little bit of help with Wireless connection

Fredstar · Nov 9, 2004

hey guys,
I have a apple ibook with airport card and getting a imac G5 with extreme card. Now i would like to get wireless broadband, with Wanadoo 1mb atm, and wanted to know how exactly this would work.
What i need:
Wireless access for both the imac and ibook
and a wired access to our family Dell pc (tried to convince them!)

Could i get:
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=59951 and get wireless and wired access to save money

Or do i have to get a Router and connect the ethernet out to the dell and one to the Airport express? Would a router such as http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...3N1YmNhdGVnb3J5X3NlYXJjaA==&cat_uid=88&stid=8 be alright?
Tbh wireless connection of music isn't what i need, i just need wireless broadband and go for the cheapest option.
thanks guys and would really appreciate some advice
Fredstar

mkrishnan · Nov 9, 2004

With something like the first item, yes, you could connect the Dell to it hardwired, and the other two computers to it wirelessly at the same time. And you would plug the Wannadoo modem into it as well (this is the kind of wireless broadband where you have an external modem that gets the signal, right?)

I have this kind of setup (with DSL) at my parents' house. One compaq PC is wired to the wireless router / switch (A Netgear, but otherwise similar) and another one is connected wirelessly, as is my iBook when I take it there.

EDIT: BTW, this is the specific one I have, from the site you quoted. Netgear WGR614. But I like Linksys hardware just as well.

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...m9kdWN0X3NwZWNpZmljYXRpb25z&product_uid=48546

Fredstar · Nov 9, 2004

Thanks, i have a ADSL usb modem that you get with the standard connection...could i connect the usb to the router?

mkrishnan · Nov 9, 2004

Fredstar said:
Thanks, i have a ADSL usb modem that you get with the standard connection...could i connect the usb to the router?

Alas usually no.... Usually you need a modem that has an ethernet port. Yours doesn't have one? You might be able to plug the ADSL into the Dell via USB and then ethernet the Dell into the router (into its WAN port, not a LAN port) and share the internet through the Dell, but you would need to keep it on at all times in order to do this, and I'm not 100% certain how to set that up.

Fredstar · Nov 9, 2004

Is there some kind of wireless broadband router modem available with a ethernet out?
It is the usb modem that is the problem and has confused me, but they are the standard adsl broaband modems, does anyone know of any usb to ethernet adapters at all?
thanks a lot
Fredstar
p.s. or some kinda of wireless router with a usb input?

Fredstar · Nov 9, 2004

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=52384
How about this? It seems to have a adsl modem integrated and it looks like i could connect my Airport card equipped ibook and Airport extreme card equipped imac. It also seems it has a ethernet out to connect the family Dell to it.

Westside guy · Nov 9, 2004

A note regarding the iBook w/Airport card:

The Airport cards (802.11b cards; this isn't about the Airport Extreme) can't handle 802.11b set with a "short preamble". Technically that's not a part of the strict standard, but it is commonly used and is the default setting for many non-Apple wireless routers. You'll need to be sure to change the preamble length to "long".

Fredstar · Nov 13, 2004

Am i going to have difficulty?

Hey all,
Stumbled into a few problems after research..

1)ordered bluetooth keyboard and mouse with imac G5 and airport extreme, both 2.4 ghz freq...going to have problems/interference?

2)2.4 ghz frequency cordless phones, Bt Synergy 3505, will this cause further interference with my Linksys (to be) WAP54G and airport extreme? As both run at 2.4 ghz

Will appreciate your responses
thanks
Fredstar

titaniumducky · Nov 13, 2004

Fredstar said:
Hey all,
Stumbled into a few problems after research..

1)ordered bluetooth keyboard and mouse with imac G5 and airport extreme, both 2.4 ghz freq...going to have problems/interference?

2)2.4 ghz frequency cordless phones, Bt Synergy 3505, will this cause further interference with my Linksys (to be) WAP54G and airport extreme? As both run at 2.4 ghz

Will appreciate your responses
thanks
Fredstar

They shouldn't interfere, but I have noticed that some 2.4 GHz phones cause signal to drop a lot while talking. Technically, the phone is supposed to automatically find clear channels. The bluetooth definitely won't cause problems.

If you want to be absolutely safe, you can pick up 5.8GHz phones.

mkrishnan · Nov 13, 2004

titaniumducky said:
They shouldn't interfere, but I have noticed that some 2.4 GHz phones cause signal to drop a lot while talking. Technically, the phone is supposed to automatically find clear channels. The bluetooth definitely won't cause problems.

If you want to be absolutely safe, you can pick up 5.8GHz phones.

Just to chime in, I use BT and AE together all the time without trouble. And I also had a lot of trouble, OTOH, with AE and a cordless phone running at 2.4 GHz. I don't think the AE was so bad, but the phone got mad static.

Usually you can hop channels and find a good compromise (there should be a channel button on the phone, and the AE admin utility also has one). This was my parents house, and I had an older 900 MHz that I thought was actually nicer in other respects than their phone, so I swapped 'em, which solved the problem nicely.

