networking Macintosh and PC

[bigpuma]

Hey everyone,

I am trying to research the best method to network a PC desktop computer and a macintosh laptop with an airport card.

My friends want to get high speed internet and be able to connect both computers to the internet. They are not concerned about sharing files but sharing a printer would be good. Will any 802.11b router work with the airport card? I figure I could set up a wireless router but then how do you set-up the Airport card to a regular router.

TIA,

BP

[glc]

If the Airport card is a 802.11b card, you can use any wireless 802.11b or g router that's capable of the same encryption level - I *think* the Airport doesn't support 64 bit, just 128 and maybe higher. Internet sharing is as simple as it is with a PC, just make sure it has TCP/IP that can be properly configured to the router. I dunno how to share a printer though unless you use a print server that will work with a Mac and a PC, I *assume* there are ways to share a printer off the PC or the Mac but you need a Mac guy that also knows PC's to tell you how.

[SKIPART]

I do a lot of PC/Mac sharing & the above post is pretty true... Here are some other hard-won tidbits of info. I'm primarily a Mac user (which might explain some of my "dumber" forum postings).

The newest Airport Base station can indeed be used as a print server and is backward compatable with previous standards. Just runs at a slower speed, no faster than the slowest connection. Can be hardwired with a router as well...

If you are using a pre Panther(10.3) install of OSX, D/L'ing SAMBA will make your file sharing life easier. I forget where I picked it up but you can Google- SAMBA, OSX, etc. Panther has that stuff built in.

Or if you're running Jaguar (10.2) you can skip the SAMBA & get a copy of DAVE which will set you up on a Windows network & help you set up the printer sharing. I had to get rid of it because it didn't work in 10.3

Most importantly, it's much easier if you set up your shares on the PC side. It seems that a Mac has more "trouble" seeing PC shares than a PC does seeing Mac shares. I suppose it's all a matter of familiarity.

[bigpuma]

Originally posted by SKIPART The newest Airport Base station can indeed be used as a print server and is backward compatable with previous standards. Just runs at a slower speed, no faster than the slowest connection. Can be hardwired with a router as well...

Can the PC connect to the Airport Base wired and/or wireless. If so is it easy to set up? Or would I need an additional router or hub for the PC?

If you are using a pre Panther(10.3) install of OSX, D/L'ing SAMBA will make your file sharing life easier. I forget where I picked it up but you can Google- SAMBA, OSX, etc. Panther has that stuff built in.

It is OS 9.x so I will look into that thanks.

Most importantly, it's much easier if you set up your shares on the PC side. It seems that a Mac has more "trouble" seeing PC shares than a PC does seeing Mac shares. I suppose it's all a matter of familiarity.

I am not sure what you mean here. Do you mean the printer should be hooked up to the PC or Mac. The printer is currently hooked up to the PC because it is the desktop. The mac is a laptop and moves around the house. Can it be set up this way.

Thanks for the help GLC and Skipart.

[SKIPART]

- The Airport should set up pretty easily & it will do the wireless thing with the PC. It's my understanding that you won't even need another router. You can always go to the discussions & support at the Apple site - apple.com. I see this topic a lot there.

- Do yourself a Big Huge Favor & upgrade to Panther if you can. As it will aid you greatly in properly configuring your network. Most of the time it will do the work for you. It's much harder and irritating in OS9. It will well be worth the $120 & it's much more stable than OS9 ever dreamed of being. I've NEVER had OSX completely crash on me. Individual apps sometimes do, but it never brings down the whole system like OS9. But be warned, Apple will say that OSX will run with only 128MB RAM, not true! If you don't have at least a G3 proc & 256MB, forget it.

- I forgot that your Mac was the laptop... yes install the printer on the PC. What I meant was set up everything that you want to share on the PC first. Then all the Mac has to do is join the workgroup. Once you establish that path, it's just a matter of creating your Mac shares & using the PC to see if they show up. You don't HAVE to do it that way but it just seemed easier for me.