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Do I need a router and airport to connect my imac to the internet using cable modem?

M

mztova

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Hi there...brand new imac and I am having a hard time connecting to internet wirelessly. Not very savvy with mac as this is my first....I just bought the airport modem thing and now I wonder if I need another router as well?
Please help!
Thanks
Tova
 
Can you walk me through how to set it up...I have a pc that is connected to cable modem...can't get the airport to light up green and have the pc connected to modem and function...any ideas would be awesome!
Thanks
 
mztova said:
Hi there...brand new imac and I am having a hard time connecting to internet wirelessly. Not very savvy with mac as this is my first....I just bought the airport modem thing and now I wonder if I need another router as well?
Please help!
Thanks
Tova
Click to expand...

no all you need is your normal internet modem and a airport extreme base station, then you should follow the steps to set it up, if none are included google it, you will find hundreds
 
You might have to reset your cable modem. unplug the power and look on the back of the modem their should be a small button that you will have to push. You will need a pin to push the button. once you push the button plug the power back in and plug you network cable (Eithernet cable) into the Airport Basestation. Run the software that came with the Airport base station and that should do it.
 
one other thing...my airport extreme base is in the basement...can my imac get the signal 2 floors above?
 
what I am also confused with is what cords should be connected from the modem to the pc and what from the modem to the airport base...sorry for all the questions..i just am feeling completely lost here!

Thanks all!
Tova
 
mztova said:
what I am also confused with is what cords should be connected from the modem to the pc and what from the modem to the airport base...sorry for all the questions..i just am feeling completely lost here!

Thanks all!
Tova
Click to expand...


Don't know about your PC but all the Airport needs is ethernet from your modem...
 
Take the ethernet cable that is currently going from your modem to your PC, remove it from your PC, and connect it to the WAN port on your airport.
 
mztova said:
Can both PC and imac be connected to the cable modem?
Click to expand...

Ok,

The Airport has to go between the modem and the computers. Once the airport is connected to the modem, you connect the computers to the airport, either via ethernet cable, or via wireless. The airport has 3 LAN ethernet ports so you can connect 3 computers to it via ethernet cable, and it supports 50 computers connected to it via wireless.
 
swiftaw said:
Take the ethernet cable that is currently going from your modem to your PC, remove it from your PC, and connect it to the WAN port on your airport.
Click to expand...

Then plug a second ethernet cable from your PC to one of the Airport's Ethernet ports. If the PC is set to DHCP, then you should be able to automatically get on the internet with the PC. IF not, read the Airport manual to set up the Network parameters on the PC.

If the Airport is not getting a signal from the cable/dsl modem, then unplug the modem and the Airport from AC power, then plug them in again. If still not, then call your ISP for instructions. Sometimes the ISP has to reset the modem to talk to the new device.

Once you have the PC successfully on the internet through wired Ethernet, read the Airport manual for setting up the iMac.

Impossible to guess whether you will get signal 2 floors away, it all depends on the construction of the house.
 
mztova said:
what I am also confused with is what cords should be connected from the modem to the pc and what from the modem to the airport base...sorry for all the questions..i just am feeling completely lost here!
Click to expand...

Let's break this down a little:

By "Airport modem thing" we are assuming you are talking about an Airport Extreme Base station. Is this correct? If so, it is a router.

Have you followed the setup instructions that came with the Airport Extreme Base station?

Describe how you have everything connected when attempting to use the Airport Extreme in your network. Accurately describe what components and computers you have connected to what ports.
 
CanadaRAM said:
Then plug a second ethernet cable from your PC to one of the Airport's Ethernet ports. If the PC is set to DHCP, then you should be able to automatically get on the internet with the PC. IF not, read the Airport manual to set up the Network parameters on the PC.

If the Airport is not getting a signal from the cable/dsl modem, then unplug the modem and the Airport from AC power, then plug them in again. If still not, then call your ISP for instructions. Sometimes the ISP has to reset the modem to talk to the new device.

Once you have the PC successfully on the internet through wired Ethernet, read the Airport manual for setting up the iMac.

Impossible to guess whether you will get signal 2 floors away, it all depends on the construction of the house.
Click to expand...

Ok, the airport has only 3 ports..1 ethernet, 1 USB and 1 I am not sure what this port is..its a small round opening...???
Thanks for your help..I really do appreciate it!
 
mztova said:
Hi there...brand new imac and I am having a hard time connecting to internet wirelessly. Not very savvy with mac as this is my first....I just bought the airport modem thing and now I wonder if I need another router as well?
Please help!
Thanks
Tova
Click to expand...

Have you read the manual yet; the Apple software made this very simple for me to setup and hopefully it could for you as well.
 
gehrbox said:
Let's break this down a little:

By "Airport modem thing" we are assuming you are talking about an Airport Extreme Base station. Is this correct? If so, it is a router.

Have you followed the setup instructions that came with the Airport Extreme Base station?

Describe how you have everything connected when attempting to use the Airport Extreme in your network. Accurately describe what components and computers you have connected to what ports.
Click to expand...

Ok...I bought the airport express is this a router so i can wirelessly connect to internet?
 
mztova said:
Ok, the airport has only 3 ports..1 ethernet, 1 USB and 1 I am not sure what this port is..its a small round opening...???
Thanks for your help..I really do appreciate it!
Click to expand...

OK, in order to get help, you have to be much more specific in describing your equipment at the outset - it will save all of us time.

Do you mean you have an Airport Express, or an Airport Extreme Base Station.

If you have an Airport Express, I would suggest taking it back. It does not have an Ethernet switch built in - just a wireless router -- and isn't really suitable for what you want. The single Ethernet port is for connection to your cable modem. You could use it, but all machines, PC included, would have to connect wirelessly. Chances are, your PC desktop machine doesn't have a wireless card.

And to reiterate - you really need to read the user manual that comes with a router, in order to set it up. Its hard for us to walk you through it.
 
mztova said:
Ok...I bought the airport express is this a router so i can wirelessly connect to internet?
Click to expand...

Yes, the airport express is also a router. But it only has wireless connectivity, not wired connectivity. That means, if it is connected to your router then all computers in your house will have to access the internet wirelessly, not through an ethernet cable.
 
CanadaRAM said:
OK, in order to get help, you have to be much more specific in describing your equipment at the outset - it will save all of us time.

Do you mean you have an Airport Express, or an Airport Extreme Base Station.

If you have an Airport Express, I would suggest taking it back. It does not have an Ethernet router built in and isn't really suitable for what you want. You could use it, but all machines, PC included, would have to connect wirelessly.
Click to expand...

OK! I am very new to macs and my lingo isn't great obviously..but I want to learn. So I will try to be more specific!
I do have the express...so now I either figure out how to connect both wirelessly or take it back? I thought switching from pc to mac was going to be easy...so this poses another question...can I hard wire both the imac and pc to the cable modem?
Thanks!
 
mztova said:
OK! I am very new to macs and my lingo isn't great obviously..but I want to learn. So I will try to be more specific!
I do have the express...so now I either figure out how to connect both wirelessly or take it back? I thought switching from pc to mac was going to be easy...so this poses another question...can I hard wire both the imac and pc to the cable modem?
Thanks!
Click to expand...

The only way to connect more than one computer (of any sort) to a modem is by using a router, and then connecting the computers to the router either via wireless or ethernet cable.

If you want to connect both computers wirelessly, your airport express will do that. If you want to use both wireless and wired connections you need a different router. Either an airport extreme or one of many other routers made by companies like DLink and Linksys.
 
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