Any Apple Macintosh users?

[simpleton]

Hi List. If there are Macintosh users on the ADSL Network, perhaps we should start a forum to discuss relevant issues, problems and solutions.

286 Pasteur Rd
Rembrandt Park 2090
Johannesburg

[MacCt]

Yes, I'm one! Would be great to have a forum for the Apple guys.

[malec]

What kinda issues u having?

[bb_matt]

I know Bwana is a Mac user, there's one or two others.

I'm not currently, but I do like them - I try to snag a few minutes on my brothers ibook when I can - fully intend to own one real soon - once the i386 option has matured significantly. The idea of tri booting Mac / Linux & Windows from the same box appeals to my inner geeky penguin :D

[Afrikane]

Yes, I have a Powerbook in addition to my PC. I am no MAC pro but I find myself using the Powerbook more and more. It would be cool to be able pick the brains of the old MAC hands on the forum.

[bwana]

I know Bwana is a Mac user, there's one or two others.

I'm not currently, but I do like them - I try to snag a few minutes on my brothers ibook when I can - fully intend to own one real soon - once the i386 option has matured significantly. The idea of tri booting Mac / Linux & Windows from the same box appeals to my inner geeky penguin :D
Triple booting eh - should be interesting :) A nice thing about a mac is how easy it is to boot from a firewire drive (or even off another mac) so I'd just keep the other operating system (and windows if you must) on an external hdd.

[kolakidd]

I just joined because I saw this post, it may be useful to avoid the agony of researching every bit of hardware we buy, by posting up the Mac OS X compatible stuff we use.

I'm running a small apple network at home, a Titanium powerbook, a dual G4, and a G3 (as a print server and slave). It's wireless via a belkin wireless router, the G3 has a belkin wireless usb device, I tried a netgear device, but they don't support Mac, and as I've said on many forums, can burn in hell. helll. hell. I'm getting ADSL, and I've had confirmation from D-Link, and Billion that their wireless router/modems will support Mac (they should because they're configured via a web interface).

Re: the i386, honestly I don't think Mac would ever sanction tri-booting, the whole point of apple is that the OS is built to run on apple hardware, which is what makes it so stable. A cracked version, sure (rumour has it it's already downloadable), but then again it cracked and not sanctioned by apple. Apple apparently has hired the Sony Viao guys to work on the new hardware.

[tobeman2000]

I run a Dell PC, two IBM notebooks, a PowerBook and a G5 Imac that all connect to ADSL through an Apple airport and a DLink access point. Both wireless routers work without a problem.

[bwana]

I prefer the Airport base stations - esp the Express.

WRT the triple booting - Apple wont be able to do much about it - you can boot linux atm off their proprietary hardware so booting windoze after they switch isnt that much of a stretch of the imagination.

My thoughts are that Apple will eventually drop their hardware requirements and focus their efforts on all those pc's that wont be able to run vista. Most people who try Mac's tend not to go back.

[Afrikane]

I second the Dlink stuff as being Mac friendly. I did once have a DG834GT Netgear router/modem, I only used it for adsl access and had no problems with my Powerbook, that said, it did (the Netgear) have syncing issues so I tossed it.

[MacCt]

How does one integrate Airport with your DSL modem? Is it linked by ethernet?

[bwana]

How does one integrate Airport with your DSL modem? Is it linked by ethernet?Yeah. I let my adsl router handle the connection but you can also use bridged mode with the airport base-station controlling the connection.

[vespax]

How do you run and Airport Express on Telkom ADSL?

I think the changing IP address is messing with the AE and not letting me go online through it.

Anyone know? Worked fine in the states before coming here.

Oh, and carry an iBook G4 and an iPod nano 4gig. ;)

[bwana]

How do you run and Airport Express on Telkom ADSL?

I think the changing IP address is messing with the AE and not letting me go online through it.

Anyone know? Worked fine in the states before coming here.

Oh, and carry an iBook G4 and an iPod nano 4gig. ;)At the moment I let my adsl router handle the dialing, ip addresses, etc. Just set the AE network to connect via ethernet and either use DHCP or manually configure your ip. I've got various models of Airport base-stations as well as hardwired pc's so letting the adsl router handle everything made life easier.

However its easy enough to set the AE to use pppoe if you want it to handle the connection. In this case set your adsl modem to be in bridged mode.

[WitWolf]

.

I tried a netgear device, but they don't support Mac, .


Wierd, I set a wireless network up yesterday with a netgear wireless ADSL router (the one in the mweb blackbox) and had no problem gettin 3 macs connected to it and all 3 got better signal that the 5 desktops that was on the network.

