Author Topic: It just works,  (Read 2068 times)

Offline Xairbusdriver

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It just works,
« on: September 17, 2007, 10:15:38 PM »
Been extremely happy with our little network even though the wireless part is slower than the Ethernet part, at least my wife's iBook is almost twice the Hz as my old iGloo, and I don't use her machine that often. She's happy, so what else matters?! ;-) And I got the drag-n-drop file transfer fixed, so that's not a problem anymore.

So, when I was asked to demo setting up a wireless network for the MUG tomorrow night I said OK. Piece 'O Cake!

Well, it would be if I wanted to lug my iGloo to the meeting, along with the Airport Base Station and my wife's iBook. No, I thought it would be more instructive and easier to just take the club's G4 mini, the church's Intel mini (with an Airport card, of course) and the AEBS.

But it should be easy just to add these two Macs to the existing network, right? I certainly thought it would/should be. Not so fast 'wannabee geek!' blush-anim-cl.gif

All Macs can see the others via the normal "Browse" button or the "Network" Sidebar in a Finder window. Naturally, both my iGloo and the iBook can connect each way. But the G4 mini refuses to actually connect to anything and the Intel mini will only connect to my iGloo! wallbash.gif

Different settings seem to make no difference; Manual, DHCP, secret hand shakes, etc. dntknw.gif

All machines are running 10.4.10 except the iBook which is still at .8. Replaced one Ethernet cable! All Macs can access the Internet.

If things don't get fixed by Noon, I'll dismantle the current network and try building one with just the two minis. The only problem will be avoiding the outrage and hurled objects from Judy! eek2.gif

Any suggestions (other than wearing armor)? laugh.gif
Anyone got more than two Macs connected by Airport, I know the Ethernet process is much simpler, and I think I can even use the Ethernet switch for the pure Ethernet version.
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF COUNTRIES
Those that use metric = #1 Measurement system
And the United States = The Banana system
CAUTION! Childhood vaccinations cause adults! :yes:

Offline jepinto

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It just works,
« Reply #1 on: September 18, 2007, 06:48:24 AM »
Probably too simple...but is Sharing enabled on the two new additions?
Do not fear your enemies.  The worse they can do is kill you.  Do not fear friends.  At worst, they may betray you.
Fear those who do not care; they neither kill nor betray, but betrayal and murder exist because of their silent consent.
~Bruno Jasienski~

Offline FLASH1296

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« Reply #2 on: September 18, 2007, 07:48:54 AM »
With the risk of sounding silly, my serious recommendation is to beg/borrow/steal an Apple Extreme Base Station. I simply adore mine. It is an absolute  no-brainer to set up a network with all of the attending MUG members present. I forget the limit but it is a very high number. I experience only the very smallest drop in connection speed when compared to my ethernet-connected iMac G-5. My MacBook and MacBook Pro run very well indeed wirelessly, at an impressive distance. Even set up in 802.11G mode you will be intensely pleased.

Incidentally, I was Prez' of a MUG myself, so I empathize with your concerns re: a network presentation.

Offline Xairbusdriver

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« Reply #3 on: September 18, 2007, 08:31:14 AM »
Yes, Sharing enabled on all machines. All have "Personal File Sharing" and "Printer Sharing" enabled.

The wireless router is an Airport Extreme Base Station, 2006 model. The whole presentation arose by another officer stating she could not connect two Macs when using a non-Apple wireless router. There really should be no basic difference between an Airport and a Linksys/Belkin/JohnDoe hardware, they all must follow the standards. However, the software can make a big difference and Apple does have the advantage, there.

Additional info:
From the Intel mini:
I can connect to my iGloo (wireless to the Airport, Ethernet to the iGloo). I can even connect to a FireWire drive attached to the iGloo and any of the three partitions on the iGloo.
I CANNOT connect to the G4 mini.
I CANNOT connect to the iBook (wireless to wireless).
In the last two cases I get the standard, "Unknown user, incorrect password, or login is disabled" dialog.

From the G4 mini:
I CANNOT connect to any other Mac. Same standard dialog as above.
Once again, this Mac DOES connect to the Internet.

From the iGloo:
I get the same "Unknown user..." dialog for the G4 mini.
I can, as stated earlier, connect to either the admin user or the Hard Drive of the iBook.
The Intel mini presents an "FTP Authentication" dialog(?). What's THAT about?

From the iBook:
Connection to the iGloo is perfect.
It CANNOT connect to either the G4 or the Intel mini.

The standard 'unable to connect' dialog 'offers' three possible reasons: 1. wrong password, 2. unknown user name and 3. login disabled.
1. Passwords have been verified and used in accessing Keychain, Account names, etc.
2. "Network" supplies the info for the logged in user, AFAIK.
3. How does one enable or disable login? dntknw.gif

Basically, the problem is that all machines can see and use the network for Internet access but only two can access, totally, each others drives. One cannot connect to anything and one can connect only to my iGloo.
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF COUNTRIES
Those that use metric = #1 Measurement system
And the United States = The Banana system
CAUTION! Childhood vaccinations cause adults! :yes:

Offline FLASH1296

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« Reply #4 on: September 18, 2007, 09:01:09 AM »
I did not make it abundantly clear, although I did refer to the 802.11N protocol.
I was referring to the 2007 iteration of The Apple Extreme Base Station.


Perhaps these links will help:

http://www.apple.com/support/airport/

http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=140

Offline Xairbusdriver

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« Reply #5 on: September 18, 2007, 12:48:00 PM »
Thanks for the links Flash.

You'll see my thread I started yesterday on the Apple Forums. Only replies were from me, so far.
Nor am I interested in buying a replacement for the less than 1 year old Airport! I just don't think that is the problem.

The problem with most of Apples Help pages is that they assume the principle problems will be access to the Internet. That is not my problem. All machines connect easily and quickly to the Internet.

My problem is with File Sharing or file access between the four. My original two Macs handle this with pure delight, don't even need the "Go..." menu! :-) The Intel mini can access my iGloo but no other. The G4 mini cannot access any other server.

I'm going to try the complete shut down and restart procedure. If that doesn't help, I'll see if I can duplicate my old set up but with the two new minis alone; one wired to the Airport the other using 'magic'! ;-)
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF COUNTRIES
Those that use metric = #1 Measurement system
And the United States = The Banana system
CAUTION! Childhood vaccinations cause adults! :yes: