Mac/PC wireless compatibility?

Author	Post
ChodeMasterJ Perpetual Marxist 5405 Posts 4/03	Posted - Jul 1 2007 : 4:57AM hey. say i live in a house with someone who uses a PC but I have a Mac laptop. Can you have both of those coming off of the same wireless router? i've never used wireless, so i'm not sure about any of it. i'm thinking of getting a MacBook, but if you share a house with someone who uses PC's rather than Macs, i'm not too sure about if you can have them coming off of the same wireless router. i've been wondering this for about a year but have never asked. thanks. [Link]
conquistador Deactivated User Hellhamster. 2947 Posts 10/03	Posted - Jul 1 2007 : 5:19AM CMJ: You should be fine using the same wireless router. Unless your mac is really really old and you have never upgraded the software and drivers on it. [Link]
LubeNLuv Senior Member 1854 Posts 3/06	Posted - Jul 1 2007 : 10:02AM I'm on a Mac, the rest of my household is on Windows PC's. Wireless connectivity is the same for both OS environments. Just make sure both of them are set up for DHCP connectivity, then point the respective machines to your router name. If you use security (and you should) you'll need that long password to feed both machines, but once the Airport in your Mac and the wireless NIC in your Windows box has that, you are gold. [Link]
BigBobxxx Senior Member 2681 Posts 5/04	Posted - Jul 1 2007 : 2:47PM Not every wireless router supports Mac. I suggest you read the requirements of the router in question before you buy it. [Link]
Hardware All-Star Member Your other left 14606 Posts 3/02	Posted - Jul 1 2007 : 4:49PM Huh? Is there some issue with Mac's and DHCP I don't know about? If a Mac is using TCP/IP, which it has to for any internet communications, then it should work just fine with any wireless router made for the home market. [Link]

Drew Black broken crankshaft 8031 Posts 9/99	Posted - Jul 1 2007 : 4:50PM And after you buy a wireless router make sure you upgrade the firmware to the latest version. "New" products often sit on the shelf or in a warehouse for weeks or months before they get purchased. (In the mean time important functional and/or security updates may have occured.) I had some problems with Mac software update causing DHCP problems with a Linksys router back in February of this year. When I upgraded the Linksys firmware the Mac clients had no problems connecting to the network. [Link]
BigBobxxx Senior Member 2681 Posts 5/04	Posted - Jul 1 2007 : 6:45PM Reading from the box of my Linksys WRT300N Wireless-N Broadband Router: Minimum requirements * Internet Explorer 5.5 or Firefox 1.0 * CD-ROM drive * Windows 2000 or XP * Network Adapter The manual does say, however... "Does the Router support any operating system other than Windows 98SE, Windows Millennium, Windows 2000, or Windows XP? Yes, but Linksys does not, at this time, provide technical support for setup, configuration or troubleshooting of any non-Windows operating systems." I suspect that the package requirements are taking into account the additional software included, which is Windows only. With regard to potential Mac use, there is quite a lot of configuration required when initially setting-up the wireless network... which I feel would be quite daunting without any documentation or support. Also, will the router support the browser options available to OS X users? I suspect that you could probably just plug into one of the wired ports with no problem, but that's not why one spends premium money for a wireless-N router [Link]
Hardware All-Star Member Your other left 14606 Posts 3/02	Posted - Jul 1 2007 : 8:01PM The 'additional software included' is probably the software that allows you to configure the router from your computer, which is to say, via the network. (Old fogies like me configured routers via a serial port). Since ChodeMasterJ isn't going to be setting up the router, this should be a non-issue. As Drew and I have indicated, any problems are likely to be DHCP related - that being the protocol that is used to 'automagically' assign your computer an IP address so that it can communicate with the internet. Also, will the router support the browser options available to OS X users? Click to expand I don't see why a router should even be aware that OS X has browser options. Strictly speaking, a router simply determines whether or not it needs to move packets from one network to another network. In this case, where the user is attempting to access the internet, both Windows and OS X are required to use the same protocol, so if one works then both should work. Of course, you may be using a box that incorporates firewall functions along with routing. Again, this should make no difference. Both Windows and OS X have to use the same ports and protocols to communicate with web servers. [Link]