[vespax]

At the moment I let my adsl router handle the dialing, ip addresses, etc. Just set the AE network to connect via ethernet and either use DHCP or manually configure your ip. I've got various models of Airport base-stations as well as hardwired pc's so letting the adsl router handle everything made life easier.

However its easy enough to set the AE to use pppoe if you want it to handle the connection. In this case set your adsl modem to be in bridged mode.

Haven't got a clue. I am going to go to the local Apple Centre and beg them to help me out. Fustrating really. Feel stupid.:(

[bwana]

Haven't got a clue. I am going to go to the local Apple Centre and beg them to help me out. Fustrating really. Feel stupid.:(They're usually a helpful lot. If you have any questions I'd be happy to help if I can.

[vespax]

bwana,

You mentioned you might be willing to help with my troubles. I am stilltrying to get this blasted airport up and going. I have hard reset it a number of times and have been going through the steps but nothing seems to get it on the internet.

I am using ethernet and DHCP on the config, so in theory it should just pop on. Imaginet uses 192 addressing so I placed it on share IP addresses and then clicked down to 192. Thought that seemed right. But nothing seems to get there. I am just wanting the AE to act as a bridge since the router is finally acting nice to me.

Any help you might be able to give would be appreciated. Aaron.

P.S. - The apple guys looked at me like I knew what I was talking about but didn't know how to plug it in. They were friendly but couldn't do much with it. :confused:

[bwana]

vespax - sent you a PM

[vespax]

battery is about to die, but got it sorted out. Some techie at UCT configured the proxy list for wirleless there and that was screwing everything up. Hours wasted by some dude or gal that put my wife on their network. Great! :mad:

Thanks for your help though. Really appreciate the thought. Aaron.

[paint_by_numbers]

Hi

I'm also a Mac user with a G4 Powerbook OSX 10.4. I've just moved over to SA for the UK and it frustrates me to see everyone in here struggling so bad with ADSL especially after coming from the UK where it's so easy and affordable.
I recently bought a D-Link DSL-300T Ethernet modem, Telkom called me on Friday morning to say that my line has now been activated with ADSL. When plugged in I get no ADSL signal - the light on the modem is not lit!! Phoned Telkom and they said that an engineer will be testing the line and they will call me ASAP. No call yet but I am worried that if they say that there is no problem with the line as they have no support for Mac users (one operator didn't know what an Apple Mac was!)
Has anyone experienced any similar problems and overcome them? I need a story of hope!

[bwana]

Hi

I'm also a Mac user with a G4 Powerbook OSX 10.4. I've just moved over to SA for the UK and it frustrates me to see everyone in here struggling so bad with ADSL especially after coming from the UK where it's so easy and affordable.
I recently bought a D-Link DSL-300T Ethernet modem, Telkom called me on Friday morning to say that my line has now been activated with ADSL. When plugged in I get no ADSL signal - the light on the modem is not lit!! Phoned Telkom and they said that an engineer will be testing the line and they will call me ASAP. No call yet but I am worried that if they say that there is no problem with the line as they have no support for Mac users (one operator didn't know what an Apple Mac was!)
Has anyone experienced any similar problems and overcome them? I need a story of hope!Prob nothing to do with your mac. Tech support here can be useless wrt Macs - mweb actually told me once that the internet doesnt work on a mac - hmmmm.

If its not your line it will be your modem - but most likely its a telkom fault.

[paint_by_numbers]

I'm very experienced on the Mac and know that my computer is not to blame here. I'm trying not to tell Telkom that I have a Mac because that has nothing to do with the current problem. I don't know anyone here with ADSL so I can't test another modem, so I'm hoping that Telkom have f**ked up and I don't have to buy another modem.

[Afrikane]

I use the combo you have except my D300T is on my router. I will test a direct connection to the lan port on the G4 Powerbook and let know the result. I know there was a batch of D300T's that had bad firmware and would not allow one to get in and change the settings.

[bwana]

Have you got virtual PC installed? If telkom comes around run that full screen and tell him its windoze. :)

Eitherway - there's no need to tell them what system youre running. Make it up if they insist. When they came around to test my line they brought their own laptop/modem to test things anyway.

[Afrikane]

Ok, tested the D300T direct to lan port on the Powerbook, runs no problem and opening the setup wizard from Safari is no problem either. Perhaps you have a modem from the bad firmware batch that would not take any user name and password to get into the modem.

