If you don't need the imac wireless then you can get a cheapo router and connect your imac into it via ethernet then put your airport express into another port. This would give you both wireless and wired networking to make up for the Airport's stupid lack of ethernet ports - one extra port would've done.
Alternatively, you can buy a wifi usb adaptor for your imac but make sure you get one with supported drivers. I got a Belkin one and I had to use non-standard drivers with it and it wasn't totally stable and had some connection issues.
If you just put it in between your net connetion and airport+iMac it can be hub, If you replace your Airport with it, it has to be NAT capable router. Anyways router is faster than hub and they are nowadays so cheap that, it's getting hard to find hubs anymore.
one more question, does it have to be a router? would just a ethernet hub do the job?
A hub is just a way to join ethernet items together. A router has Network Address Translation (NAT) so that the single IP you usually get from your ISP can allow multiple machines to use that one IP by making up new ones.
For example, your ISP IP might be 85.919.62.1 but you can't have two machines using that. The router can translate that into multiple local IPs such as 192.168.2.1, 192.168.2.2 etc and you can have as many machines as the router can handle.
The Airport express has NAT built-in so it would've done but sadly no extra ethernet port.
A router has Network Address Translation (NAT) so that the single IP you usually get from your ISP can allow multiple machines to use that one IP by making up new ones.
Actually router doesn't necessarily have NAT, it's purpose is to optimize packets route. Hub echoes everything from every port to every port. Switch has knowledge what is behind every port and routes trafic only to that port. Router interconnects networks. Gateway interconnects different types of physical networks. True, that these days of internet most home "routers" have NAT included, but it's not mandatory. NAT is used to masquerade a larger address space to look as one address from outside. Routers that also include (adsl) modems should actually be called Gateways. I know this was totally unnecessary word picking, and I as well use term router in more relaxed context, but if everyone uses terms coherently, we minimize risk of misunderstandings.
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Alternatively, you can buy a wifi usb adaptor for your imac but make sure you get one with supported drivers. I got a Belkin one and I had to use non-standard drivers with it and it wasn't totally stable and had some connection issues.
one more question, does it have to be a router? would just a ethernet hub do the job?
thanks for the reply,
one more question, does it have to be a router? would just a ethernet hub do the job?
A hub is just a way to join ethernet items together. A router has Network Address Translation (NAT) so that the single IP you usually get from your ISP can allow multiple machines to use that one IP by making up new ones.
For example, your ISP IP might be 85.919.62.1 but you can't have two machines using that. The router can translate that into multiple local IPs such as 192.168.2.1, 192.168.2.2 etc and you can have as many machines as the router can handle.
The Airport express has NAT built-in so it would've done but sadly no extra ethernet port.
In short, get a router.
will get a router first thing today.
cheers!
A router has Network Address Translation (NAT) so that the single IP you usually get from your ISP can allow multiple machines to use that one IP by making up new ones.
Actually router doesn't necessarily have NAT, it's purpose is to optimize packets route. Hub echoes everything from every port to every port. Switch has knowledge what is behind every port and routes trafic only to that port. Router interconnects networks. Gateway interconnects different types of physical networks. True, that these days of internet most home "routers" have NAT included, but it's not mandatory. NAT is used to masquerade a larger address space to look as one address from outside. Routers that also include (adsl) modems should actually be called Gateways. I know this was totally unnecessary word picking, and I as well use term router in more relaxed context, but if everyone uses terms coherently, we minimize risk of misunderstandings.