[Monkeymike]

Hey there,

I just got a new Airport Base Station and Airport Card. I have a Flat panel G4 iMac and an iBook. I put the card in the iBook and got the base station up and running. The wireless internet is working perfectly but I cant get the internet to work on the iMac. I connected the base station to my DSL modem and then connected the iMac to the base station but it says it cant find the PPPoe.

What do I need to do to make my iMac get online again???

Thanks for any help you can give

[Putta]

OK, here are my thoughts and they have worked on what I wanted to do. There are two ways to do this, set the basestation up as a bridge or set it up to manage your connection and then share your internet connection to the machines which is much better and the only one I'll cover...

Use the iBook then: Firstly, you must open the Airport Admin Utility (macintosh HD/applications/utilities). It will scan for your basestation after which you must click configure and enter the basestation password. A screen with a number of tabs comes up. Click on the second (Internet).

IIn the Connect using: menu select PPPoE, then enter your username, password (by clicking on the change passowrd button) and enter a service name (optional I believe).

I started with leaving the always stay connected button checked but had real problems with it (internet connection freezing etc). I have now turned that off and left the pther options as default (Automatically connect on and Disconnect if idle - never).

Then click on the network tab and make sure the Distribute IP addresses button is checked and that the Share a single IP address option is chosen.

Click update in the bottom right hand corner and wait for the basestation to restart. Once this is done, open your Network Prefs and select the Configure using DHCP option. Click apply now (and make sure your iBook is connected to your airport network) and all should be working.

Just in case, make sure your Internet modem is connected to the WAN port on the basestation (the circle of dots), while your iMac is connected to the LAN port <..> symbol (or nearly).

Sorry if this doesn't help or is overkill, I didn't quite know where your problem was.

Cheers,

Rohan

[Monkeymike]

Hi and thanks so much for your post. I am not sure if I need to do all that though. I set uo the base station and it works fine with the iBook. Everthing is working but I dont know how to get the internet to work with my iMac through the ethernet. The iMac works when I disconnect it from the base station and just connect to the DSL modem.

Any advice on how to add the iMac to the net work with Ethernet?????

[Putta]

I think the problem is that only one computer can handle the PPPoE connection at any one time. That is why I suggested setting up internet sharing.

That would also explain why the connection only works with one machine at a time. The question is whether you have the same username and password on both machines. If you do then they will conflict and only the machine which connects first (which will be the basestation) will be able to get online. If they are different, then you are trying to use two accounts with one line which is also impossible.

The PPPoE connection relies on a set username and password which can only log in once at any moment in time. By setting the basestation up as your PPPoE client you are only connecting with one machine at a time. The fact that the airport basestation is sharing that connection between two other computers can't be seen by your ISP anyway.

There are other advantages, including making it easier for a new computer to join (even if it is just a friend coming round), as they only need to set their computer to DHCP.

Hope this helps as I know the pain that setting up a network can cause!

Cheers,

Rohan

[duboy]

monkeymike,

i have a similar setup at home. here's what you do. airport works with your DSL right? (i.e. you can surf web etc) the basestation is a router, so it will route 802.11b (which in your situation works) and it will also route ethernet. all you have to do is connect iMac and then set up TCP/IP to work with DHCP in your network prefs. the basestation is actually doing the PPPoE connection already, so you basically set up the iMac just like you set up your iBook with airport. TCP/IP. this might sound a bit confusing, if it is, post again or email me at steve@darg.net and i'll see if i can think up a better explanation. i'm at work right now :-) don't have much time to fudge. haha.

[Monkeymike]

Just wanted to thank both of you! I have everything up and running smoothly thanks to your help.

Hope you both have a great week.

Cheers.