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wireless routers require AirPort cards, right?

post #1 of 31
7/27/05 at 1:46am
Thread Starter 
Hey all,
im looking at networking two computers so that they can share files and a single broadband connection.
With wireless routers (such as This one, do they require an AirPort card to be installed in both computers?


That's all for now.
Thanks
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post #2 of 31
7/27/05 at 4:05am
Quote:
Originally posted by spiers69
Hey all,
im looking at networking two computers so that they can share files and a single broadband connection.
With wireless routers (such as This one, do they require an AirPort card to be installed in both computers?


That's all for now.
Thanks

any machine that you want to be wireless, will require an airport card be inside it.
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post #3 of 31
7/27/05 at 5:32am
Any computer connected to the modem will also connect to the router. That computer will get internet from the modem NO airport needed. Any other computers to be networked to that router will need a Airport. If you have ever worked with pci cards on windows, its a joke compared to how simple it is to connect Airport to the network.
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post #4 of 31
7/27/05 at 7:14am
If your machines have usb ports you can get one of these.
http://www.usr.com/products/networki...sp?sku=USR5420
or http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatSecti...tion_Id=201522
They are not as nice as the internal airport card but they will work. Search google for usb wifi adaptors for more choices.

reg
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post #5 of 31
7/27/05 at 7:34am
Hi

Get yourself Airport Express plug in an Ethernet modem and
make sure you have Airport cards installed on your computers
and just like magic it works!

Does for me...

G5 2GHZ Power Mac, iPod Shuffle (1st Gen),iPod Nano (2nd Gen),iPod (5th Gen), Apple TV, Apple TV 2G x2, iPad 2,iPhone 4S, rMBP 15" 2.6

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G5 2GHZ Power Mac, iPod Shuffle (1st Gen),iPod Nano (2nd Gen),iPod (5th Gen), Apple TV, Apple TV 2G x2, iPad 2,iPhone 4S, rMBP 15" 2.6

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post #6 of 31
7/27/05 at 5:42pm
Thread Starter 
Hmmm... if there is a way i can network them wirelessly without Airport cards, etc it would be better for me.

This is what i found on osx.com regarding USB wifi adapters,

"I'd highly recommend staying away from the USB adapter. I have one on my TiVO, it works great. But... I'd go with a Ethernet to Wireless device. This is seperate from your Mac, so you don't have to worry about drivers and what not.

I am not recommending this particular model (it might be fine) http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=241 but that will give you an idea of what I am talking about."

Now, does this mean that there are similar such wifi adapters that instead plug into your ethernet port? Also, an 'ethernet' port is the large port where the Cat5 wire is inserted, correct?


So assuming i could get my hands a pair of ethernet wifi adapters, this is how it would be set up:

Modem=> Wireless ethernet router
Wireless ethernet router => 2x Ethernet wifi adapters

This would mean that both computers could access the internet (even if one wasn't turned on) and that they could share files, correct?
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post #7 of 31
7/27/05 at 6:04pm
Thread Starter 
Also,
if i were to buy a 2nd hand Airport Extreme Base station, would it be compatible with a wireless wifi ethernet adapter? Or would i need to install AirPort cards in both Macs?

Also, i seem to have noticed that many of the wireless ethernet adapters only seem to have maximum transfer rate of 54mbps. This doesnt sound that much to me, but would it be alright in reality?
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post #8 of 31
7/27/05 at 6:28pm
Thread Starter 
ive just realised that the Airport Base Stations only have a 50 ft range @ 54mbps.
Is that 50ft as the crow flies, or for example, in a house with fibro walls it would have to travel around the walls/corners?

Thanks
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post #9 of 31
7/27/05 at 7:34pm
The distance is direct lines. Think of it as a sphere 100' across (50' in all directions from the base). I connect to my wireless router, and it's definitely 50' to walk to it, but it's more like 25' through the wall.

I have an Airport express base station, and I can't get it to work that well. I use a D-link wireless router to handle the cable internet connection, and it works great. I say go grab a wireless G router an be done with it. You can control them with a mac as easy as you can with any windows machine.
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post #10 of 31
7/27/05 at 7:54pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by Wingnut

I have an Airport express base station, and I can't get it to work that well. I use a D-link wireless router to handle the cable internet connection, and it works great. I say go grab a wireless G router an be done with it. You can control them with a mac as easy as you can with any windows machine.

What else does such a D-link wireless router require? How do i connect it to two Macs in seperate rooms? And are all D-link routers Mac-compatible?

