[Patcarla]

Hi,
I don't know if I should post here or in the Mac OS X forum but anyway..here is my question:
I want to buy a router (Linksys EtherFast® Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port Switch) to connect both my iMac and my Tibook to the internet through my cable modem ( road runner- DHCP server). Both computer are running Jaguar. The problem is I don't know how to set up the router and I couldn't find any good explainantion about set-up and OS X... could you guy help me?? thanks a lot..

[ghporter]

The good news is that you've chosen a pretty good router. The great news is that setting things up will be very easy.

Connecting your computers to the router is as simple as plugging in the cables at both ends. Your Macs should automatically obtain network addresses from the router, and immediately be able to share anything between them that you've made sharable.

To connect the router to the cable modem, you plug a cable between the ethernet port on the modem and the "WAN" port on the router. The router comes out of the box ready to handle the typical cable modem setup, so once you get everything plugged in (don't forget power!) you should be good to go.

Enjoy!

[SPiNdustrious]

Like most routers, the LinkSys I believe you're interested in has a configuration system that is accessible by web browser.

You'll want to enable Network Address Translation - NAT - on your router. When the router is operating in NAT mode, it creates a private local network that masquerades as a single computer when identifying itself with your ISP's systems. With NAT, the router consolidates your network traffic when sending it out and distributes it to the appropriate computer on your local network when receiving it.

When you are using NAT, your computers will have private IP addresses that are only meaningful to other computers on your local network. These private IP addresses can either be assigned manually or dynamically, using DHCP. Since this isn't a wireless setup, there is no security risk in choosing DHCP, which is probably the simplest way to go.

The router itself will be easy to configure. The little web-based interfaces, coupled with the manual, are easy to figure out. Just turn on NAT and DHCP on the router according to the manufacturer's instructions. In System Preferences>Network on both of your machines, just specify a DHCP configuration of your Ethernet connection.

Good luck and don't worry.

Peter

[Patcarla]

Cool!!
I didn't it was gonna be that easy .
Thanks a bunch for your replies.
As soon as I get the router, I'll get back to you in case I need more help.
Thanks again.