Wireless networks... using non-Mac hardware

wicky

wicky

play thing
Does anybody have any experience with wireless networking using non-Apple 3rd party hardware?

I want to connect multiple computers to a (UK) Blueyonder/Telewest set top Cable box, via a wireless router/switch. I've been looking at this ... <Linksys Etherfast Wireless Ap - +cable/dsl Router/4port Switch> ... on ebuyer.com, but I'm fairly reluctant to start shelling out cash without knowing if it's Mac compatible.

I guess all routers and switch's will allow Mac access, but am unsure if Mac drivers, etc. are going to be an issue.

Can anyone recommend a suitable router... which is "known-good" with OSx? Any advice of possible problems/pitfalls, etc would be good too.

Cheers
 
Shouldn't need any drivers for a router. The Links uses a web interface for setup and will work fine, as most any wireless routers will.
 
I make the "shouldn't" to a "definitely won't" need any drivers. Using dlink here and no software needed. As Bob said, there is a web interface that you can access via your web browser.
 
Yep, I'll add my "definitely won't" need drivers to the above 2 responses....

I've used a D-Link wired/wireless and am now using an Asanté wired/wireless, both without drivers. The interfaces are web-based and easy to use.
 
I use a Zyxel G2000, no drivers needed neither. Safari does it !
 
I've owned an Airport Base Station, a Belkin, a Buffalo, and a Netgear. The one that gave me the most trouble was the Belkin. It's also the most cheaplooking of all. I recently bought a Netgear... good stuff. One feature I like on the Netgear keeps computers in your local network from accessing certain sites (you can specify keywords or domains). It can also block certain services (AIM, MSN, Yahoo?).

I had heard good things about Buffalo routers, so I gave one a shot. It brought me problems, however. I was given two units. One was the router and the other one was a repeater (which extends your network.... wireless bridging). Problem is... I was able to get a signal from the router, but not from the repeater. Then again, this occurred at a time when the Airport was also failing me. I think interference was the culprit. The Airport is working again... and I'm pretty sure the Buffalo repeater would now work too.

Edit: I forgot to mention that the Belkin, the Netgear, and the Buffalo... all are configured through a browser.
 
Great, thanks for the advice.

I've never plugged straight into a set top cable box before, but I'm assuming that the assigning of MAC address's and the like is all pretty staright forward.... Any thoughts?

Cheers
 
I have an 'old' Titanium 500MHz and iMac AV 500MHz. Since I couldn't get hold of an internal Airport card for the TiBook I bought a PCMCIA card (Belkin 54g). Works fine, no extra drivers needed. Also bought a Belkin Router (54g), connected it to an ADSL modem and the iMac.

(The documentation referred to installation software for the various Windows OS's, MacOS 9 and MacOS X. However, the Mac installers were not on the CD. I guess they come in a different box. That's why I set it up using the web interface. This also allows you to set up your router over the internet.)

At work the Belkin card also had no problems with an Aiport basestation with WEP64bit encryption.

A nice plus is the fact that my old TiBook now uses 802.11g instead of 802.11b (to which my TiBook would normally be limited because the Airport Extreme Card doesn't fit). Ofcourse the Belkin card sticks out the side of the portable but I can live with that. Much cheaper than Apple's Airport.

The latest version also supports the faster but unofficial 802.11e
 
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