Lucky problem to have

[wordmunger]

I'm about to inherit two PowerMac cubes from my wife's lab (one for each kid). Very cool, yeah!

The problem is, how to connect them to our home network. I've got an AEBS, downstairs (which is where it has to be for printing), but these computers will be upstairs in the office. One solution would be to get regular airport cards for each computer. Simple, easy.

BUT -- for about the same amount of money, I could get a second AEBS and connect the Cubes to it via Ethernet. Then I'd have a faster connection (since the Cubes aren't Airport Extreme compatible), but I'd be adding a node to the wireless network, potentially making the whole thing less reliable. In order to print their homework, for example, the kids would be going through two base stations, instead of just one.

OTOH, the second base station will increase my wireless range and would just be damned cool.

Any suggestions?

 

[dragula53]

airport

regular airport really isn't bad, imho.

unless you are copying stuff from one hard drive to another, you won't notice the bottleneck.

I had an ibook with regular airport for a few years.

was fine for internet and file sharing and printer sharing..

unless you wanna copy 500 meg files... but then that's why god invented ipods, because it's really not fun to do over airport extreme either.

 

[wordmunger]

regular airport really isn't bad, imho.

Yes, you're right about that--I actually have the AEBS running at regular speeds, since I don't have Extreme cards in any of my computers.

Does anyone know if the Cube supports third-party cards instead of the "official" Apple ones? Then it would definitely be cheaper than the AEBS.

 

[baby duck monge]

just out of curiosity, how would you wire two computers to an APBS? i have not seen the new ones, but my old (regular) airport station is not set up to allow you to wire a computer to it. did this change somewhere along the line?

 

[wordmunger]

just out of curiosity, how would you wire two computers to an APBS? i have not seen the new ones, but my old (regular) airport station is not set up to allow you to wire a computer to it. did this change somewhere along the line?

I have an old hub lying around, so I would just plug the base station and each computer into the hub. If I had DSL, I'd plug that into the hub and then the hub would route the Internet signal to the base station. I used to have a regular ABS and I can confirm that this works--there might be some configuration steps that I'm forgetting to mention.

The AEBS has two ethernet jacks, so it might be possible to connect two computers directly to it. I can do this since the other base station is the one connected to the DSL modem, so both jacks will be open.

 

[baby duck monge]

ah, that makes more sense. thanks for clearing things up for me!

 

[Koodauw]

I would just add the Wifi cards into the Cubes. Maybe you can pick up on some refurbished ones from Apple. I think the one Basestation is the way to go. It will creat less hedaches for you, and will just make things simplier. Plus that way youwill have less wires as well. Remember K.I.S.S. Your kids must feel really lucky. I wish I had an Apple cube as a computer when I was a kid.

 

[mms]

Yeah, they're nice computers. Our family has one and still runs Panther with no problems. So tiny and elegant that it sits in our living room, something that would never be with an ugly PC.

 

[mkrishnan]

The AEBS has two ethernet jacks, so it might be possible to connect two computers directly to it. I can do this since the other base station is the one connected to the DSL modem, so both jacks will be open.

I'm pretty sure one e-net jack is for incoming (i.e. cable modem) and the other is for one computer / printer / whatever to be hardwired in. But if you use the hub this should definitely be feasible. I have a DSL modem into a hub for 1 or 2 Win PCs (hardwire) and an AEBS for my iBook.

Doesn't Apple itself market this use of an AEBS as a range extender? What makes it destabilize the network?

 

[kanker]

I would just add the Wifi cards into the Cubes. Maybe you can pick up on some refurbished ones from Apple.

Yeah, when Apple has the refurbs, they're only $59.

 

[wordmunger]

Doesn't Apple itself market this use of an AEBS as a range extender? What makes it destabilize the network?

Well, I have to reset my AEBS every once in a while (usually < once a week), just because it has "lost" the printer or the signal from my DSL modem. It's not a huge problem, but it can be a pain. If I added an extra AEBS, I'd be worried that it would make network troubleshooting more frustrating (resetting TWO basestations whenever there's a problem, etc.)

