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iMac Internet Solution

T

Tragedies

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Hello,

I'll be buying an iMac in October and need to find an internet solution for me and my sister.

Currently I use a PC, with a DSL modem which sends signals to my USB adapter attached to my PC.

My sister, who owns a Macbook, who bought it one and a half years ago, has a long cable running underground from our modem to her Macbook in her room, as the USB device I use with my PC doesn't work on her Macbook.

Once I buy my iMac, I'll need to find a way to access my internet connection, and I don't want to have a several meter cord running from our modem to my iMac.

To try and solve this, I've been thinking about buying the Airport Extreme Base Station. Now I'm pretty sure if I connect this to my modem, it'll send signals to my iMac, right? (I've never used a router before.)

The problem I have here though is it may work on my iMac, which is great, but I'm not sure if the router will send signals to my sister's Macbook, because I don't know if she has the settings required built in, like I will have with my iMac (which I was told numerous times).

Is there anyway my sister can make the Airport Extreme Base Station send signals to her Macbook? May be a stupid question, I ain't so smart at these things.

Thanks for taking the time to read this,

Mikey.
 
Yes, a router will solve your problem. You can send the router signal to both the MacBook and the iMac and both will be able to go on the internet by using the wireless router.
 
So even if my sister's Macbook was bought almost a year and a half ago it will have Airport Base Extreme capability?
 
Tragedies said:
So even if my sister's Macbook was bought almost a year and a half ago it will have Airport Base Extreme capability?
Click to expand...

Yes, Apple has been including wireless cards in their laptops for a long time before that, so it will be perfectly compatible with it.
 
Awesome, thanks for the help =D

I do have one last question though, and I don't know if you'll be able to answer it.

If the router will be able to work on my parent's PC too, Id want for that as it would proborly be faster then using a USB adapter.

However, under requirements on the Apple Australia Store site is says:

PC with 802.11a/b/g/n card installed

I have no idea what that is. Is there anyway i can find out whether I have this installed on my parent's PC computer?

Thanks for all the help,

Mikey.

EDIT: I just looked through my parent's PC internet settings and it says under 'About':

Device name: MA111 802.11b Wireless Adapter.

Since it's referring to my parent's USB adapter, if they had the router installed and kept the USB in their computer, would the router work on their PC? Since they don't have a 'card'.
 
Tragedies said:
Awesome, thanks for the help =D

I do have one last question though, and I don't know if you'll be able to answer it.

If the router will be able to work on my parent's PC too, Id want for that as it would proborly be faster then using a USB adapter.

However, under requirements on the Apple Australia Store site is says:

PC with 802.11a/b/g/n card installed

I have no idea what that is. Is there anyway i can find out whether I have this installed on my parent's PC computer?

Thanks for all the help,

Mikey.
Click to expand...

No problem 🙂.

Is your parent's PC a laptop or a desktop? If it is a recent laptop, then it will more than likely have a wireless card and that will work with the router. If it is a desktop, then you will have to buy a wireless card for it to connect to the router wirelessly.
 
Aww, so the USB idea won't work? =(

Anyway, I don't know much about these cards.

Where are they installed on the computer?

Can I buy any type of card such as Netgear or must it be one sold by Apple?
 
Tragedies said:
Aww, so the USB idea won't work? =(

Anyway, I don't know much about these cards.

Where are they installed on the computer?

Can I buy any type of card such as Netgear or must it be one sold by Apple?
Click to expand...

If you already have a wireless adapter then it should work fine.
 
Awesome so once I buy the router all the computers will work with it =D

Thanks for the help and fast replies 🙂

- Mikey.
 
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