# computer to computer airport network



## fiain (Aug 21, 2004)

i'm trying to figure out how to make a network connection between two airport card equiped powerbooks. got to the point of creating a network but get lost from there. any thoughts gratefully appreciated.


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## iBaller (Jun 16, 2003)

Well you need an internet connection on one of the Macs first. Then go into System Preferences, to the Sharing preference pane, and click the Internet tab. 

It should say "Share your internet connection using" and then a drop down menu of options. You want to select Airport and then check the Airport box in the "To computers using" field. Then click start and you should be good to go. 

On your other computer just select the airport network that you created on the first computer.


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

I tried this and get the following warning:

"If you turn on this port, your Internet Service Provider might terminate your service to prevent you from disrupting its network.

In some cases (if you use a cable modem, for example) you might unintentionally affect the network settings of your ISP and violate the terms of your service agreement."

What is that all about?

Cheers


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## TroutMaskReplica (Feb 28, 2003)

flain,

do you want to create a network or just share your internet connection?


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## Chealion (Jan 16, 2001)

There are two ways you can set up an adhoc network. (Computer to computer network).

The first is to simply use the Airport menu to create a network. Have the other computer join the network and tada, you're connected.

The only problem with this set up is that you don't have an acutal IP (you have one that is self assigned), but Rendezvous allows you to get around this, so you can connect regardless. (eg. File Sharing, iChat, etc.)

If you want to be able to say FTP, SSH or use Windows Sharing on the other Mac, you will need to give each computer a manual IP.

To do this, just open System Preferences and go to the Network Preference Pane. Double click on your Airport connection, and click on the TCP/IP tab. For getting an IP, choose Manual and then enter a "dotted quad". For example an easy one to use is: 10.10.10.x (x is a different number you an choose, but have it different for each computer). However, once you're done be sure to set getting your IP back to automatic (which is the default for most connections).

You can essentially use any number between 0 and 255, but the most popular ones to use are the easy ones to remember; eg. 192.168.0.1 (192.168.x.y is a popular IP set for routers), or 10.1.1.x, etc.

Lastly, you can also use the Internet Sharing feature in Mac OS X. The Internet Sharing feature is powerful, so it can really hurt or work super well.

This feature will allow you to share your internet connection (just choose which one it is) and then share it on another connection (eg. share your ethernet connection wirelessly or share your wireless signal over a wire.)

Just be sure to turn off internet sharing when you don't want to use it, otherwise it will cause problems; especially wireless to ethernet, as your Mac will run a DHCP server and hand out IPs. If the server is running when you connect to an existing network, other people will connect to you and it won't work. It is also very hard to find out whose computer is causing this problem.

Lastly, if you want to transfer files, it would actually be better to just run an ethernet cable between the two computers as a 100Mbps ethernet cable is a tad faster then the 11Mbps in 802.11b (standard Airport) and the 54Mbps 802.11g (Airport Extreme) speeds, however you just can't beat the simplicity of wireless. (No wires







)


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