 

[mkrishnan]

Well, I have to reset my AEBS every once in a while (usually < once a week), just because it has "lost" the printer or the signal from my DSL modem. It's not a huge problem, but it can be a pain. If I added an extra AEBS, I'd be worried that it would make network troubleshooting more frustrating (resetting TWO basestations whenever there's a problem, etc.)

Wow...that's interesting. Is this common? I have never had to do this. It seems mine auto re-acquires -- I sometimes turn off the printer, and as soon as I turn it on, it becomes available through Rendezvous, and as for the DSL modem, I haven't had issues there either.

Don't mean to O/T you (sorry ), anyway, I can definitely see your point if you have this problem.

 

[wordmunger]

Wow...that's interesting. Is this common? I have never had to do this. It seems mine auto re-acquires -- I sometimes turn off the printer, and as soon as I turn it on, it becomes available through Rendezvous, and as for the DSL modem, I haven't had issues there either.

Don't mean to O/T you (sorry ), anyway, I can definitely see your point if you have this problem.

Not really o/t--One thing I want to get a sense of is how often other people have problems with AEBS. There's quite a lot of chatter on the Apple support discussion boards about problems with the AEBS, but lately the updates to Airport software seem to be making things happier.

My basic understanding is that a lot of it has to do with interference: cell phones, cordless phones, other peoples' wireless setups (my neighbor has one in range, for instance) can all interfere with AEBS reliability.

I think now I'm leaning toward the Airport cards--not only because of the reliability issues, but also for flexibility in case I want to move one of the Cubes to another room. In fact, I'm already thinking about putting one of the Cubes in the living room to use as a dedicated MP3 player.

 

[ingenious]

but wait theres more

I have an old hub lying around, so I would just plug the base station and each computer into the hub. If I had DSL, I'd plug that into the hub and then the hub would route the Internet signal to the base station. I used to have a regular ABS and I can confirm that this works--there might be some configuration steps that I'm forgetting to mention.

The AEBS has two ethernet jacks, so it might be possible to connect two computers directly to it. I can do this since the other base station is the one connected to the DSL modem, so both jacks will be open.

no wait theres an easier way to do this unless im just misunderstanding you:

connect DSL wire to WAN port. connect hub wire to LAN port. connect Cube wires to hub. (also, if u just have one computer, you dont have to have a hub for the LAN port to work... the AEBS is a router after all. BTW, i use this all the time with an old Strawberry iMac at my school).


Also, if ur going to get another AEBS, be sure to set up using w/e it is that makes them act like the same base station. someone help me out here. i cant remember the name????? it shares the network with the other base stations on the network, making the range spread better.....

 

[rueyeet]

Well, I have to reset my AEBS every once in a while (usually < once a week), just because it has "lost" the printer or the signal from my DSL modem.

I have an older "Snow" AirPort non-Extreme basestation, and sometimes it'll drop the connection to the modem (or the modem will lose the Internet connection, I'm not sure which) after I haven't used either of my computers in a few (or more than a few!) days. Sometimes the only thing that'll set everything right is to unplug both DSL modem and AirPort base station, then plug them back in, modem first, then base station.

No idea why this happens.

 

[wordmunger]

no wait theres an easier way to do this unless im just misunderstanding you:

connect DSL wire to WAN port. connect hub wire to LAN port. connect Cube wires to hub. (also, if u just have one computer, you dont have to have a hub for the LAN port to work... the AEBS is a router after all. BTW, i use this all the time with an old Strawberry iMac at my school).

Yes, with the AEBS, that's how you'd do it. But the old ABS had only one ethernet port, so you needed to configure differently. I had a separate router, but I can't remember now if that was absolutely essential.

Also, if ur going to get another AEBS, be sure to set up using w/e it is that makes them act like the same base station. someone help me out here. i cant remember the name????? it shares the network with the other base stations on the network, making the range spread better.....

Yep, that was the general idea. I can't remember what this is called either.

 

[7on]

Isn't the G4 cube in the museum of modern art?

 

[wordmunger]

Isn't the G4 cube in the museum of modern art?

Yep.

 

[Horrortaxi]

If your reception is good in the location where your cubes are, then just get AirPort cards for them--$160 if you pay full retail and there's no setup at all.

The cubes are great computers--still very capable.