Wireless networking PC <-> Mac

Dhalphir

Hey guys,

In a week or so my girlfriend is moving in with me. Her being a fairly heavy computer user too, I need to share the net connection with her. However, she has a Mac laptop and would prefer to use a wireless network. I have a router, its wired up to my PC, which is running Windows XP Home. I have only ever tried setting up wireless networks between my XP PC and my Vista laptop, which took a bit of finagling but wasn't that hard in the end.

Is it a similar story to network with a Mac, or is it going to be trickier? And, if its going to be tricky, how exactly do I go about it?

Let me know if you would need any specific hardware info.

vonPoonBurGer

Unless it's a really old Mac, getting it on your network shouldn't be hard. My girlfriend has a PowerBook and it works just fine with my wireless network. All modern Macs with built-in wireless support the standard wireless security protocols (WEP, WPA, WPA2), so it's really not much different from configuring a PC wireless client. Your girlfriend probably already knows where to go in her OS to turn on & configure wireless, and set network settings. You just need to plug in the values appropriate to your network (security type, network password, static IP address or DHCP).

nuclearalchemist

My experience has been that newer macs (last couple of years?) are much more friendly with wireless networks than PCs even. As long as you can give her the network name, or its broadcast, along with the password, she should be just fine.

admanb

I'm a bit confused by your description, but if your router is hooked up to your whatever internet device you're using, adding the Mac to the network should be simple.

You may have a bitch of a time getting any file sharing working. I recommend Dropbox instead.

PeregrineFalcon

I think what's going on here is that he doesn't have a wireless router and only has a wireless card in his PC. Correct?

If I've got it right, here's what you need to do:

1. Replace your wired-only router with a newer wireless one, preferably something that can run Tomato
2. You're done

Really, if your girlfriend is moving in with you, a $40 router is going to be the least of your financial woes. Wait until she starts talking about decorating and replacing your tacky posters with paintings or framed art prints or shit. :P

admanb

Not to mention that couch.

Dhalphir

PeregrineFalcon wrote: »

I think what's going on here is that he doesn't have a wireless router and only has a wireless card in his PC. Correct?

If I've got it right, here's what you need to do:

1. Replace your wired-only router with a newer wireless one, preferably something that can run Tomato
2. You're done

Really, if your girlfriend is moving in with you, a $40 router is going to be the least of your financial woes. Wait until she starts talking about decorating and replacing your tacky posters with paintings or framed art prints or shit. :P

No, I do have a wireless router. I just don't have it set up as a wireless connection yet because I have no need for one.

Szechuanosaurus

Dhalphir wrote: »

PeregrineFalcon wrote: »

I think what's going on here is that he doesn't have a wireless router and only has a wireless card in his PC. Correct?

If I've got it right, here's what you need to do:

1. Replace your wired-only router with a newer wireless one, preferably something that can run Tomato
2. You're done

Really, if your girlfriend is moving in with you, a $40 router is going to be the least of your financial woes. Wait until she starts talking about decorating and replacing your tacky posters with paintings or framed art prints or shit. :P

No, I do have a wireless router. I just don't have it set up as a wireless connection yet because I have no need for one.

Getting a mac to connect to a wireless router is easier than breathing.