13.1. Wiring the Network Most people connect the Macs (and other computers) in their offices using either of two connection systems: Ethernet or AirPort. 13.1.1. Ethernet Networks These days, every Mac and every network-ready laser printer has an Ethernet jack on the back or side panel (see Figure 13-1). If you connect all of the Macs and Ethernet printers in your small office to a central Ethernet hub or router ”a compact, inexpensive box with jacks for 5,10, or even more computers and printers ”you've got yourself a very fast, very reliable network. (Most people wind up hiding the hub in a closet, and running the wiring either along the edges of the room or inside the walls.) You can buy Ethernet cables, plus the hub, at any computer store or, less expensively, from an Internet-based mail-order house. (Hubs aren't Mac-specific.)
Tip: If you want to connect only two Macs ”say, your laptop and your desktop machine ”you don't need an Ethernet hub. Instead, you just need an Ethernet crossover cable ”about $8 from a computer store or online mail-order supplier. Run it directly between the Ethernet jacks of the two computers. Better yet, if you have a metal-clad PowerBook, a white iBook, or a recent desktop model (like a Power Mac G5), you can use either a crossover cable or a traditional Ethernet cable.Or don't use Ethernet at all;just use a FireWire cable (Section 13.1.3) or a person-to-person AirPort network.
| | Figure 13-1. Every Mac OS X “compatible Mac has an Ethernet jack (left). It looks like an overweight telephone jack. It connects to an Ethernet router or hub (right) via Ethernet cable (also known as Cat 5 or Cat 6), which ends in what looks like an overweight telephone-wire plug (also known as an RJ-45 connector). | | Ethernet is the best networking system for many offices. It's fast, easy, and cheap. 13.1.2. AirPort Networks Of course, the Mac wouldn't be the Mac if it couldn't connect to other Macs using the most exciting kind of networking connection: radio waves. You can get an AirPort card, about the size of a Visa card, preinstalled in any new Mac, or you can add one to almost any Mac OS X “compatible model. This card lets your machine connect to your network without any wires at all ”as long as they're within about 150 feet of a base station , which must in turn be physically connected to your network. If you think about it, the AirPort system is a lot like a cordless phone in that the Mac is the handset.
Tip: AirPort is Apple's name for the popular WiFi or 802.11 wireless network system. You can find free or inexpensive WiFi hot spots (base stations ) all over the country ”in coffee shops , airports, parks, offices, McDonald's restaurants , and so on. Just whip open your laptop, check the AirPort menu-bar symbol for a signal, and start using the Internet!
The base station can take any of these forms: -
AirPort Base Station . This $200 Apple product looks like a small white or silver flying saucer. It permits as many as 50 computers to connect simultaneously . (Actually, for most people, the $130 AirPort Express version is a better deal. It's much smaller ”it looks like a small white power adapter ”and has a USB jack so you can share a USB printer on the network. It can serve up to 10 computers at once.) -
A wireless broadband router . These gadgets are, in essence, AirPort Base Station clones from other companies, such as Linksys (www.linksys.net) or Belkin (www.belkin.com). You can plug the base station into an Ethernet router or hub, thus | UP TO SPEED AirPort: Regular or Supersized? | | In the short history of wireless networking, AirPort ear has come in two variants: the original AirPort or the newer AirPort Extreme . The difference involves the technical specs of the wireless signal. Original AirPort uses the 802.11b standard; AirPort Extreme uses 802.11g. (Incidentally, apple didn't make up this ridiculous terminology.) So what's the difference? Equipment bearing the "b" label transfers data through the air at up to 11 megabits per second; the "g" system is almost five times as fast. (Traditionally, geeks measure network speeds in mega bits , not mega bytes . If you're more familiar with megabytes, though, here's a translation: The older AirPort gear has a top speed of 1.4 megabytes per second, versus more than 6 megabytes per second for the AirPort Extreme stuff.) The beauty of the Extreme (802.11g) gear, though, is that it's backwards -compatible with the original Air-Port gear, and vice versa. If you have a PowerBook with an original AirPort card, you can hop onto an Extreme base station simultaneously with people using Extreme cards ”and if you have an AirPort Extreme card, you can hop onto older base stations. You won't get better speed, of course, but at least you won't need a separate base station. It's important to understand, though, that a cable modem or DSL box delivers Internet information at only about half a megabyte per second. The bottleneck is the Internet connection, not your network. Don't buy AirPort Extreme gear thinking that you're going to speed up your email and Web activity. Instead, the speed boost you get with AirPort Extreme is useful only for transferring files between computers on your own network ”and playing networkable games . Incidentally, the great thing about wireless networking is that it all works together, no matter what kind of computer you have. There's no such thing as a "Windows" wireless network or a "Macintosh" wireless network. Macs can use non-Apple base stations, PCs can use AirPort base stations, and so on. | permitting 10 or 20 AirPort-equipped Macs to join an existing Ethernet network without wiring. -
Another Mac . Your Mac can also impersonate an AirPort base station. In effect, the Mac becomes a software-based base station. The Mac itself must have an AirPort card inside, but you may still save money. By equipping a Mac with an $80 card, you save yourself the purchase of a $200 AirPort base station. (Much more on AirPort network setups in Chapter 19.) 13.1.3. FireWire Networks FireWire networks? You're forgiven for splurting your coffee. Everyone knows that FireWire is great for hooking up a camcorder or an iPod, and a few people know about FireWire Disk Mode (Section 7.2.1). But not many people realize that FireWire makes a fantastic networking cable, since it's insanely, blisteringly fast. (All right, gigabit Ethernet is faster. But attaining that kind of networking nirvana requires that all your Macs, hubs, and other networking gear are all gigabit-Ethernet compatible.) FireWire networking, technically known as IP over FireWire , is an unheralded, unsung feature of Mac OS X. But when you have a lot of data to move between Macs ”your desktop and your laptop, for example ”a casual FireWire network is the way to go. It lets you copy a gigabyte of email, pictures, or video files in a matter of seconds. Here's how you unleash this secret feature. -
Connect two Macs with a FireWire cable . You can't use the one that fits a camcorder. You need a six-pin-to-six-pin cable for traditional FireWire jacks. If you want to use the faster FireWire 800 connection on the latest Mac models, you'll need to shop for an even less common cord. In any case, the computers can remain turned on, which is a big difference from FireWire Disk Mode (Section 7.2.1). (The other difference is that you can continue to use both Macs while they're connected.) -
Open System Preferences. Click Network. From the Show pop-up menu, choose Network Port Configurations . The dialog box shown in Figure 13-2 appears, showing all the different ways your Mac can connect to a network. -
Drag the words Built-in FireWire to the top of the list. Click Apply Now . This is an important step! If you don't drag the FireWire connection to the top, the network won't work, because your Mac won't assign itself an IP address. -
Repeat steps 2 “3 on the second Mac . By now, it may have dawned on you that you can't actually get online via FireWire, since your cable runs directly between two Macs. But you can always turn on Internet Sharing (Section 19.7) on the other Mac. -
Quit System Preferences . Your Macs are ready to talk ” fast . | | Figure 13-2. In the Network pane of System Preferences, you can add your FireWire port to the list of network connections. The point of this window, by the way, is that a Mac can maintain simultaneous open network connections ”Ethernet, AirPort, FireWire, and dial-up modem. (That's a feature called multihoming.) On this screen, you drag them into the order you prefer, usually fastest first. | |
Tip: Once you've switched on your FireWire connection, you may need to turn File Sharing or Internet Sharing off and on again to make it work.
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