I.Mac & PC Network for Broadband 2

[scotsbloke]

Firstly excuse my complete ignorance to the I.Mac side of things.

I've had a customer ask if it is possible to link together a PC and I.Mac together so they can both use the same Broadband connection. The reason he wants to do this is because the ISP is giving away free DSL modems for PC connection but users have to buy DSL modem for I.Mac.

Now being a complete 'sprog' to the I.Mac side of things I would be grateful if someone could answer the following for me...?

1. Can a PC and I.Mac both access the same DSL modem or does the I.Mac use different type of DSL modem?

2. If it is possible how would I set up the link from the I.Mac to the modem? I ask because the modem will have to run from the PC which would be acting as the server allowing other connections to use DSL.

Apologies if this seems completely ignorant to you guys but as mentioned I'm a complete I.Mac novice and would know where to start.

Many Thanks

Scotsbloke

 

[jmgalvin]

I've never heard of any cable/dsl modem being paltform specific. They usually just use standard IP proticols - usually DHCP from the ISP.

The simplest way to donnect both (even of the same platform) is to buy a router/switch for connecting multiple computers to 1 modem. They're very inexpensive and readily available at place like CompUSA and big office supply chains that carry such stuff.

The work like an ethernet switch, giving the machines the ability to network as well as connecting all to one modem for simutaneous use.

 

[jimbopalmer]

Sadly I HAVE seen PCI DSL modems, which only work inside PCs. You would want to use ICS (Internet Connection Sharing)on the PC.

http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/ics

outlines how to do that and has examples of using a Mac as a client.

I tried to remain child-like, all I acheived was childish.

 

[Foamcow]

Ethernet modem/router/switch is the best solution.

As jmgalvin said, simply connect the 2 machines to the router, connect the modem to the WAN port of the router and away you go.

Be aware though that the free modems may well be USB and so designed for a single user. However I have seen routers that have a USB port for such modems... I think it was a LinkSys or possible a DLink or Belkin device.

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[chiph]

Right - the free modems are often brain-damaged USB modems.

Make sure the modem has a 10baseT ethernet jack on it, and you'll be fine.

Just buy a firewall/router box to protect you from hackers -- they often have a 4-port hub or switch on them, so you can plug in up to 4 devices (VOIP phone, etc).

Chip H.


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[SimonDavis]

I have Mac and PC working fine together using a Linksys router. Basically the router just issues local IP addresses to any machine that asks for one, and TCP/IP is pretty much the same flavour for both platforms.

Even without a router, they should both work fine connected to the DsL modem - the only restriction I have seen is that the Modem seems to use the MAC address from the computer, and if you swap from one to the other quickly, it gets confused.

If I have connectde my PC directly to the modem, then swap the cable to a Mac, it takes about 15 mintues to connect, but that's not a platform issue, it would happen with 2 PCs.

 

[ObviousTroll]

I've got 3 iBooks, an iMac, a Linux box and a Windows box all sharing the same Motorola BitSurfer cable modem via a Linksys router, so it shouldn't be a problem.

The only real restriction - as others have pointed out - is that you need a "real" free standing DSL modem. If the modem is a line card for the PC, the PC will have to be running whenever the Mac wants to use the Internet.