question about airport/base stations vs. wired router

chic4macchic4mac
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I have an emac & just purchased an imac to network (to share files and to share DSL).



I just purchased a DSL router (linksys 4 port)



and realized later the pre-owned imac came with an airport card installed.



I see, I can purchase a base station for around $100, and another airport for my emac for $40 on ebay.



Should I stick with the linksys DSL router (not wireless) or go for the wireless and buy another card and base station for the macs to get married ?



All in all, it will be about another $100-since I can resell the linksys on ebay..



Is wireless better/faster?

Is it easier to install?

Which model do I get? I seem to notice different versions and colors..



The computers will only be about 6 feet away from eachother.



Thank you, I am happy to have found these forums and appreciate any advice you have to offer.



Jessica



[ 03-10-2003: Message edited by: chic4mac ]</p>

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    Well, Airport is going to boast a speed of 11Mbps, while your LinkSys router is capable of 100Mbps, as are your computers. Neither of your systems support AirPort Extreme, which would run at around 53Mbps optimally, and neither are laptops, which would immediately justify the benefits of wireless networking.



    So basically, you would be spending money to lose two wires and gain a slower networking speed.



    You should save that $100 and go spend it on yourself, or someone you love.
  • Reply 2 of 15
    chic4macchic4mac Posts: 99member
    Thank you M, so basically you are saying it is not worth it, and it would be significantly slower. What is the point, I would rather have a long ethernet cable across the room and keep the speed right?
  • Reply 3 of 15
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    you will not lose any browsing speed... #1

    #2 you dont HAVE to buy a base station, you can just use one of the computers as a base, but you cant turn it off and keep the network up...

    #3 if you are ever planning on getting a laptop, wireless is the way to go...

    edit: #4 wireless is much easier to setup



    [ 03-10-2003: Message edited by: Paul ]</p>
  • Reply 4 of 15
    chic4macchic4mac Posts: 99member
    So are you saying that it will be just as fast as using a wired router?



    And how would I set up my emac as a base w/out a base station. I really would love to go wireless, so when my husband needs to do work in the living room, he can pick up his imac and move it into another room, so going wireless would be ideal, but we don't want to lose speed.



    Jess
  • Reply 5 of 15
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    in terms of browsing the internet, you wont notice any loss of speed, but if you are planning on sharing a lot of files between the machines you will notice a difference...



    in order to set up the computers w/o a base you need to have airport in both and have the cable modem hooked up to one of them



    then from the sharing preference pane go to the internet tab and click "share this computer's connection over airport"



    this will create a wireless network that the other computer can connect to and go online with



    my family uses this to go online when I take the base station up to school



    Edit: but the down side is that the network is dependent upon the base computer being online and active (not shut down or sleeping) so make sure you can deal with that



    [ 03-10-2003: Message edited by: Paul ]</p>
  • Reply 6 of 15
    chic4macchic4mac Posts: 99member
    sorry if I sound like I am not getting this. You said as long as one computer has a cable modem..



    my question is, I have DSL modem on my emac. And if I buy an airport card for it I should be fine with networking to the imac that has an airport card?



    I don't care about sharing files. Just want to share the net. Filesharing will be few and far between. If I need to share a lot I can always burn it to a disk and load it on the other computer.



    Just want to make sure that ALL i need is another airport card since I already have a DSL modem.
  • Reply 7 of 15
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    yup sorry, yeah DSL or cable... whatever... same deal



    all you need is airport for the eMac



    im 99.999% sure



    what kind of DSL is it?

    is it aol?

    how does it connect to the internet? (look in network preferences PPPoE? DHCP?)



    [ 03-10-2003: Message edited by: Paul ]</p>
  • Reply 8 of 15
    chic4macchic4mac Posts: 99member
    Would somebody mind helping me find the airport card on ebay? I keep seeing different kinds and want to make sure I get the right one.





    Also, I found out that the imac I bought that has the airport card, also has the jaguar family pack installed. The jaguar on my emac is NOT the family pack, just single user. Will I have problems networking with this issue?



    Thanks. Jessica



    [ 03-10-2003: Message edited by: chic4mac ]</p>
  • Reply 9 of 15
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    I'm not sure which airport card the eMacs take (with or without the board)

    but you should be able to find it for less then $80

    ill see if i can find a pdf that has the info...



    the family pack thing is a non-issue, the only difference is an extra sheet that they throw into the box that has a different liscense...
  • Reply 10 of 15
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    ... or you could save yourself the money and just leave the two machines wired into the hub
  • Reply 11 of 15
    chic4macchic4mac Posts: 99member
    wired into what type of hub?
  • Reply 12 of 15
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    [quote]Originally posted by chic4mac:

    <strong>wired into what type of hub?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I was referring to your LinkSys router, which more accurately has switched RJ-45 ports.
  • Reply 13 of 15
    chic4macchic4mac Posts: 99member
    ok. The guy at comp usa said that if I use my emac as a base station, the imac that networks will run like it has a 56 modem. That getting a base station would be best. I am guessing this is true. meanwhile, I will use the linksys for a while and if I want to go wireless later I will thanks for all the help.
  • Reply 14 of 15
    paulpaul Posts: 5,278member
    [quote]Originally posted by chic4mac:

    <strong>ok. The guy at comp usa said that if I use my emac as a base station, the imac that networks will run like it has a 56 modem. </strong><hr></blockquote>



    that is incorrect...



    my brother has said that his computer gets slower on the internet when I use it when I am home tho (the base, not the wireless one)



    but i have yet to confirm this, and it could just be that I happen to use a lot of bandwidth



    yes getting a base station would be the best option, but if you are just networking desktop computers that are in separate rooms in the house, (like what we had before I got my Ti) the software base station is the best option because it is cheap an works perfectly for stationary computers... (range is better with the base)



    if it is not an inconvenience to be wired tho, that option works better then any wireless network could, if only for reliability (not in terms of browsing speed really)



    [ 03-11-2003: Message edited by: Paul ]</p>
  • Reply 15 of 15
    chic4macchic4mac Posts: 99member
    Thanks again Paul, and everyone. I will be using my linksys WIRED router for now. If I feel the need to go wireless, I see my options now



    Jessica
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