Anyone know much about networking who feels like giving me some guidance before I chuck my computers out the window? This is the problem - besides that I have no idea what I'm doing - I'm trying to set up a network between two laptops wirelessly so they can share files and share the internet access one has. One is a mac and the other is a PC, and both are very new. I've turned on sharing, I've set up a user on the mac, I've read manuals, mac boards, apple and microsoft support, etc., but just can't seem to figure it out. The PC seems to think it sees the Mac and says it's connected, but it only seems to send information, it doesn't receive. I've tried pinging both computers and both fail. Anyone have any ideas for what to do? I'm going to call Mac support tomorrow to see if they can help.
Thanks for the link. The article says that Windows computers can't connect to Macs without additional software, but that is different from what I've read.
Both computers are really new laptops - one is a powerbook g4 and the other is a Sony Vaio. I called tech support and they were pretty clueless. There is an update for the OSX system I'm using that may help resolve some of the problems I'm having which is what I'm going to try next. Basically, my PC sees the Mac network, says it connects, but I can't ping it and it doesn't seem able to connect to it.
I don't think so - at least I was told by Mac that you can do a P2P connection wirelessly. And I've read stuff on-line that suggests it's possible. I'm downloading the latest update for OSX to see if that resolves anything.
Thanks - I'll check those settings on the PC side. I'm a little annoyed that all of this isn't easier than it seems it should be. For example, in the mac, you have to know the name of the PC you are connecting to and/or the IP address. Why can't it just identify the computer wirelessly and connect to it? In Windows, the computer seems to automatically detect that there is a network available (my mac computer), but the Mac doesn't seem able to do this, but maybe the upgrade will address this problem. I think I may need to go buy a networking for dummies book.
haha, just go buy a cheap linksys router. easier and both can connect to the internet simultaneiously
Yeah - I guess you're right. I've been trying to put off buying a Mac Airport Base because they are a couple hundred dollars -- but a wireless linksys router looks like it will be cheaper. I'm also trying to put it off until I finally start paying for broadband. It's just a temporary fix, and now I just feel determined to figure it out.
Almost completely off-topic: if your computer is on a network, go to prefernces in iTunes and turn on sharing. That way, you can keep all your mp3s on one computer but listen to it anywhere in the house.
Believe it or not, I had my computers connected for all of 10 minutes tonite -- so at least I'm making a little progress. I thought I had solved the puzzle, but now I can't make them connect again. Oh well, at least I made a small breakthrough.
1. Open iTunes 2. Choose Preferences, then select "Sharing" at the top of the window. 3. Select the "Share my music" checkbox. 4. Select the "Look for shared music" checkbox. 4. Repeat 1-4 on other computers in your network. You should now see a blue icon on the main iTunes screen with all the other playlists. If you don't see the playlists from other computers, you might have to turn off your personal firewall. Now, this only works for computers in the same network, (as opposed to the internet) and if you have iTunes up and running on the computer you're getting music from.
I did a bit of research and found that it's not necessary to turn off the firewall on a Mac to do this, follow these instructions
Finally got my computers connected and was able to run the I-tunes sharing thing - although I guess they block from copying files from another computers I-tunes folders. Now if I could just figure out how to make the connection work when internet sharing is turned on...
Are you on a Mac? If so, there is a place to click share printer under system preferences - sharing. I don't think every printer is compatible to be shared though, so you should check out Apple's website to see if it is. If you do have a Mac, I found that the message board on Apple's support pages has a lot more info than the Macforum I had been searching.
I have a Mac (OS X) and a Dell laptop (Win XP) and I have them networked using a router. The printer is local to the Mac and I want to print from the laptop.