[paint_by_numbers]

I can get into the setup menu now. It took a while but I figured out I had to manually put in the IP settings, the auto DHCP settings did not work. I downloaded the latest firmware from the D-Link UK site - the SA site has only a .exe file for the firmware update. Still no luck connecting. Most likely Telkom is to blame.

Thanks for testing, at least I know that the modem is good. Can it be my modem settings? I thought that it didn't matter for it to pick up the ADSL signal from a phone line.

[malec]

mweb actually told me once that the internet doesnt work on a mac - hmmmm.
OMF! bwhahahahahahahaha, they must have hired a telkom techie

[Afrikane]

Paint, there are quite a few settings that would need to be entered into the modem eg: username, password, llc settings, dns if your isp requires, change the management password and user name etc

[paint_by_numbers]

Yes, I've entered the settings required by my ISP (OpenWeb), changed username, password etc. And now I wait....

[bwana]

Can it be my modem settings? I thought that it didn't matter for it to pick up the ADSL signal from a phone line.Are these the settings you entered?
Protocol Type: PPPoE
VPI: 8
VCI: 35
Encapsultion: LLC

[paint_by_numbers]

yes :)

[paint_by_numbers]

actually, how do I set the encapsualtion with PPPoE? It only lets me change that with PPPoA.

[bwana]

actually, how do I set the encapsualtion with PPPoE? It only lets me change that with PPPoA.Cant help you there I'm afraid - I've got a different adsl modem. Just out of curiosity have you tried running it in bridged mode?

[paint_by_numbers]

I think I've tried every setting possible. I don't want to leave any stone unturned.

[Turtle]

Wierd, I set a wireless network up yesterday with a netgear wireless ADSL router (the one in the mweb blackbox) and had no problem gettin 3 macs connected to it and all 3 got better signal that the 5 desktops that was on the network.
Likewise, my Mac mini (and the rest of my LAN) is behind a Netgear DG384G (wired and wireless) and it works beautifully. You access the router via a Web interface so it doesn't matter what type of computers are behind it, it's all standards. (Afrikane, what do you mean by "syncing issues" anyway?)

[Afrikane]

Turtle, I had issues with the Netgear modem syncing the adsl signal. I would lose the connection every 20 minutes or so. I believe it was addressed by a firmware update but by that time I had moved onto Dlink anyway.

[Afrikane]

actually, how do I set the encapsualtion with PPPoE? It only lets me change that with PPPoA.
I think it's just an option from a drop down box.

[Paddylekker]

What I can't get over is how little Mac hardware there is in this country (I've moved here from Ireland)

My 1024 ADSL line was finally installed on Sunday and I went out in Cape Town this morning to get my Airport Express Base Station, my airport card, a modem and a Wi-Fi card for a PC laptop.

Nobody had any of the Mac gear and they weren't expecting to get the stuff for several weeks. It's a joke.

I even had trouble getting a decent ADSL modem and ended up buying a Belkin adsl modem and router all-in-one package. I've had to settle with just setting up the PC notebook for now.

What I want to know is: Can I just use this Belkin modem/router as a modem and hook it into an Apple Base Station when they finally arrive in SA? Or will they interfere with each other because the router is trying to broadcast wirelessly?

My girlfriend has an account with Mweb, and she is keeping it as a 1 GB because she doesn't want to lose her e-mail address.

I'll be getting a package off Mr Beep or someone similar I reckon. It won't be a problem running both of them will it?

[bwana]

@Paddylekker - is there a reason why you would want to use both the AE and the Belkin - apart from the Airtunes. Either way - you wont have a problem using 2 wireless devices. I suspect that you can disable the Belkin's wireless capabilities. Does it have a ethernet port?

There are a few places in CT I used to get my mac stuff from - you can always order if from zastore.co.za. Better still order if from Apple UK and have a mate post it down :) Thats what I do. Though I try to order from the states where its even cheaper.

Your gf might consider changing her account to Mwebs r70 emailer one. Only lets you dial up 3 hours a month by normal dial-up but that should be enough in a pinch. Save yourself the money.

[paint_by_numbers]

Better still order if from Apple UK and have a mate post it down :) Thats what I do. Though I try to order from the states where its even cheaper.

Is it really cheaper even with secure postage costs added on to the UK price? My mother sent me a package from the UK a month ago - it disappeared!! I'm not sure I'd want to risk losing it in the post.

P.S have you checked out this place... http://www.applecart.co.za (a complete rip-off of Apple's website)

[bwana]

Secure postage? Nah - much more fun with the old SAPO risk factor :) I had my psp airmailed from the states with standard insurance. Same with my iPod.

Something small like an AE would be easy to courier out though. Thing about apple stuff is its 75% packaging!

