Setting up internet access

[mizzi]

i will be picking up my very first mac ever in about 3 hours...a 15" powerbook...included are the dreaded scren lines and if i'm luck a case of the bird flu. anyway, i'm very unfamilliar with how to set it up for online access?

i know with PCs it could be somewhat of a difficult process...any help would be greatly appreciated

thanks!

 

[StokeLee]

i will be picking up my very first mac ever in about 3 hours...a 15" powerbook...included are the dreaded scren lines and if i'm luck a case of the bird flu. anyway, i'm very unfamilliar with how to set it up for online access?

i know with PCs it could be somewhat of a difficult process...any help would be greatly appreciated

thanks!

Hello,

I'm a mac newbie I had my iMac in May, I had the same worries as you, but I turned my mac on, went with the flow on the first run thing that it runs, and was on the internet at the end of it. It was so simple.
It picked up my wireless network no problem.
How do you connect to the internet?

 

[mizzi]

Hello,

I'm a mac newbie I had my iMac in May, I had the same worries as you, but I turned my mac on, went with the flow on the first run thing that it runs, and was on the internet at the end of it. It was so simple.
It picked up my wireless network no problem.
How do you connect to the internet?

that's good to hear. i have dsl for one more day then moving to cable as i'm moving to a new apartment...

what all is entailed in the first run thing?

thanks for your help

 

[StokeLee]

that's good to hear. i have dsl for one more day then moving to cable as i'm moving to a new apartment...

what all is entailed in the first run thing?

thanks for your help

This may sound a bit daft, but in the first run thing i cant remember, i was that excited, i flew thru it. but its not long, ask you a few things like name etc, think it detected my wireless network and net connection.
I do know that its so much better than the first run on a pc.
Im on cable, I must say i prefer it than DSL, but that maybe just because im used to it, I had a few probs setting my mate up on DSL.

But i think you'll have no probs, even when you move. Just turn it on, and let it set it self up.

The only thing im not sure about is your cable when you do move, when i first ever had my cable installed, i had to register online before it let me on the net proper. but i live in uk, not usa, so not sure how it is over the pond, but im sure that some of the more technical guys/gals on here can help you if its not that simple.

 

[mizzi]

my room mate is running a powerbook as well, the one before the upgraded processor and downgraded screen

we'll have a wireless connection...not a difficult thing to set up i hope.

is airport express any better than say...a linksys wireless deal?

 

[StokeLee]

my room mate is running a powerbook as well, the one before the upgraded processor and downgraded screen

we'll have a wireless connection...not a difficult thing to set up i hope.

is airport express any better than say...a linksys wireless deal?

Dont know, i was using linksys already as i switched from windows.
Ive had no problems with mine. (WRTG54 is the model) I run my dads pc, my windows laptop, my xbox (soon to 360) and my iMac, all with no problems,and my linksys wireless router is on the other side of the house downstairs, through 6 walls.

 

[jadekitty24]

That's what really grabbed me about my Mac when I first used it. I went through the set up process and boom... I was on the internet. It's very easy and chances are you wont need any assistance. You could elect to connect to the internet when you first set it up or later on, if that's what you wish. MacRumors is here if you have any problems.

 

[strydr]

that's good to hear. i have dsl for one more day then moving to cable as i'm moving to a new apartment...

what all is entailed in the first run thing?

thanks for your help

Usually you enter your name and address, along with setup for your specific country. Also it will walk you through the registration proccess. When you get to your desktop, it should find any wireless networks, and ask if you want to join them. Are you using a router behind your modem?, or just one Computer? Everything's pretty straight-forward, if you have problems, just ask for help, everyone here is pretty friendly.

 

[mizzi]

there will be some sort of wireless thing going on in our new place...we're debating between airport express or just a normal linksys...looking for pros and cons of both i guess.

you've all be extremely helpful

 

[strydr]

my room mate is running a powerbook as well, the one before the upgraded processor and downgraded screen

we'll have a wireless connection...not a difficult thing to set up i hope.

is airport express any better than say...a linksys wireless deal?

