Network for the fam Sanity Check

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Harvey

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Hello all. Just wanted some opinons and comments from you guys on this idea I have.

My parents currently have 2 old Windows PCs in the house (both junkers from my college years). One is online with a cable modem, the other is lonley and offline.

I have an iBook with an AirMac card. (I'm not sure if the Airmac card is 802.11b or g? Does anyone here know about that?)

I need to buy a router to share the cable connection between their two PCs. I was looking around today, and noticed Wireless Routers, that also have jacks in the back for ethernet over cat5.

I would like to get a wireless router, share their cable connection between their two computers, and set up the AP so that when I come over with my iBook and Airmac card I can jump on via wireless as well.

What kind of things do I need to double check to make sure this works?

As for gear, I saw these today.

2.4 ghz 802.11b wireless router by D-LINK for $79.99 (4 ports on back)
They also have a 802.11g style wireless router which is $119.99.

Another store had Linksys gear.

$89.99 ($20 rebate!) for an 802.11g wireless router with 4 ports as well.

I have used Linksys gear in the past, their NICS and hubs and stuff, but have been out of the hardware buying game for a long time.

What would you guys recommend?

Thanks guys :-)
 
Harvey said:
Hello all. Just wanted some opinons and comments from you guys on this idea I have.

My parents currently have 2 old Windows PCs in the house (both junkers from my college years). One is online with a cable modem, the other is lonley and offline.

I have an iBook with an AirMac card. (I'm not sure if the Airmac card is 802.11b or g? Does anyone here know about that?)

I need to buy a router to share the cable connection between their two PCs. I was looking around today, and noticed Wireless Routers, that also have jacks in the back for ethernet over cat5.

I would like to get a wireless router, share their cable connection between their two computers, and set up the AP so that when I come over with my iBook and Airmac card I can jump on via wireless as well.

What kind of things do I need to double check to make sure this works?

As for gear, I saw these today.

2.4 ghz 802.11b wireless router by D-LINK for $79.99 (4 ports on back)
They also have a 802.11g style wireless router which is $119.99.

Another store had Linksys gear.

$89.99 ($20 rebate!) for an 802.11g wireless router with 4 ports as well.

I have used Linksys gear in the past, their NICS and hubs and stuff, but have been out of the hardware buying game for a long time.

What would you guys recommend?

Thanks guys :-)
Click to expand...
 
While I am no expert, I did manage to help set up a small home wireless network. If the purpose of setting one up at your folks' is only to share a high speed internet connection and no other facilities, then you certainly need not invest in the higher priced 802.11 g, as the highest speed you're gonna see with a cable modem is only around 2 MB. Even if your iBook is outfitted with "g" it is still backward compatable with "b" so that's no problem. Also don't count on ever receiving a mail-in rebate, companies most often give you a hard time about honoring them after you've sent in your original P.O.P. and so can no longer return the device if it is in any way defective (and my first D-Link product was defective right out of the box.) My local network uses wireless D-Link router (618+) and I am plugged into their wireless ethernet bridge (610+.) I found using a Mac as admin., only iCab performed properly to complete the Set-up Wizard of the bridge and as I recall only Netscape worked with the router's Wizard. But the network runs smoothly and was pretty reasonable to implement cost-wise. Make sure your folk's extra PC has an ethernet port or a card slot for one, of course... Cheers!
 
There's a Belkin wireless Router listed on dealmac for 9.99 after the rebate. And I wouldn't worry about getting the rebate, it's from Circuit City, you will get it.
I haven't had any problem getting a rebate I've sent for that was for a product listed on dealmac.

Most routers will have the setup page in a browser and should work in any browser.
 
Sold out!
http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.j...=Yes&affiliateid=39912901&goTo=detail&c=1&b=g

But, I picked up the Linksys one today at RadioShack. We'll do the rebate, and I'll set it up over Christmas, thanks guys :-)

Also, the fact that it is not an Airport, doesn't have anything to do with my Mac getting on the network right?
btw... if not... what is the point of getting Apple's networking equipment?> They seem to be more expensive than, linksys gear for example.
 
It will work fine with another wireless router. Apple products are always more expensive, but usually better. The Apple BaseStation comes with software that makes it a snap to setup, plus a USB port for printer sharing made easily.

The Links is very easy to setup. Just open a browser window and type 192.168.1.1 to get the setup page.

When you setup the router, I would just plug everything in and see if everything is already working, online.
 
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