BigBobxxx Senior Member 2681 Posts 5/04	Posted - Jul 1 2007 : 11:30PM Hardware wrote: I don't see why a router should even be aware that OS X has browser options. Strictly speaking, a router simply determines whether or not it needs to move packets from one network to another network. In this case, where the user is attempting to access the internet, both Windows and OS X are required to use the same protocol, so if one works then both should work. Click to expand They specifically state "Internet Explorer 5.5 or Firefox 1.0" in the minimum requirements on the box. I don't think Mac OS X users are going to be using these. Mac may work. All I've been saying is that it is certainly not supported. Also, to get the full benefit of wireless-N, you need to be using a wireless-N adapter. The minimum requirements on my Linksys WMP300N Wireless-N PCI Adapter specifically include: * 600 MHz or faster PC * Windows 2000 or XP with Service Pack 1 (or later) This is pretty darn platform specific. The router itself is backwards compatible with wireless-B and wireless-G. So, you just might be able to connect with a Mac that is already enabled. Personally, I would just buy a wireless router that claims to support Mac OS X. [Link]
LubeNLuv Senior Member 1854 Posts 3/06	Posted - Jul 1 2007 : 11:46PM The vast majority of Linksys, Dlink and other consumer-grade routers have a web-based console for administrative purposes. I can pull that console up inside of Safari or Firefox on my Mac just as easily as I can on my Windows machine. Since the GUI for the admin console is mostly forms-based HTML, it works just fine. The router really doesn't know what kind of PC is accessing it...just that the proper credentials have been passed. I travel all over the world with my Mac and have yet to have a problem connecting with any router I've encountered. Linksys, D-Link, Cisco, etc.....as long as I stay in DHCP and don't try anything Mac-specific (Airport has some interesting variant protocols), I'm fine. BTW, I'm using my Mac at home with a Linksys WRT350N, which is a slightly improved variant of the 300 you referenced. I can access the admin console on that just fine with my Mac and it works with OSX just fine...no differences. I can't use the Wireless-N features, of course, since Linksys doesn't make a Wireless-N Airport wireless adapter for the Mac systems. But since my Mac is 802.11G it works fast enough for me. The box for the 350 clearly states Win XP, etc required and makes no mention of the Mac anywhere. But heck, that means nothing where DHCP is concerned. I can connect my Mac, my kids Sony PSP, the Wii in the living room, the Xbox360, my PDA and even a Nokia internet tablet all to this thing. DHCP is a fairly universal wireless networking protocol....Windows isn't required for access. Edited by - lubenluv on 7/1/2007 11:50:58 PM [Link]
Drew Black broken crankshaft 8031 Posts 9/99	Posted - Jul 2 2007 : 12:15AM BigBobxxx wrote: They specifically state "Internet Explorer 5.5 or Firefox 1.0" in the minimum requirements on the box. Click to expand The web-based admin interfaces typically use code. These two browsers indicate the oldest feature set/functionality required to properly use the router's built-in web server features. (The minimum feature set should also indicate support must be enabled too.) Since the company doesn't intend to provide tech support for Mac or Linux users I can see why they would leave Safari and other browsers off the minimum requirements list. However, just about any modern browser should work fine and meet the minimum needs. (Like LubeNLuv indicated.) However, I do agree that if you bought a Mac you should feel obligated to purchase nothing but Apple approved and/or manufactured devices. (Anything less just wouldn't be cool. Don't you watch the commercials?) You have joined the Borg, you might as well assimilate, resistance being futile and all. [Link]
