station' (router) or third party router can be used.
Most third party routers (wired / wireless) also contain a minimum of four (4) wired ports; whereas, the Airport Extreme only one - thus the need for an Ethernet switch.

'Should we do a wired net between the two computers and have the possibility of sharing a printer?' - while such a connection is possible, it is not needed. With each Mac connected to the wired / wireless router - one Mac with a connected printer, can share the printer with other Macs. Naturally, the Mac (with the connected printer) must be turned ON at all times - for the printer to be accessible by the other Mac(s).

'What would be the best for us?' - what is best - is what you decide on, based on cost, etc.

Typically, one connects each Mac (computer) to a (wired / wireless) router, which is connected to the dsl / cable modem via an ethernet cable.
Some cable models have a built in router, such as the Motorola SBG900. Like Apple's Airport, the SBG900 requires an Ethernet switch to interface with more than one wired computer.

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Consult with MacTracker (freeware) for additional information about your Macs.