I'm not exactly a technology guru, so apologies in advance if the
terminology is incorrect! I have a Powerbook G4 running OSX 10.2.6 and
I would like to share its DSL internet connection to my girlfriend's
desktop PC in our house. Her PC runs WinXP. I understand that my
powerbook is "airport ready", so I'm thinking about two options. One
would be to get an Airport card + airport base station and a network
interface card for the PC. That would then make my mac the access
point? The other way would be to do the opposite: get a router/base
station for the pc and make it the access point; that would mean I
would have to use just the airport card and not the base station? Is
there any special software needed as well? Mainly I wan't to share
the internet connection; with file and printer sharing still
important, but less of a priority. It would have to be wireless, so
it sounds like 802.11b would be the way to go. Does anyone have any
experience with setups like these, or knows the pros & cons (or maybe
another setup alltogether!) of both? Any suggestions would be greatly
appreciated.

Thanks,

Tom

taoist23********.com (Thomas Anderson) wrote in message news:<64add040.0311091115.2b827a4d@posting.google. com>...
> I'm not exactly a technology guru, so apologies in advance if the
> terminology is incorrect! I have a Powerbook G4 running OSX 10.2.6 and
> I would like to share its DSL internet connection to my girlfriend's
> desktop PC in our house. Her PC runs WinXP. I understand that my
> powerbook is "airport ready", so I'm thinking about two options. One
> would be to get an Airport card + airport base station and a network
> interface card for the PC. That would then make my mac the access
> point? The other way would be to do the opposite: get a router/base
> station for the pc and make it the access point; that would mean I
> would have to use just the airport card and not the base station? Is
> there any special software needed as well? Mainly I wan't to share
> the internet connection; with file and printer sharing still
> important, but less of a priority. It would have to be wireless, so
> it sounds like 802.11b would be the way to go. Does anyone have any
> experience with setups like these, or knows the pros & cons (or maybe
> another setup alltogether!) of both? Any suggestions would be greatly
> appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Tom

A cheaper way would be to buy one router with 802.11b. This way it
does the sharing (you don't have leave either the PC or Mac on to have
access). These cost ~ $100-$200 US and since they usually also have 4
wired ports on them already you can just plug your machines in with
ethernet cables. Later you can buy the 802.11b cards for your
machines. This is the better way to share since the router will have
a built in firewall, can run all the time using much less power than
either machine and is very simple to configure from either machine.

I don't have this exact setup since I did it much earlier, I have a
hardwired router (no 802.11b) then an Apple Airport. The Airport was
purchased when this was the cheapest 802.11b on the market. Anyway
this is effectively what you will have with just one box. It is the
best way to go since routers are now very cheap and are designed for
this job. Also if the Apple was doing the internet sharing, and you
take it to work your girl friend just lost internet access. Putting a
PC directly on the internet is NOT a good idea these days. Unless you
are right on top of security it's gonna get hosed. You will sleep
much easier behind a hardware firewall.

--jim