LubeNLuv Senior Member 1854 Posts 3/06	Posted - Jul 2 2007 : 12:26AM LOL at Drew. I didn't buy the Airport Extreme because it was more expensive than the Linksys that was on sale at Best Buy. Cheap and serviceable beats stylish in my book. That's the same reason I'll be sticking with my Blackberry and not buying an iPhone. **EDIT And I lied. I bought an iPhone this morning. I read too many reviews and the damn gadget bug got to me. Damn you Apple! But for ROUTERS, cheap and serviceable still wins. Edited by - lubenluv on 7/2/2007 12:21:12 PM [Link]
BigBobxxx Senior Member 2681 Posts 5/04	Posted - Jul 2 2007 : 10:07AM However, I do agree that if you bought a Mac you should feel obligated to purchase nothing but Apple approved and/or manufactured devices. (Anything less just wouldn't be cool. Don't you watch the commercials?) You have joined the Borg, you might as well assimilate, resistance being futile and all. Click to expand Guys, at no time was I ever suggesting buying "Apple approved and/or manufactured devices." FYI, I used to be a loyal Borg (Apple) before switching over to Species 8472 (The Dark Side) when Apple took away the ability to boot natively into OS 9 (not the emulation mode from within OS X). [Link]
LubeNLuv Senior Member 1854 Posts 3/06	Posted - Jul 2 2007 : 12:38PM I just found out that my MacBook Pro SHIPPED with Wireless-N capabilities! It just needs to be activated via a firmware patch from Apple. So scratch what I was saying about not being able to use the Wireless-N features of my Linksys router! Well....MAYBE scratch that. The Wireless-N protocol from Linksys, while supposedly a standard, may be a bit different. I'll keep you posted. [Link]
ChodeMasterJ Perpetual Marxist 5405 Posts 4/03	Posted - Jul 6 2007 : 9:41PM ok, i was driving to Houston the other day and was thinking...and remember that I have no experience whatsover with wireless, so this question might be kinda dumb, but... for those that have/use Mac laptops, have you ever run into any problems using them with the wireless at say Hotels or places like Starbucks, etc? or is wireless pretty much the same everywhere? if i think of more dumb questions, i'll add them to the thread. haha. [Link]

LubeNLuv Senior Member 1854 Posts 3/06	Posted - Jul 7 2007 : 12:10AM I've traveled all over the world with my Mac CMJ...never had an issue accessing wireless. As stated earlier in the thread, wireless routers can't tell the difference between a Windows box or a MAC when it comes to doling out IP addresses. Just set your Mac wireless adapter up for DHCP connectivity, get to the hotel (assuming they have WiFi), launch Safari and you'll end up at the Hotel's WiFi login screen. Piece of cake. [Link]
ChodeMasterJ Perpetual Marxist 5405 Posts 4/03	Posted - Jul 9 2007 : 11:32PM ok, thanks everybody for the help. you've given me a lot of info to chew on while i decide what to do. Another question - say there's a desktop pc in my house and i have a Macbook...how would you go about connecting both to the internet? would you have to plug the PC into the wireless router too? Macbooks are soooo cool. i really, really want to hurry up and get one. Thanks. [Link]
LubeNLuv Senior Member 1854 Posts 3/06	Posted - Jul 10 2007 : 1:30AM If I had a desktop and a MacBook Pro wireless laptop, I'd buy a cheap Linksys "gateway" router and plug that into my Cable Modem or DSL modem. Check with your high-speed ISP...many times, they'll give you a wireless router/modem for free. At any rate, I'd plug my desktop PC into the router (ethernet cable) for max speed, and then use my Macbook in wireless mode...still plenty fast. This is how my home network is setup. My main desktop is plugged into the router, all my other PC's in the house are wireless laptops, Xbox360 wireless, etc. [Link]
ChodeMasterJ Perpetual Marxist 5405 Posts 4/03	Posted - Nov 15 2007 : 4:11AM can you use the Mac Mini's wirelessly? like can you have an Airport Extreme Base Station in one room and have a Mac Mini in another that's connected to it? I know you can with laptops and such but I wasn't sure about the Mac Mini. anyone have any experience with the Mini's? I'd ask this at the Mac forums, but they'd crucify me for my wonderment. :-\ Thanks. [Link]