Also, are there any wireless routers that i could plug an external HD into using FireWire or USB 2, so that both Macs could access it independtly?
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post #11 of 31
7/27/05 at 8:10pm
Thread Starter 
ive been looking at the D-Link wireless routers and i have a few questions.

Firstly, can i plug this computer into the router through a Cat5 cable? as i would have the router set up so close to thiscomputer that going wireless would be stupid.

And for the other computer, i would need a 'D-link DWL-G810 Wireless to Ethernet Bridge' for it right?

This would be all i'd need right?
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post #12 of 31
7/27/05 at 8:13pm
You'd need only the wireless router and your modem.

It has three or four CAT5 ports on the back.
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post #13 of 31
7/27/05 at 8:24pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by Placebo
You'd need only the wireless router and your modem.

It has three or four CAT5 ports on the back.

But the two computers are over 15m apart. Neither has an Airport card.

my plan: set the wireless router up near computer 1, and plug computer 1 into it using a cat5 cable and have an ethernet wifi converter attached to computer 2.

This way, there wouldn't be cables between the two computers, but they'd both be able to access the net and share files, right?

Does this make sense?

One computer (no. 1) would be near an ethernet jack, while the other would be in a room about 15m away that doesnt have any ethernet jacks.
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post #14 of 31
7/27/05 at 8:48pm
It does make sense, but why not buy one Airport card and connect the other with an Ethernet cable?
'L'enfer, c'est les autres' - JPS
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'L'enfer, c'est les autres' - JPS
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post #15 of 31
7/27/05 at 8:56pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by Gene Clean
It does make sense, but why not buy one Airport card and connect the other with an Ethernet cable?

So buy an Airport card for the computer that was 15m away (computer No. 2), and buy a wireless router?
Then plug computer no. 1 directly into the router and have computer no. 2 communicate wirelessly?
Is that what you're suggesting?

That's what i was trying to say i wanted to do, but with an etherenet wifi adapter instead of buying an airport card.

How hard are airport cards to install in an emac?
Thanks
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post #16 of 31
7/27/05 at 9:40pm
Quote:
Originally posted by spiers69


How hard are airport cards to install in an emac?
Thanks

Not hard at all. You can also find documents at apple.com describing, step by step (with pictures) how to do it.

That seems the better solution when compared to fiddling with USB adapters.
'L'enfer, c'est les autres' - JPS
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'L'enfer, c'est les autres' - JPS
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post #17 of 31
7/27/05 at 10:00pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by Gene Clean
Not hard at all. You can also find documents at apple.com describing, step by step (with pictures) how to do it.

That seems the better solution when compared to fiddling with USB adapters.

what about ethernet adapters, they're meant to be pretty simple.

Are airport cards only compatible with airport base stations, or they generally compatible with all wireless routers?
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post #18 of 31
7/28/05 at 2:49am
Airport cards are more or less compatible with WiFi standards b and g so buying router that suppports 802.11g it just works, Dlink's user interface is html based so it doesn't matter what operating system you are running. Dlink DI-624+ plays nicely with my ibook. Lastly talking about CAT5 type of cable is bit stupid, because it actually doesn't describe the connection type at all, it's just the grade how good guality the cables are.
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post #19 of 31
7/28/05 at 3:05pm
Yes, Macs should be fully compatible with all routers. Routers are basically really simple computers. They have an operating system of sorts, with the ability to be customized via the internal firmware. The routers only purpose is to control the network access of all the computers that are connected to it. To configure the router you access them remotely through a connected PC via any web browser. This is important, because once you have your network setup, you want to go into the router's software and setup the security, so that your PCs and internet connection are protected. Details on how to do this are included in the router manual--it's all rather painless.
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post #20 of 31
7/28/05 at 6:06pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by Project2501
Lastly talking about CAT5 type of cable is bit stupid, because it actually doesn't describe the connection type at all, it's just the grade how good guality the cables are.

Sorry. im no expert at any of this. And im not pretending to be one.
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post #21 of 31
7/28/05 at 6:21pm
Thread Starter 
Ok. i've been thinking about my situation and i've got another plan.

What if i were to use a simply wired router (instead of going wirelss) and run the ethernet cable around the corners of the room and up above the door frame (you'd probably need to be here to really understand that).

Anyway, i've just used a piece of string and worked out that i would need apporximately 12metres (or approx. 39 ft) of ethernet cable to link the two computers to my currently imagaginary router (which would sit right next to one of the computers anyway).

Basically, are there any disadvantages to using a really long ethernet cable? And can anyone reccomend a particular router? And is there a router out there that has a USB 2 jack as well as ethernet ports, so that i can share my external HD between both computers?