Fredstar · Nov 27, 2004

Well got my wireless internet hardware today and set it up in a few minutes.
I decided to go with the Belkin all-in-one adsl modem/wireless router/4 Lan router. It is great vfm - for £75 i got the router and a usb wireless adapter.
Atm i have the router about 10m away and i am using the wireless adapter for our Dell family pc, i decided to sell my ibook so no wireless around the yet til i get the new one

, my brother's imac will be connected using the wired LAN connection and my imac, coming monday with airport extreme, will be about 15m away, i hope i can get good reception from there.
Thanks a lot for all your help, is the internal firewall automatically turned on btw? I have not encrypted the network as yet but we are about 100m away from the nearest house either side.
thanks again guys
Fredstar

Fredstar · Nov 30, 2004

Need your help guys,
Installed airport extreme on imac and it doesn't seem to be picking up the wireless connection, are there any settings that i need to change?

emw · Nov 30, 2004

Fredstar said:
Need your help guys,
Installed airport extreme on imac and it doesn't seem to be picking up the wireless connection, are there any settings that i need to change?

When you say that it isn't picking up the connection - are all the bars gray in the Airport status indicator in the menu bar, or is it completely empty? That is, are you sure that Airport is active and on?

If it is on and the active connection, then you shouldn't need any other settings. I am assuming you have no way of checking the connection, since it is your only wireless device. The other suggestion would be to make sure that the router is actually transmitting a wireless signal (check the router prefs, since generally than can be turned off).

Fredstar · Nov 30, 2004

Yeh it is grey and filled with bars but can't pick up a signal.
The wireless router works because i am using a wireless usb adapter for the pc right now. The router is set to 11g and 11b and no encryption is on. The only thing i can think of is if the imac is out of range, but it is only 10-15 metres away max! Ok it has to go through a few walls but still should receive some connection.
Could i have a duff aerial?extreme card? I don't want to send the imac away because it is perfect apart from not letting me add the memory (512mb ram from crucial) and not detect our home network
If anyone could help i would really appreciate it, i think i have a broken aerial

I really don't want to have to send my imac back!

emw · Nov 30, 2004

Fredstar said:
Yeh it is grey and filled with bars but can't pick up a signal.
The wireless router works because i am using a wireless usb adapter for the pc right now. The router is set to 11g and 11b and no encryption is on. The only thing i can think of is if the imac is out of range, but it is only 10-15 metres away max! Ok it has to go through a few walls but still should receive some connection.
Could i have a duff aerial?extreme card? I don't want to send the imac away because it is perfect apart from not letting me add the memory (512mb ram from crucial) and not detect our home network
If anyone could help i would really appreciate it, i think i have a broken aerial I really don't want to have to send my imac back!

Since I can get a signal on my Extreme card from my Linksys router about 15m away (from basement corner to 2nd floor office), I'd hazard a guess it isn't the distance.

If you go to the airport status drop-down, do you see the name of your wireless network? If not, if you go to "Other..." can you type in the name and find the network?

I'm just trying to eliminate basic stuff before we try to make any assumptions that your antenna is wacked. Also, make sure that there isn't a 2.4GHz phone sitting near your iMac - these have been known to play havoc with the signal.

Also - what's with the memory? Why won't it "let" you add it? Does it not work when the RAM is installed or something?

Fredstar · Nov 30, 2004

No phones near-by, but i will turn them off and see. I think they are 2.4 ghz but they do change to a clear channel automatically i think - no problems when using a phone near the Belkin usb wireless adapter on our Dell and the router.
The memory module from Crucial, for the imac G5, just doesn't want to fit in properly. I have tried applying pressure but to no avail.
I am erm 'chatting' to one of the online guys...but i haven't heard anything in a while...feels like i am talking to myself

Range is definately not an issue as i moved the router within 5 metres and still no signal.

emw · Nov 30, 2004

Fredstar said:
Range is definately not an issue as i moved the router within 5 metres and still no signal.

You tried manually entering the wireless network name and no go, huh? Dang, that's a little troubling. I'll try to think of a few other things, but there shouldn't be any router settings messing you up, since it's working on the PC side.

You could try using the USB device on the iMac to see if it works, but I'm not sure if it has the right drivers.

You could test the airport card by hooking the iMac up to ethernet, then sharing the internet connection via Airport (see the Sharing preferences pane) and seeing if you can locate that shared connection with your PC. If you can, then the Airport is functioning okay.

Fredstar · Nov 30, 2004

The online chat agents are pretty rubbish, i am trying to tell them that my Belkin router works fine with the pc and that there must be a problem with the aerial on the imac...the agent keeps telling me to contact Belkin to solve the issue. Grr, this was after 30 mins of them checking my information.

Fredstar · Dec 1, 2004

Ok guys...
Located it RIGHT next to the Belkin and woohoo i get a signal and i am now surfing the web..
But it is only at 3 bars right next to the router, talk about crap wireless range, or do you reckon one the router/extreme car/aerial are not working properly?
thanks guys and appreciate your help
Fred

little bit of help with Wireless connection

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