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CaptainCaveMann

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 5, 2004
1,518
0
Ok, heres the deal.I am running cox cable in my house and my dad is running dsl in the same house.He uses a modem with built in wireless capabilities and has a wireless card built into his windows based laptop. I want to get a 30 dollar d-link 802.11b,g wireless router for my room so that i can be online all over the house. How will the ibook know which system to connect to? Will it be confused between the dsl signal and the cable signal? Do i even need to buy a wireless router if my dad has dsl wireless built into his modem then can i just bring home the ibook and it will connect to dsl???
 

PlaceofDis

macrumors Core
Jan 6, 2004
19,241
6
if you already have a wireless network then you dont need another one,

but if you do have two in such close proximity it doesnt really matter, the book will connect to your 'prefered' network, or the one that you were connected to last, and its easy to switch from network to network throught the airport menubar icon
 

CaptainCaveMann

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 5, 2004
1,518
0
Oh so in the menu it will give me the option of connecting to dsl or cable? Or will it option it out by modem serial numbers? Or how do you mean?
 

JarinS1

macrumors member
Sep 18, 2004
75
0
Jacksonville, Florida
In my experience, each router has a different name. The computer allows you to connect by choosing the router by name. Other people may have different experiences.
 

PlaceofDis

macrumors Core
Jan 6, 2004
19,241
6
in the menu bar there is an icon that shows the signal strength, and each router does have a name, be it the default or one you have chosen, so you can switch to whichever network you want to

in the picture, my network is "Apple" thus it is checked, but 'linksys' is also availible as well
 

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CaptainCaveMann

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 5, 2004
1,518
0
Oh i see! Do you have to add the network or does the ibook automatically pick it up and put it in the menu bar? Then once it is in there you can set it as your default? pretty slick ;)
 

PlaceofDis

macrumors Core
Jan 6, 2004
19,241
6
it automatically scans for networks that are available

oh and you can set one to be your default, and set others as 'trusted networks'
 

michaelrjohnson

macrumors 68020
Aug 9, 2000
2,180
5
53132
What he means, is that Airport will automatically detect any available wireless networks. By the sounds of it, when you enable Airport on iBook, it should detect a network. All you have to do is select it (and maybe enter a password) if indeed the setup is as you have described. Based on what you've said so far, you dont' need another router.
 

PlaceofDis

macrumors Core
Jan 6, 2004
19,241
6
any wireless network can be password protected so that others do not leech off of your connection (mine is set to have a password, but it remembers it in my keychain so i dot have to enter it everytime i wake my book from sleep)
 

12ibookg4

macrumors regular
Dec 22, 2003
199
0
CaptainCaveMann said:
password???
you don't need a password (or WEP key) but it is a good idea to have one so that people without permission can't get on your network. once you enter the password the first time, it will be remembered so you shouldn't have to enter it again
 

x86isslow

macrumors 6502a
Aug 10, 2003
889
11
USA
also, even if it is pass-protected, you can use keychain so that it doesn't prompt you for a password each time
 

JeffTL

macrumors 6502a
Dec 18, 2003
733
0
I hate to ask, but why do you have two broadband ISPs? In my experience, Cox hooked up to a wireless access point is about as good as it gets, so why the DSL as well?
 

26139

Suspended
Dec 27, 2003
4,315
377
two lines

Lots of businesses give them to ppl so they can work at home and access the company server remotely.
 
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