Hi all, I thought that if I formulated my cable modem/router experiences in a short, more concise form, this could provide the basis for a list FAQ on the issue. My setup was as follows:
UMAX Pulsar (S900) w/127 MB RAM OS 9.1 (Z) DAVE 3.1 3 Com cable modem LinkSys 4 port router Cable Modem I started out trying to get an Internet connection with a cable modem attached to my UMAX Pulsar (Euro S900). The Pulsar uses OS 9.1 (Z), has a G3 upgrade and 272 MB of built-in RAM. The problem was that every time I tried to connect to the Internet, my system was as slow as molasses in winter time. I had of course set the TCP/IP control panel to automatically negotiate with the DHCP server. This turned out to be the problem. Apparently, Mac systems can be quite finicky when connecting to DHCP servers, particularly in trying to access the Internet. If the numbers aren't correct, the system uses it's full capacity trying to get the proper setting. This creates a situation where the IP address changes approximately every 30-60 seconds and everything slows to a near stand still. Therefore, the solution was to set the TCP/IP control panel to connect manually with the DHCP server. It took a while to get the right settings, but as most of the information could be gleaned from the PC that was connected to the cable modem by doing an ipconfig /all command, it didn't prove too hard to solve the problem with some good advice. LinkSys router Firstly, I needed to go into the router prefs and change the settings to those that I had been using to directly connect my UMAX Pulsar to the cable modem. Then I went to the TCP/IP control panel (OS 9.1 Z) and changed the settings to automagically connect using a DHCP server. Secondly, I discovered that the LinkSys router acts as an Ethernet hub as well, using four 10/100 RJ-45 switched ports for the LAN and one 10Base-T Ethernet RJ-45 port for the cable or DSL modem (WAN).". It is possible to access the PCs with DAVE, as well as for all of the PCs to access the Internet at the same time via the router and the cable modem. Apparently, if my Mac IP is 192.168.128.3 and my PC is 192.168.128.4, and my router is 192.168.128.1, any traffic on 192.168.128.x doesn't get past the router. Only traffic destined for networks outside the LAN is forwarded to the cable modem. Quite an interesting setup. Without an Internet router, it is possible to achieve a similar result using a product like IPNetRouter from Sustainable Softworks http://www.sustworks.com/ If you would rather access the PC without installing DAVE on the Mac, installing PC Mac Lan on a PC will give similar results as it functions as an AppleTalk server on a PC. -- MacNetwork is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... XRouter Pro | Share your DSL or cable modem between multiple computers! Dr. Bott | Only $199 <http://www.drbott.com/prod/MIH130.html> Now shipping! Farallon Wireless SkyLINE PCI Card for Mac Desktops! <http://www.farallon.com/le/skyline/pci/index.html> Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> MacNetwork list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/macnet.html> 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/macnetwork%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Macintosh? Get free email and more at Applelinks! <http://www.applelinks.com>
