Connecting to the internet?

[Haywood]

Hi, I've just purchased a Mac Pro 2.1. I'm the owner of a Macbook Pro and an iMac. How do I connect to the internet in my house with my Mac Pro? Sorry to sound dumb, it's just I didn't set up the wifi network for the other two. Do I need something plugged into the computer like an ethernet or can I simply search for the network?

Thanks a lot, and sorry again for my novice understanding.

 

[Loa]

Hello,

Depends if you MP has an airport card or not. It was not standard back in 2008. Go to your system preferences (select network) and you'll see if you have an Airport section. If you do, search for your network there. If not, you'll need to plug a ethernet cable to your mac pro.

Loa

 

[Haywood]

Hello,

Depends if you MP has an airport card or not. It was not standard back in 2008. Go to your system preferences (select network) and you'll see if you have an Airport section. If you do, search for your network there. If not, you'll need to plug a ethernet cable to your mac pro.

Loa

It only has Firewire, Ethernet 1, Ethernet 2, VPN, PPPoE and 6 to 4.

Thanks a lot for your speedy reply, I really appreciate it.

 

[justperry]

It only has Firewire, Ethernet 1, Ethernet 2, VPN, PPPoE and 6 to 4.

Thanks a lot for your speedy reply, I really appreciate it.

You can always try Ebay for an Airport card, or buy a compatible USB wireless dongle, those shouldn't cost more than about $10-15

 

[subwelt]

It works exactly as with the other two machines you have; you can use the ethernet or use wifi via airport, which you might have to activate. You can check your status in system preferences > network.
Better yet: do not connect to internet at all. Mac Pro is for working (at least mine is) and internet is for messing up systems. Use a lesser machine for the net.
Apple is making it progressively difficult to stay away from the net but it is still possible. The reward is a machine flawlessly running for many years.

 

[justperry]

It works exactly as with the other two machines you have; you can use the ethernet or use wifi via airport, which you might have to activate. You can check your status in system preferences > network.
Better yet: do not connect to internet at all. Mac Pro is for working (at least mine is) and internet is for messing up systems. Use a lesser machine for the net.
Apple is making it progressively difficult to stay away from the net but it is still possible. The reward is a machine flawlessly running for many years.

Erm, it's not a Windows machine which can be infected easily by malware, so I think that's a bit strange information you gave.

 

[Haywood]

You can always try Ebay for an Airport card, or buy a compatible USB wireless dongle, those shouldn't cost more than about $10-15

Wow thanks a lot! I'll definitely look at buying one of these as I've realised I don't have an ethernet port in my bedroom. Will the internet connection still be as powerful and reliable if I use a dongle?

It works exactly as with the other two machines you have; you can use the ethernet or use wifi via airport, which you might have to activate. You can check your status in system preferences > network.
Better yet: do not connect to internet at all. Mac Pro is for working (at least mine is) and internet is for messing up systems. Use a lesser machine for the net.
Apple is making it progressively difficult to stay away from the net but it is still possible. The reward is a machine flawlessly running for many years.

I imagined you saying this whilst wearing a tinfoil hat. Internet is essential for my line of work and I need it on this station.

 

[justperry]

Wow thanks a lot! I'll definitely look at buying one of these as I've realised I don't have an ethernet port in my bedroom. Will the internet connection still be as powerful and reliable if I use a dongle?

How fast is your internet, if it's fairly low you could get a G one, if you move files around to the other computers I would say it's better to get N.
Hope you know what I mean.

There are a//b/g/n protocols, a is 5 GHz, I think both of your computers have A and N and is backwards compatible with b and g.

I will look at your first post if I am right, if not I will edit this post.

Edit: just looked at your first post, you only say you have an iMac and Powerbook, you happen to know the model?
Click on Apple menu, about this mac, and then more info.

 

[Haywood]

How fast is your internet, if it's fairly low you could get a G one, if you move files around to the other computers I would say it's better to get N.
Hope you know what I mean.

There are a//b/g/n protocols, a is 5 GHz, I think both of your computers have A and N and is backwards compatible with b and g.

I will look at your first post if I am right, if not I will edit this post.

Edit: just looked at your first post, you only say you have an iMac and Powerbook, you happen to know the model?
Click on Apple menu, about this mac, and then more info.

What do you mean by G's and N's? The Mac pro is Version 10.7.5

 

[justperry]

What do you mean by G's and N's? The Mac pro is Version 10.7.5

Ok, here it goes.

These are wireless network IEEE802.11 protocols.

2.4 Ghz
b = 11Mb/s
g = 54Mb/s
n = 150 Mb/s

5 Ghz
a = 54 Mb/s

The higher the number the faster the network will be.

As you can see n is the higher speed protocol, so data travels at a higher speed.
The 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz are the radio frequencies these protocols work on.

Most of the networks use 2.4 GHz.
You can read all about it on this WIKI page.

Sorry, forgot to say I asked for the MacBookPro and the iMac Model numbers so I can see if they have a/b/g/n build in.
If I know what you want to do with it I will tell you later what you should get.
Do you transfer files, video, pictures over the net?
How fast is your internet connection?

If you give me those answers I will tell you if you need the 811 N or not.

 

[justperry]

There are two searches I done, 1 for USB dongle and one for Airport Extreme Card card.

USB Dongle

Airport Extreme Card

Both come with pros and cons, the Airport Extreme Card is integrated into OS X and you only have to click the airport menu in the Menu bar to connect, but you need to open the Mac Pro to install it.

The USB Dongle is easier to install, just plug it into USB slot, but the software is probably not integrated and needs to install software.

USB is much cheaper than an Airport Extreme Card.

Choose a N one if you go for USB, with an Airport Extreme Card you have to know which one to choose, there are ones for older Macs(the gray metal ones) and the ones which looks like a printed circuit board, you need the last one.

Like this one, it says it's for 2006-2007 but I THINK it is compatible with all Mac Pro's

Airport Extreme Card

 

[666sheep]

There are two searches I done, 1 for USB dongle and one for airport express card.

USB Dongle

Airport Extreme Card

Both come with pros and cons, the Airport Express is integrated into OS X and you only have to click the airport menu in the Menu bar to connect, but you need to open the Mac Pro to install it.

The USB Dongle is easier to install, just plug it into USB slot, but the software is probably not integrated and needs to install software.

USB is much cheaper than Airport Express.

Choose a N one if you go for USB, with Airport Express you have to know which one to choose, there are ones for older Macs(the gray metal ones) and the ones which looks like a printed circuit board, you need the last one.

Like this one, it says it's for 2006-2007 but I THINK it is compatible with all Mac Pro's

Airport Extreme Card

Perry, please do not feel offended, but decide: do you recommend to the OP to buy the card or router

OP, any of following part numbers will work in your MP: 661-4060, MA688Z/A, BCM94321MC, 020-5580-A, 603-9452-A 603-9977-A, 607-1389-A, 607-2240-A

 

[justperry]

Perry, please do not feel offended, but decide: do you recommend to the OP to buy the card or router

OP, any of following part numbers will work in your MP: 661-4060, MA688Z/A, BCM94321MC, 020-5580-A, 603-9452-A 603-9977-A, 607-1389-A, 607-2240-A

Sorry mistyped those ones, you are completely correct.

Corrected those mistakes.