Help with G4 Tower as a router...

[26139]

I am trying to hook up my G4 tower and use it as a router. So it goes like this...

cable modem>G4>airport express>other laptops and desktops.

Is this possible? Anyone know?

 

[Mord]

with 3rd party software probably, you can only route the internet through one port on OS X, though with some open source router software it can probably be done, have a look through sourceforge,

 

[Cuckoo]

I am trying to hook up my G4 tower and use it as a router. So it goes like this...

cable modem>G4>airport express>other laptops and desktops.

Is this possible? Anyone know?

Does your G4 have 2 network interface cards? (2 ethernet, or an airport and an ethernet?

then no problem. But what is your plan? There might be complecating factors.... Surely not just letting the G4 pass data...

 

[26139]

Well..

Does your G4 have 2 network interface cards? (2 ethernet, or an airport and an ethernet?

then no problem. But what is your plan? There might be complecating factors.... Surely not just letting the G4 pass data...

I am planning on purchasing a pci ethernet card (so I have two NICs).

Basically, I want the G4 to be available for remote access, but I don't want to buy a router or airport card if I don't have to.

Does that make sense?

 

[FoxyKaye]

I am planning on purchasing a pci ethernet card (so I have two NICs).

Basically, I want the G4 to be available for remote access, but I don't want to buy a router or airport card if I don't have to.

Does that make sense?

I understand not wanting to buy an Airport card given the (insane) cost they're currently selling at, but you can get a router with no wireless capability (which you already have with the Airport Express) for under $50 that will do the job much more efficiently and not consume nearly as much power.

 

[26139]

Huh?

I understand not wanting to buy an Airport card given the (insane) cost they're currently selling at, but you can get a router with no wireless capability (which you already have with the Airport Express) for under $50 that will do the job much more efficiently and not consume nearly as much power.

How would having a router consume less power?

The G4 will always be on, as we need to access it remotely. I'm just trying to make do with what I have and not buy ANOTHER gadget that needs to be plugged in (we have an xbox, the tower, the tv, the express, the cable modem and the dvd player already back there, with all their wires).

I completely agree that a router would be SIMPLER, but let's just say I am doing this just because I think I can.

 

[Cuckoo]

I understand not wanting to buy an Airport card given the (insane) cost they're currently selling at, but you can get a router with no wireless capability (which you already have with the Airport Express) for under $50 that will do the job much more efficiently and not consume nearly as much power.

If the appleguy (sorry, dont remember his/her nic) wants the G4 to be available for remote access, the extra power isn't an issue, since it will be running anyway.

But to answer the original question

Yes, with 2 NIC's (network interface cards) in your G4 powermac you can make the following setup:
MODEM -> G4 2NIC -> AIRPORT EXPRESS -> REST OF THE NETWORK

and it will take some fidling (not too much, and with the help of these forums it won't be a problem) but you would have to bear in mind the following

If you are using port forwarding to the REST OF THE NETWORK for whatever reason (it might be you're using a torrent client on your laptop, or a webserver on an other system than the G4) you would have to edit the settings twice, once in your G4 2NIC and once in the AIRPORT EXPRESS, both nodes need to know where the ports need to be forwared too. this can be quite teadious to get the hang of.

What i found helpful in the past is make a drawing first, something like


|MODEM|------|G4|-------|AE|------- |NETWORK|


then write in all the IP adresses where they are static

so when things aren't working, you can analyse step-by-step where the connection doesn't work.

for instance, if in your network you can't surf the web, then first ping the right side of the EA (the wireless IP address). If you get a reply, then the left side (the side which is connected to the G4) and you follow the path of the data until the routing goes bad...

it might seem a bit confusing, but as long as you keep thinking and asking you'd be fine... remember, nothing is too difficult on a mac