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Question for computer nerd mags here: My wife is getting her hands on a free Mac Laptop that's a couple of years old. Is it difficult to set up a network at home where this one can co-exist with our Dell PC? I'll probably get a wireless router for the Mac, but is there any reason to do the same with the pC? I figured it's easier (and maybe faster) to just keep it on the landline within the house.
There's no reason to get a new router for that Mac if your network already has one. Set up the Mac to do Ethernet (there's several of network types on Mac, afair), get an IP address via DHCP and you should be good to go. File sharing between the two shouldn't be a problem either.
I don't have one. Just the dsl modem from SBC (now AT&T).
Gotcha... since they all come with dhcp/nat these days, the router should go between the modem and the other machines... from there it should be pretty straightforward.
I like the Airport Express (though I'm a pc guy). I run it with a simple WEP encryption at home (I know, it ain't that safe and all that - but I don't really care; it's not like my tgr surfing is that secret and all work stuff is done through heavily encrypted connections. I love the ease of setup (even easier from a mac) of the Airport Express; also it works great for streaming music to the stereo from various laptops and finally it's small, so I often take it with me when travelling to places I know have broadband but no wireless.