I use both the AE (G) and a linksys wireless (B). can't say either is better that the other, exept the AE is much faster (B Vs. G). The only real benifit to the AE is it will travel with you (if you travel), and it a Apple product
I also live in the "OC", so if you have any problems, drop me a e-mail, or PM me.

 

[mizzi]

awesome, thanks!

 

[Clix Pix]

When I was standing in the Apple store about to purchase my iMac, I said, "oh, by the way, I have a network with a couple of Windows XP machines...." and he smiled and said, "not to worry: the minute you turn on your new iMac it will find and connect to the network." Remembering the hassle I'd had setting up that network, I thought, "yeah, sure, Riiiiiight!" but simply smiled and we went on with our process....

So I get the shiny new iMac home and I turn it on and I'm expecting this horrendous, time-consuming setup process. I was astonished and delighted when sure enough, the machine DID immediately latch on to the network, no fuss, no muss, and I was even more delighted when the whole setting-up process was equally as effortless. Within minutes, it seemed, I was happily getting comfy with my new machine..... Ditto when I got my 15" PB. Again, nothing to the whole process.

In contrast....I spent some time tonight trying to add another WIN XP (Home) machine to the network so that I could transfer some files off it into my own XP Pro machine. Frustration to the max. I HATE Windows!!!! I hatehatehate it! Finally I gave up that whole adding-it-to-the-network idea and will just get one of those little USB drives, stick that in the machine and suck up the files I need from it, then stick the drive into my own machine and be done with the whole thing. What makes this even more frustrating is that I had tried this same thing a couple of weeks back and had briefly succeeded, but whatever worked then sure didn't work tonight. Typical Windows behavior....

This was the first time in days that I'd even turned on my WIN XP machine and man, do I notice the differences between it and my Macs. NO comparison. I can't believe that I spent all those years using Windoze when there was something so much better available....

OTB

 

[Clix Pix]

I realize now that I kind of veered off-topic and never really answered the concerns of the OP....

If you've got a network already in place, the PB should find it and latch right on, no problem. Setting up a new network is a matter of plugging in the hardware and the ethernet cable for the one machine which needs to be wired and the rest should work wirelessly with no problem. I set up my initial network a couple of years ago, but then when I got my PB, decided it was time to go with an updated router, so got the Linksys WRT54GX2. My earlier Netgear wireless router was only a "B," and didn't have the latest security features. Setting up the new router was relatively painless, as I continued to use the WIN XP Pro machine as the one hardwired by ethernet cable and was able to use the installation CD in that machine. For the time being I have a couple of other older Windoze machines which need to be connected, too, through ethernet, otherwise I would have just gone with Apple's Airport Extreme.

Shortly after I'd got the network running to my satisfaction I decided that I wanted my two Macs, but none of the other machines, to share a printer, so I put an old printer on my PC and then got an Airport Express and set up just the two Macs to share that wirelessly. Works a treat!

Hope this reassures you somewhat....

OTB

 

[strydr]

XP Home has limited network ability. your best bet, if they are all on the same subnet, browse through explorer by IP (ie, \\192.168.1.X\Share-name. As long as you have already shared a folder, and made sure you have the right permissions set, you should be able to see it. Man, windoz is a pain in the arse.

 

[Clix Pix]

Thanks! Windoze is DEFINITELY a pain! I remember now that one reason i bought a PC with WIN XP Pro was because the networking would be easier, but didn't realize how much more of a hassle it is with a WIN XP Home machine. Ugh!

Decided to forget about trying to get the thing on the network and instead bought one of those Lexar Jump Drives and will simply use that to pull off the files I want from that machine and then stick them on the other one.... Seems easier in the long run. I'd been wanting a good excuse to buy one of those things anyway....

