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macadaisical · Jul 12, 2006, 01:56 PM

I have comcast internet hard wired to my IMac. I need to find a way to connect my PC laptop with XP to the same internet connection. I need something that will allow me to connect wirelessly with the laptop. The IMac has built-in wireless but I do not need to connect wirelessly to it.

draggerman11 · Jul 12, 2006, 02:33 PM

Just use internet sharing in OS X. System Preferences -> Sharing -> Internet -> Click the drop down menu next to "Share your connection from:" and select ethernet -> click the box next to "Airport" in the box below.

Then click "Airport Options," configure your new wireless network, and connect to it through your Windows XP laptop. Viola.

If you want another option, you can buy a wireless router (I highly recommend Linksys routers), and set it up between your cable modem and your iMac. You can connect your iMac to the router by ethernet, and connect your Windows laptop to the router through its access point function.

macadaisical · Jul 12, 2006, 04:10 PM

I tried a linksys wireless and could not get it to work. The documentation refered only to PC setup. I could not connect to the internet even though I was hard wired through the Linksys and was not depending on the wireless. Is there a setup I am missing?

ghporter · Jul 12, 2006, 06:11 PM

Setting up a Linksys wireless router should be very simple. Connect an ethernet cable to it from your computer (to the LAN side) and use your browser to connect to http://192.168.1.1. An authentication box should pop up-the default user name is blank (as in no entry) and the default password is "admin" (without the quotes). Connecting may require you to go into your Mac's Network Preferences pane, select "built in ethernet," and then click on the "renew DHCP lease" button, but that's the only thing you might need to do on the Mac. You should be able to tell the box what kind of connection you have (either "cable" or "DHCP" probably) and then move on to set up the wireless portion. Follow the instructions in the manual to do this, and don't let the PC-specific terminology scare you. It's really not hard, just daunting the first time.