can appletv connect to iMac WITH wires?

[josh098]

Can someone tell me if this is possible:

I want to get TV, and transfer MPEG-4 movies that I have in iTunes to the TV, using a connecting wire (NOT WIRELESSLY). I am not aware of having any wireless capabilities. At first i thought the Usb port on TV was for connecting to iMac, but I was wrong.
So if I can use some kind of cable, what cable?
Basically I want to use the TV like an iPod, plug it into mac, transfer files to TV, unplug, connect to Tv via HDMI, and watch a movie
THANKS

 

[aristobrat]

How is your iMac networked currently? Do you have a router?

You should be able to use a wired ethernet connection to connect your iMac and AppleTV, but how you go about doing that depends on how your iMac is currently setup (network wise).

 

[Advance The Man]

I thought you could connect an ethernet cable from ATV to iMac and it would sync.

 

[josh098]

when it comes to routers and such i'm not very informed. I have a Seimens SpeedStream6520 Wireless ADSL Gateway Modem. I have no idea if a router is the same as a modem. I have a phone line plugged into the DSL jack and a yellow cord connecting my mac to the ethernet jack. I don't subscribe to any wireless anything. I can't seem to find any info online about connecting ATV to the iMac, and I don't want to purchase unless i know for sure what i'm doing will work

 

[spice weasel]

Just judging by the name of your modem, it sounds like it is both a modem and wireless router in one. Try connecting your Mac to your wifi network to be sure. You'll need the documentation for your router to know how to access the settings (usually you point your browser to the router's IP address and log into it). You don't need to subscribe to wifi - you just need a wifi router.

You can also just plug your ATV into an open LAN port on your device if it has one.

 

[josh098]

ok. thanks for the advice everyone. Can someone explain how wifi works. pretend i know nothing about it.(I don't)

 

[spice weasel]

ok. thanks for the advice everyone. Can someone explain how wifi works. pretend i know nothing about it.(I don't)

With a wireless router, you can set up a home network, linking all your computers and wifi enabled devices (iPhone, Apple TV, etc.). To set up a home network, you need to go into your router's settings page. For most routers, this means launching a browser and entering the router's IP address (usually something like 192.xxx.xxx.xx). This will take you to the router's internal settings. The documentation that came with your router will tell you how to do this.

You'll want to enable wifi, of course, and then make your network as secure as possible. First and foremost, turn on WEP encryption (or WPA2, which is better, if your router supports it) and choose a good password. Also, turn off SSID broadcasting. This will stop your router from sending out the network's name. Then turn on MAC addressing, which allows only devices you choose to join your network. You'll need the MAC address (an alpha-numeric code) for each computer or device you want to connect. Lastly, you can turn off or on 801.11b depending on whether you have any "b" devices.

Good luck.

 

[Mr Kram]

to answer your original question, you connect the atv directly to the imac with a regular cat5 patch cable.