Dialup Server from Broadband Mac

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LTong's picture
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Dialup Server from Broadband Mac

I might be shooting in the dark with this one, but it is late, and if need be I'll just blame it on the sinus medication.

Is it possible for me to use my PowerMac as a dial-up server of sorts for my older, non-ethernet Macs.

I've got the PowerMac with a Cable connection. The modem is not in use. Can I share my Broadband connection through the 56k modem?

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it may be possible ... but yo

it may be possible ... but you arent going to get more than 56k speeds on the older Macs ...

TOM

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Speed is not an Issue

I don't mind slow speeds. I plan on using this to connect my Duo 230, so I don't even expect to get any higher than 14.4. I just wan't to set up an information kiosk with weather, news, stocks, etc.

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Okay, the sharing preference

Okay, the sharing preference pane gives me the option to share my connection using... "Ethernet", but no modem. Is there some secret way to enable or add that as an option?

alk
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What OS are you running on th

What OS are you running on the broadband equiped Mac?

Remote Access in 8/9 ought to allow you to dial in to the server. ARA Server can also be found as part of AppleShare IP. That will allow you to have as many users connect as you have serial ports/modems/telephone lines.

Another alternative would be to use a tool like IPNetRouter and LocalTalk bridge to set up a MacIP-based network over LocalTalk for your non-ethernet equiped Macs. This is what I do for several non-ethernet equiped Macs. It works great! The bonus there is that you get up to full LocalTalk speeds, but the drawback is that you loose the neat-o dialup capability for when you are out of the house and need to get your email...

Well, OK, there's nothing stopping you from doing _both_...

Peace,
Drew

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Great news

I'm glad to hear this might be a possibility.

I'm running OSX 10.3.4, so I'll check out IPNetRouter.

Could you give me some kind of step by step for how to configure everything, I don't have alot of experience with many kinds of networking.

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If I've got this right, you w

If I've got this right, you want to use the modem port because it's the only port the Duo and the Powermac both share - is this for somewhere else in the same building, or actually dialling up from another location?

Software considerations on this are beyond me... but a crafty keyword search of your favourite shareware sites might turn up something.

If it's in the same building, I'd consider picking up an Ethernet capable minidock It would make things easier, but setting up networks between 68k machines and OS X can be a bugbear. Upgrade the Duo to System 7.6.1 if it's not there already, so you can use Open Transport, or even 8.1 with Wish I Were if you have enough RAM.

Feel free to correct me if I'm shooting wild.

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Correct on the first part. I

Correct on the first part. I only plan on using the Duo locally (in my house/room) When the idea came to me, the modem to modem method seemed simplest (and cheapest), but clearly after some research, it's probably more troublesome. Maybe this should be plan B. My problem now is getting a cheap ehter-capable mini/micro dock.

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I'm going with Alk on this on

I'm going with Alk on this one. LocalTalk is going to be the easiest way of networking the machines, plus you have the option of using AppleTalk file sharing. Supposedly, LocalTalk only requires two wires in order to work, so if you don't have a second phone line, you can use the yellow and black wires in your house phone wiring, assuming the machines are spread about.

alk
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I don't know about IPNetRoute

I don't know about IPNetRouter for OS X (you probably don't need it anyway, given OS X's built-in net sharing), and I'm pretty darn sure OS X doesn't support MacIP networking.

The options I mentioned were strictly for a server running OS 8/9.

Good luck!
Peace,
Drew

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[quote="Dr. Webster"]Supposed

Supposedly, LocalTalk only requires two wires in order to work, so if you don’t have a second phone line, you can use the yellow and black wires in your house phone wiring, assuming the machines are spread about.

Yep. LocalTalk over PhoneNet only uses the outside pair on 4-conductor phone lines. It's pretty tolerant of short-range household wiring, too. I've set up a PhoneNet network in my apartment for MacIP networking. It is good enough to allow my 2300c to stream NPR in RealPlayer...

On the other hand, I've seen PhoneNet networks with 64+ Macs spread out over more than 100 yards in an RF messy environment using unshielded phone cable. That was always fun. You never knew when the network would work and when it wouldn't. Macs would drop on and off the network at random. Not pretty.

But for low-cost, easy to set up home networking (what LocalTalk was really meant for), it's hard to beat. Though with the cost of LC-PDS and NuBus ethernet cards coming down, 10bT is giving it a run for it's money. Probably the _best_ solution would be to pick up a full dock or mini-dock (though mini docks and micro docks have an expense on the used market that seems to be inversely proportional to their size...).

Peace,
Drew

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