Linksys B Router & G3 iMac

[volcomsurf]

Hi. Sorry for the multiple posts; I'm going to purchase a Linksys B Router for my Dell PC and G3 iMac. I just have a few questions:

1) Do I need to buy an Airport card just to connect my G3 iMac to a cable modem using the router?

2) Is it easy to set up?

3) How do I set it up? Do I need to buy the router, and cables for the Dell and one cable for the iMac?

Thanks.

 

[killmoms]

Well, it really depends on what you want to do. If you want the G3 iMac to access the net wirelessly and it doesn't already have an Airport card in it, then yes, you'll need one. As for setting up the router, they usually make it pretty easy. Just remember to secure your wireless network with WEP or WPA, this will be explained in the materials included with your specific router.

As for network setup, it goes like this:

Cable jack in wall > Cable modem > (public IP) Router (private IP) > (private IPs) computers connected to router

So the router is a middle-man which delivers access to all the computers on the internal local network, be it wireless or wired. Most routers these days also have built-in Ethernet hubs, so if you don't have wireless cards you can just run standard CAT5 Ethernet cables to your computers.