Crossplatform Wireless Internet Connection Sharing

[tmung]

Hi, I'm trying to figure out the possible compatibility issues if I want to share an ADSL connection wirelessly between an iMac and a Wintel machine. I'm going to need to use a USB adapter for the iMac, and the Windows box will just use a PCI card. Will I need to use special Mac compatible stuff, or can I just pick up a Linksys router and a bunch of that type of stuff on Amazon? This may seem like a really dumb question, but I just want to make sure I know what I need to buy before I buy it, as I have only done hardwired networking prior to this. Any help is appreciated. Thanks a lot!

 

[Soybomb]

802.11b (wifi) is a standard and not a proprietary protocol, it will work just fine.

 

[Saurk]

I've done this without much trouble. I use a d-link wireless access point/router, but any 802.11b compatible router will do. You can also use the apple airport basestation, but they're more expensive, and really don't offer better performance. Maybe a little easier to set up, but 802.11b networks are rather easy to setup anyway.

The hardest thing for me as finding a mac-compatible wireless card. Older macs will not take the apple airport card (apple's 802.11b wireless card), and most 802.11b cards do not support mac os. I use a "orinoco" brand wireless card and pci adaptor that I found on ebay. But then, you have an imac, so it sounds like you're just getting a USB adaptor. If it's an older imac, that's the way to go, but if it's relatively new it might have an airport slot and you might want to check out buying an airport card. You'll have a much smaller footprint that way.

If you don't know already, you can check everymac.com to see if your imac is airport compatible.

 

[tmung]

Thanks a lot! That's kind of what I was thinking I would need to do, but I didn't know how much AirPort stuff I would need. I have one other question about range. I also want this connection to be able to reach an office outside my house (around 50' from the main structure). Will 802.11b be able to make the reach? I'm planning to put the router in the office, and the iMac is in the main structure, a total distance of 70-80', maybe less. I know that the 802.11b says it has a range of 150', but will it work through two exterior walls like that?