Im currently living in a shared house and want broadband for my mac.My housemate has a pc in her room so we are going to buy a wireless router to network them but i really know absolutley squat about computers.

We need something fairly fast (108mbps) and that is compatible with windows 98 as this is teh latest on her pc.My mac as far as im aware is ready to go because someone jst updated everything for me.

With the imformation ive been giving ive searched the internet for something suitable but dont really know what im looking for,then i read something about cards, do i need these too? and for both computers?

your help would be great

Louise x

I know of the Netgear DG834GT which is tested back to Win '95 but it doesn't show that it is Mac compatible, I think you may struggle to find a 108mbps router that will work cross platforms at the same time, even if it does work I doubt the manufacturers would sell it to you with the understanding that it will work PC and mac at the same time, but for just under £100 for the unit it could be rather an expensive mistake.

Originally posted by louloulashes
Im currently living in a shared house and want broadband for my mac.My housemate has a pc in her room so we are going to buy a wireless router to network them but i really know absolutley squat about computers.

We need something fairly fast (108mbps) and that is compatible with windows 98 as this is teh latest on her pc.My mac as far as im aware is ready to go because someone jst updated everything for me.

With the imformation ive been giving ive searched the internet for something suitable but dont really know what im looking for,then i read something about cards, do i need these too? and for both computers?

your help would be great

Louise x

why exactly do you need 108Mps on the wifi network, your broadband is likely to be something closer to 1 or 2 Mbps per second.

Originally posted by louloulashes
Im currently living in a shared house and want broadband for my mac.My housemate has a pc in her room so we are going to buy a wireless router to network them but i really know absolutley squat about computers.

We need something fairly fast (108mbps) and that is compatible with windows 98 as this is teh latest on her pc.My mac as far as im aware is ready to go because someone jst updated everything for me.

With the imformation ive been giving ive searched the internet for something suitable but dont really know what im looking for,then i read something about cards, do i need these too? and for both computers?

your help would be great

Louise x

Your Mac airport won't actually allow you to use 108Mbps, the Airport Extreme (the latest from Apple) is only rated for 802.11g Networking (54Mbps), which is plenty fast enough.

You may have to make sure your Mac has an Airport card built in, depending on the type/age of your Mac it may not have one as standard!

I have two PCs, an Aibo, a Sony PSP and an Apple PowerBook all linked to my wireless network using a US Robotics Router bought from eBuyer:

I can't post links until I get over 5 posts apparently but the eBuyer.co.uk quick find code is 55417.

This is very easy to setup and works wonderfully (US Robotics have been going for years and have always been classed as one of the best).

This has a built in broadband modem, router and network hub, one of you will have to plug into the hub (probably easier for your housemate to do that, save her getting a wireless network card but that's up to you).

Hope that helps

Originally posted by RazorSHarp
I know of the Netgear DG834GT which is tested back to Win '95 but it doesn't show that it is Mac compatible, I think you may struggle to find a 108mbps router that will work cross platforms at the same time, even if it does work I doubt the manufacturers would sell it to you with the understanding that it will work PC and mac at the same time, but for just under £100 for the unit it could be rather an expensive mistake.

Nicely made up.

Without going into detail, a router isn't compatible or incompatible with anything, it uses networking standards to connect to standard networks. Mixed networks with Linux, Windows of differing versions, Mac etc... quite happily co exist up and down the country and around the world.

Also, the manufacturers don't check what you're buying it for. You buy it, they get money, that's it, end of.

Originally posted by Cyclone
why exactly do you need 108Mps on the wifi network, your broadband is likely to be something closer to 1 or 2 Mbps per second.

This is what I was wondering :confused: I keep re-reading the post expecting them to say they want to transfer files between themselves but can only see mention of broadband :confused:

Originally posted by RazorSHarp
I think you may struggle to find a 108mbps router that will work cross platforms at the same time, even if it does work

I can't work out if you were being serious or not? :confused: I will assume you are and concur with Lurch above ^^^

Originally posted by Skatiechik
I can't work out if you were being serious or not? :confused: I will assume you are and concur with Lurch above ^^^

No I don't concur, just been busy doing somthing else, what lurch said is a load of rubbish, They are all tested with previous o/s and the one I mentioned is tested back to 95 see link below. Under system req's. Also manufacturers are concerened anout their end users and as such market the equipment to certain target markets. (Lurch has obviously had issues with manufacturers before and has a grudge to bare)

I think Lurch just likes to argue his point wether he knows what he's on about or not.

As for compatibility the unit below may not have mac drivers and as such may not work with the Mac.. it isn't sold as a mac router and Netgear haven't tested it with Mac.

http://uk.insight.com/apps/productpresentation/index.php?alert=categoryresults&product_id=NGEDG834GT

Originally posted by RazorSHarp
I think you may struggle to find a 108mbps router that will work cross platforms at the same time, even if it does work I doubt the manufacturers would sell it to you with the understanding that it will work PC and mac at the same time, but for just under £100 for the unit it could be rather an expensive mistake.

I quote from the above post again, you say it will be a struggle to find a router which will work cross platforms.

Well this office really struggled when it went out and bought a bog standard netgear router to simultaneously run linux, windows and mac machines. We had to search high and low for one that would work. (Please note the sarcasm)

Originally posted by RazorSHarp
As for compatibility the unit below may not have mac drivers and as such may not work with the Mac.. it isn't sold as a mac router and Netgear haven't tested it with Mac.

It doesn't have any drivers, it's a router with TCP\IP connectivity. It sits there and monitors traffic, it isn't influenced by any OS, it is a box that is completely OS independent.

