AirPort question...

pscatespscates
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Hey guys -



Explain/clarify something for me please: can a Mac have a hard-wired Ethernet (cable modem) connection AND an AirPort card (for networking) going on at the same time?



For example: if I put an AirPort card in my new iMac, and a buddy comes over with her AirPort-equipped PowerBook, can I be online, surfing and e-mailing, with my cable modem while connecting to her PowerBook via AirPort?



I guess what I'm trying to do is figuring out if I need to buy a Base Station and use AirPort for both Internet access AND networking.



I'd like to save the ridiculous $299 and simply keep everything wired the way it is (kinda stupid to put an AirPort card in a desktop Mac, especially when you have so many other cables attached...I mean, what's the point?), BUT have the ability to easily and wirelessly connect with any of my iBook/PowerBook-owning buddies who may come over.



Not to mention that I myself may end up with a cheap, low-end iBook or something, sometime down the road.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 4
    catalystcatalyst Posts: 226member
    Yes, you can do just that.



    If you are running Mac OS X on the iMac, you need additional work though, since there is no AirPort Software Base Station.



    Just go <a href="http://www.versiontracker.com/moreinfo.fcgi?id=13335&db=mac"; target="_blank">here</a> to do so.
  • Reply 2 of 4
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    What about using an AirPort card with a G4 PowerMac? I've looked inside mine, and I'm not exactly sure what the deal is. I don't need a base station to communicate with an Airport equiped PowerBook do I? I just put an AirPOrt Card into the internal slot in the G4, and viola' I'm good to go?
  • Reply 3 of 4
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    Well, the base station is sort of like a router; any signal your computer sends out is intercepted by the base station, then the base station figures out where it needs to go, and passes it along to the receiving computer. As mentioned above, you can do this all in software, by making your G4 the base station. Either way, you need that base, albeit hardware or software...
  • Reply 4 of 4
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    I wish Apple would at least come out with softwar e to set-up peer-to-peer 802.11b networking.
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