Hey folks- Hopefully this is on-topic enough not to get yelled at...
Now that I've got my Macintosh collection the way I want it, I am interested in setting up a LAN here in my apartment with the goal that all my computers will be able to access the Internet. I have four compact Macs, two desktop Macs, and one PC. I have little to no experience with doing this, and lots of the terminology surrounding Ethernet and networking in general doesn't mean anything to me, so please be as descriptive as possible when giving me a suggestion. :) The way this are set up, I have DSL internet, but the DSL modem is currently hooked up directly to the Ethernet card on my PC, and thus that is the only computer that can currently access the Internet. I would like to get some sort of hub that will connect to the DSL modem, and then support connections from all my computers so that they all are able to access the Internet, and can share files between each other. My Performa, IIsi, and PC all currently have Ethernet capability via expansion cards. I probably have an extra Asante Ethernet card I can install in the SE/30. The remaining computers, a Plus, SE, and Classic II do not have Ethernet capability and as I understand it, this is only possible through a special SCSI Ethernet expasion that attaches to their external SCSI port. If there are other options, please let me know. So if I understand things correctly, I don't have many options here. I hear that AppleTalk does not pass TCP/IP information (?) so using AppleTalk to connect these computers to the rest of the network won't work for my purpose, correct? How hard is it to get a hold of three used external Ethernet adapters as mentioned above? How expensive are they, typically, or are they very rare? What kind of hub ought I look into buying? Also, assuming those external SCSI Ethernet adapters are relatively cheap and easy to come by, would all I need to do then is simply plug all the computers into the hub and be good to go (with proper MacTCP settings, of course)? I have read the two articles on lowendmac.com about networking, but I am still somewhat confused. One of them mentions something called a Farallon StarRouter as being able to let AppleTalk pass TCP/IP information and essentially be a part of an Ethernet network, or perhaps I misunderstood. Either way, that route seems completely out of the question as the article mentioned this device is highly expensive, and numerous eBay searches have yet to turn up a single one. Any and all help is greatly appreciated, but again, please be nice to me and try to explain things in a way that I might actually understand. For example, I do not understand the difference between routers and hubs, I do not know what switches, uplinks, TCP/IP stacks, or any of the hundreds of acronyms (BNC, WAP, NAT, and so on and so on and so on) mean and so on and so forth. I know what Ethernet is, and I know that there are a few different types, but I don't know the differences between them other than the different connectors they use (RJ 45, etc), and that the RJ 45 one is the one that is most-used and useful these days. And basically, I don't care to know about any of it, other than how I might go about setting up a network so my compact Macs can access the Internet. Thanks in advance, Nat ------------ Nat Hall [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------ -- Compact Macs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/>. Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Compact Macs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/compact.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive:<http://www.mail-archive.com/compact.macs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- >The Think Different Store http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