You need to go and have a read up on how networks and routers work before incorrectly stumbling about in this thread.

I have a Belkin Pre-N wireless router which is 108Mbps and works fine with all my Windows XP PCs and with my Mac Powerbook - as already mentioned, you don't need specific drivers, the router just provides TCP/IP connectivity. You will need drivers for whatever wireless network adapters you get for the PC though.

Although the Mac runs at 54Mbps, I still get some advantage from having the faster router because it runs a lot closer to the theoretical maximum speed of the Mac, and it also runs much better through walls and across long distances.

Thank you for all your replies but just so you now, i have read all of your posts and dont understand any of it, im really bad with computers

additionally,my mac is pretty new and i have been told that it has a built in card

i really need someone to talk to me like a child about this, im well clueless

First things first it does not need to be a 108mbps router if you only plan to use it for broadband as broadband is only 1-2mbps so 106-107mbps of it won't be used in simple terms ;)

I am guessing from what you are saying the mac already has a wireless card.

So you just need to get the wireless 'modem' router (take note of the modem part) and a wireless pci card for your PC.

Cost: About £70,

Agree with LURCH here. Routers and all networking equipment are OS independent. They will work with any OS as long as you are using a networking protocol that they understand ie TCP/IP, AppleTalk etc.

If networking equipment mentions compatability it will be with regards to the software used to set it up. Having said that the vast majority will use a web interface or telnet.

Originally posted by Skatiechik


So you just need to get the wireless 'modem' router (take note of the modem part) and a wireless pci card for your PC.

Cost: About £70,

Some router's come with a cable as standard so you might not have to buy the card for the PC, just place the wireless router at the side of the PC, plug the cable in and the mac will connect wirelessly :)

Originally posted by sanman
Agree with LURCH here. Routers and all networking equipment are OS independent. They will work with any OS as long as you are using a networking protocol that they understand ie TCP/IP, AppleTalk etc.
Not all networking equipment! Network cards/adapters will need drivers, as I know only too well having spent 2 days trying to get a wireless adapter working under Linux.

Any router will be fine though, as long as you can connect to it to set it up (which you usually do via a cable & web interface)

The operating system is not of importance, 'Razor Sharp', it's the TCP/IP protocol that it works with.

:)

Have we established if it's a DSL-based connection or a cable-based broadband?

If it's an ADSL then the WAN port needs to be RJ11, and with cable-based BB, then RJ45.

For use with a cable service, such as NTL's, Blueyonder's etc, etc (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=52730)
For use with (A)DSL service (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=52244)

Wireless card in the back of the computer (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=81058)

BY networking equipment I meant routers, switches, hubs etc

Originally posted by kentboy119
The operating system is not of importance, 'Razor Sharp', it's the TCP/IP protocol that it works with.

:)



All routers are tested with previous O/S, usually back to 98 these days, our firm does the testing for some USR equipment and expansys

Originally posted by RazorSHarp
All routers are tested with previous O/S, usually back to 98 these days, our firm does the testing for some USR equipment and expansys

so how exactly do you do this testing then?

Do you use a standard network interface on the pc, or do you use one of the same brand of the router, do you try different driver versions for the NIC?

What do you test, that a number of NIC's all running in computers with different OSes can connect through the router, it would seem to stand to reason that they can, as all a router does is route tcp/ip traffic.

Have you ever had a device fail this 'testing' and if so what exactly did it fail and how?

Originally posted by RazorSHarp
All routers are tested with previous O/S, usually back to 98 these days, our firm does the testing for some USR equipment and expansys

Oh dear. I'm glad I've never bought anything from Expansys or USR then.

So how do you 'test' a router with Windows? It has nothing to do with Windows and it doesn't matter if it works or not, it is completely removed from the issue of the routers firmware and functinality.

I've got a clue here, I'll see if I can find you a spare.......

The test is simple, we have a bench of PC's with different o/s on, these are not purely for testing routers we also use them for trying to simulate customer faults. All the engineers do is locate the router/access point on the pc and then leave it connected for a short time.

Have a look on the side of a routers box, it'll state what o/s it has been tested with.

Originally posted by RazorSHarp
The test is simple, we have a bench of PC's with different o/s on, these are not purely for testing routers we also use them for trying to simulate customer faults. All the engineers do is locate the router/access point on the pc and then leave it connected for a short time.

Have a look on the side of a routers box, it'll state what o/s it has been tested with.

so you plug the router into a network cable, that is connected at the other end to a machine?
Is that what you mean by "locate the router/access point on the pc"
Wow, what comprehensive testing. You're more likely to get problems arrising from different manufacturers kit being used for the NIC than you are from the OS.

Originally posted by Cyclone
so you plug the router into a network cable, that is connected at the other end to a machine?
Is that what you mean by "locate the router/access point on the pc"
Wow, what comprehensive testing. You're more likely to get problems arrising from different manufacturers kit being used for the NIC than you are from the OS.

PRATT... they are wireless !!!!

er think i might ask someone else,everyone on here is confusing me and arguing amongst themselves,

Originally posted by louloulashes
everyone on here is confusing me and arguing amongst themselves,


You get used to it:( I'm afraid.


Good luck in your quest;).

Originally posted by RazorSHarp
The test is simple, we have a bench of PC's with different o/s on, these are not purely for testing routers we also use them for trying to simulate customer faults. All the engineers do is locate the router/access point on the pc and then leave it connected for a short time.

Have a look on the side of a routers box, it'll state what o/s it has been tested with.

So basically you're confirming here that you don't have a clue, which is what I said in the beginning.

No need to apologise, I understand.