I am hoping/assuming that the Jump Drive will also work with my Macs in case I decide to use it with them for some reason?

OTB

 

[Melkor]

Am I stoopid??

I'm having difficulty setting up my internet connection. ( You guys are making me feel a right dumbass )

Anyways I have a wireless router in my house. My PB picks up it's signal alright so I know there's no major problems. However I still can't seem to get it working.

Could someone tell me how to do it? ( I'm a total noob to OS X, I just got my first mac about a week ago so be gentle)

 

[strydr]

I'm having difficulty setting up my internet connection. ( You guys are making me feel a right dumbass )

Anyways I have a wireless router in my house. My PB picks up it's signal alright so I know there's no major problems. However I still can't seem to get it working.

Could someone tell me how to do it? ( I'm a total noob to OS X, I just got my first mac about a week ago so be gentle)

OK, let's try a few things..
First off, your mac finds (and connects) to your wireless network, right?
OK, good, now does your wireless AP (access point) give our IP addresses (DHCP), or are you set staticly? If this is the default setup, it's prob. DHCP. So, open System Preferences-->Network. From here, you can configure any (or all) of your networking adapters. Under the TCP/IP tab, is DHCP selected? Do you have a legitimate IP Address (ie 192.168.X.X)? If not, try pushing the "Renew DHCP Lease" button. If this returns a good number (ie anything BUT 169.X.X.X), then your there. you can open a Terminal window (Applications-->Utilities-->Terminal, and type ping http://www.macrumors.com. You should get a reply now (CTRL-C to stop the ping) If this works, open safari, and you should be good. If not, let us know, so we can troubleshoot more.

Sorry if this is too confusing....

 

[Melkor]

cheers for helping me

Ok it's weird. I opened the network thing and it says next to airport:

Airport is connected to the network BISHOP(thats the name of my houshold network). Airport has a self assigned ip address and may not be able to connect to the internet.

I connect to my college wireless earlier ( i didnt set it up, some guy did it for me) so i know it works. i cant figure it out

 

[trainguy77]

It sounds like you are having problems connecting to the network am i correct? If so then you will need to find you WEP or WPA key, unless you have airport, to find this go to another comp on the network that is working, and find its ip
for windows you do this by going into command prompt and typing ipconfig then if the take the ip it returns and make the last digit a 1, type this into your browser on the working machine

so
if the ip is 192.168.1.5 type http://192.168.1.1 into the browser. Log in. Then look around for the WEP/WPA key it is in a different spot on all routers. Then type that into Mac OS X, (it should be long)

I hope this helps, ask if you have more problems, you are not a dumbass, we have to learn some time, i had problems first time i tried too.

EDIT: you beet me to posting!

 

[trainguy77]

Do you have other PCs on the network working? maybe DHCP is not turned on the router?

 

[Melkor]

Do you have other PCs on the network working? maybe DHCP is not turned on the router?

Ya im on a PC right now that is on the router. Thanks for the tip about how to get the WEP key by the way. I went to mcuh trouble to find it earlier today.

 

[Melkor]

The IP address is coming up and everything. I can't understant this.

btw, i just unchecked the PPPoE box. I wonder will that make a difference.

 

[trainguy77]

If the IP is 169.254.x.x then it is being assigned by your mac not by your router, which is a problem. check to see if DHCP is on in the router. also check to so what your PCs IP is that might give us a clue to whats happening.

EDIT: is the mac setup for DHCP? In the TCP/IP pane is it set to use DHCP?

 

[Melkor]

EDIT: is the mac setup for DHCP? In the TCP/IP pane is it set to use DHCP?

Ya it's set up as DHCP.

 

[Melkor]

I really get the feeling I am connected. on the network logo on the dock i get the lightning bolt symbol as opposed to the empty socket symbol. It really looks connected.

I've tried both firefox and safari. no luck, yet it IS connected to my router.

edit: is it possibe that im only allowed to connect to one other router? becaue it works in my college.