Thanks
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post #22 of 31
7/28/05 at 7:20pm
Well, most wireless routers have 4 ethernet ports in back, so you could run wires from one of those like you are proposing. In time, you could always add wireless cards to your machines, should you ever wish to do so. Otherwise, no, I don't see any problem running wires around the house, except for the unsightliness of it. Ethernet cables can run a considerable distance without problems. Not sure how far exactly, but I'm pretty sure 100'+ runs are fine.
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post #23 of 31
7/28/05 at 9:26pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by Wingnut
I don't see any problem running wires around the house, except for the unsightliness of it.

if i could get my hands on a length white cable then that wouldn't look that bad against the paintwork.

Also, what is the maximum data transfer rate in an ethernet cable. How many mbps?
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post #24 of 31
7/28/05 at 11:57pm
Stringing cables look bad. Spend the extra money and go wireless. Your transfer rates are controlled more by your hard drive read / write than by the cable or wireless speed. Most large files that I have transferred go at a rate between 6 and 10 Mbps which is way below the 54Mbps for the airport extreme or the 100 Mbps for the ethernet cable.

reg
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post #25 of 31
7/29/05 at 6:51am
Thread Starter 
can someone give me some basic information on ethernet cables?

what are 'cross over' cables, and what is the alternative?
i assume they have particular jobs?
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post #26 of 31
7/29/05 at 8:38am
Quote:
Originally posted by spiers69
can someone give me some basic information on ethernet cables?

what are 'cross over' cables, and what is the alternative?
i assume they have particular jobs?

Ethernet cables are low-voltage signal carrying cables.
They can be made with several different connectors, but by far the most common today is the RJ-45 connector, which looks exactly like a regular clear plastic telephone connector except that it is bigger.

To keep it simple, the rule about crossover is that you only need a crossover cable when connecting one computer directly to another, without a router or hub. In practice, many if not most of modern routers/computers/hubs have auto-detect so that they automatically do the right thing no matter if you connect a crossover cable or a straight cable.

The difference between a crossover cable and a regular cable is only in how the internal wires come out the connector - some of the wires come out at a different position on one end than on the other in a crossover cable - in other words, wire A may be on the second position on one end of the cable but come out on the fourth position on the other end - thus "crossing over" within the cable. There are ways to hold up the clear plastic RJ-45 connectors to look at the order of the wires to see if one has a crossover cable or not - you hold up the two connectors of a cable next to each other and the colored wires will look the same order if the cable is straight-thru.

There are pictures that you can find if you search for "crossover cable" on Google.
--Johnny
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--Johnny
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post #27 of 31
7/30/05 at 2:58am
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet has all the info you need about ethernet and more, at the end of page there are links to cable diagrams
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post #28 of 31
7/30/05 at 3:38am
Thread Starter 
thanks. that site has a heap of information, i had a quick look.

ive got an idea of what im going to do now.

Step 1: Get a cheap router (simple, does the job well)
Step 2: Get a LINKSYS USB 2.0 Network Storage Link so that i can share my ext. HD over a network
Step 3: Get 20m of ethernet cable

My only concern is finding the LINKSYS Storage Link. Ive only seen them in the US so far, but as i live in Australia this could be a problem (as i requires an external AC power supply, i believe).
Does anyone know if it would work if i could find an adapter from US voltage to Australian voltage?(we have 240 volts here, while you've 220)
thanks
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post #29 of 31
7/30/05 at 7:08am
Look at Maxtor . They are world wide and their Shared Storage unit sounds like what you want.

Sorry about that. That was a windows only unit.

reg
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post #30 of 31
7/30/05 at 8:33am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by reg
Look at Maxtor . They are world wide and their Shared Storage unit sounds like what you want.

Sorry about that. That was a windows only unit.

reg

It's Windows only? What a bummer. Oh well, im only looking at the moment. But it did seem to do exactly what i wanted. Im looking at the Maxtor website now.

Thanks for letting me know. (it just makes me think that before i buy anything im going to run it past you all)
thanks
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post #31 of 31
7/31/05 at 4:36am
Thread Starter 
does any one know anything about netgear's "108Mbps 802.11g Wireless Storage Network Router"?
it has a USB plug so that a HD can be attached (like i want) but i dont know if it's USB 1.1 or 2.0?
also, how good is it as a regular router and not wireless? (it has 4 ports in the back)

to use it as a regular router i'd just run ethernet cables into it as you would with a wired one, right? no big deal

Here's a link to it.

thanks
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