At the urging of my grown children this old dog is going to try to learn some new tricks. I will replace my slow, old dial-up Internet service with MediaCom (cable) High Speed Internet. And I want to buy a wireless router.
My iMac computers are an old Power Mac 8500/150 and a newer Power PC G3. I am looking for any suggestions on 1) what sort of router to buy and 2) how to get the computers to receive its signal.
Regarding the router, I saw a D-Link-524 (802.11g) at MacMall. Will that serve my purpose?
Regarding the computers picking up the signal:
Do they need something added internally (is the part called Airport Cards) or will they work as bought.
Will plugging something like a D-Link Bluetooth USB Adapter (DBT-120) into the computers do the trick?
Can I run an Ethernet wire from the router to the iMacs and have it work?
Sorry to ask simple questions, but my children, sadly, are all PC people and could not help in this area. And this is all foreign territory to me.
Thanks,
Roberts
There are PCI wireless cards for the Mac, which you would need two of if you bought a wireless router, but they are fewer in number than their PC bretheren, and command a higher price. Airport cards are only compatible with certain models, and neither of your Macs are supported.
Bluetooth is a wireless technology, but not the same as wireless networking.
You are correct that you can run ethernet cable from the Macs to the router. That's a much cheaper route than going wireless, and even the non-wireless router will be less expensive than a wireless version.
I don't want to deter you from wireless if you're gung-ho on going that route, but for the price of a cheap wired router, you could always upgrade to wireless at a later date once you've mastered the wired router.
I appreciate the reply. You've been a great help.
Given the machines you're going to be networking, I'd agree with the previous response; stay with wire & you'll save some money and headaches.
Getting a wireless connection with the machines you've listed would likely require a wireless bridge, as I doubt there are any PCI cards that'll work with machines of that vintage and the OS you're likely running (probably 8.x to 9.x). There may be some USB wireless doodads that might work with them, but it'd be an expensive solution either way.
Your MediaCom service will likely come with a cable modem. In order to use a second machine on that connection you'll likely need a router in between (unless your modem has a built-in router.) You can pick up a router with a built-in ethernet switch for under $30 if you watch for deals. Configuring it isn't automatic, but it's pretty easy stuff if you follow the directions.
The setup would require an ethernet cable between each of the Macs and the router LAN ports, and an ethernet cable between the router's WAN port and the cable modem. Generally the router gets its connection information from the modem and from the login & password info you give it, which you'll get from the instructions from MediaCom. The TCP/IP control panels on the Macs should be configured to use DHCP (which allows them to pick up an IP address, router address, and DNS information from the router). With all of that done, it should work.
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