US Apple prices are so much cheaper than UK. I got my latest PB from Amazon and saved a bundle - had someone carry that out for me though.

Did you look at zastore - its a total clone.

[Paddylekker]

@Paddylekker - is there a reason why you would want to use both the AE and the Belkin - apart from the Airtunes. Either way - you wont have a problem using 2 wireless devices. I suspect that you can disable the Belkin's wireless capabilities. Does it have a ethernet port?

There are a few places in CT I used to get my mac stuff from - you can always order if from zastore.co.za. Better still order if from Apple UK and have a mate post it down :) Thats what I do. Though I try to order from the states where its even cheaper.

Your gf might consider changing her account to Mwebs r70 emailer one. Only lets you dial up 3 hours a month by normal dial-up but that should be enough in a pinch. Save yourself the money.

Cheers bwana,

Yes the belkin does have an ethernet port (four of them in fact). I'm using one of these to connect to the girlfriend's laptop at the moment.

I will use Airtunes, eventually. But the main reason I want the AE is because I'm really not all that good with computers (setting up the Belkin was an absolute mission and getting it to work was worse).

Apple has always been so much easier. It practically does everything itself.

My sister is actually coming down from Ireland on Friday night so I've asked her to pick up the AE, the Airport Card and the little aerial thing for the back of the G5 which I managed to lose out of the box.

[Paddylekker]

Oh, and the other reason I want the Airport base station is because the Belkin doesn't have a USB port for me to hook up a printer.

Do I actually have to use a USB cable to connect the printer to the base station (because that would be really awkward given the location of the sockets etc in the house) or can I get a USB wireless connector?

[musan]

I'm running a small apple network at home, a Titanium powerbook, a dual G4, and a G3 (as a print server and slave). It's wireless via a belkin wireless router, the G3 has a belkin wireless usb device, I tried a netgear device, but they don't support Mac, and as I've said on many forums, can burn in hell. helll. hell. I'm getting ADSL, and I've had confirmation from D-Link, and Billion that their wireless router/modems will support Mac (they should because they're configured via a web interface).



as far as "mac" compatibilty you would be hard pressed to find any pice of network gear that doesn't work with macs as there is no compatiblity issues with TCP/UDP the 2 most common used protocals for a home network. what netgear may mean is they dont support apple talk, though it goes though tcp thies days any way.

for wireless you will problay want to get a 802.11g device as that is most compatiable and 100% compatiable with all mac wireless

hope this helps

[musan]

i am a mac/unix user from way back still very keen on macs though don't have a modern one to play with at the moment.

i am also trying to start up a bit of a mug, though i have only got so far as puting up a hold page at the moment while i get though exams.
check it out if you like mac.za.org

[paint_by_numbers]

I am now online with ADSL. After some pestering Telkom an engineer called me today and tested the connection. He then called me back 15mins later and told me I wasn't connected and has corrected the problem.
I had some trouble getting online but after a surprising call to a Telkom tech. He told me to put in the DNS server settings - and he actually knew how to do it on a Mac with OSX (It was a good job I was sitting!)

I'm actually quite disappointed with MrBeep's OpenWeb. I emailed him for help and never got a reply, I had work out the DNS servers myself.

Cheers!

[paint_by_numbers]

i am also trying to start up a bit of a mug, though i have only got so far as puting up a hold page at the moment while i get though exams.
check it out if you like mac.za.org

Sounds interesting, I will be keeping an eye on progress. :)

[bwana]

Cheers bwana,

Yes the belkin does have an ethernet port (four of them in fact). I'm using one of these to connect to the girlfriend's laptop at the moment.

I will use Airtunes, eventually. But the main reason I want the AE is because I'm really not all that good with computers (setting up the Belkin was an absolute mission and getting it to work was worse).

Apple has always been so much easier. It practically does everything itself.

My sister is actually coming down from Ireland on Friday night so I've asked her to pick up the AE, the Airport Card and the little aerial thing for the back of the G5 which I managed to lose out of the box.I was just thinking that if the belkin in working then just leave that as. You could then put the printer and AE (sorry but yeah connected via USB) anywhere you like as long as its in range of the belkin. I'd assign each machine its own IP (personal pref) and then have everything route through the belkin. The AE would then basically only be a print server (and airtunes eventually if you want) although its possible that you could use it as a repeater to extend the range of your signal. The Airport cards will communicate as easily with the belkin as they would with the AE.

Just make sure you lock down the connection - I presume the belkin supports wpa2.

@paint_by_numbers - glad you got sorted - Too bad telkom couldnt have connected the bladdy line to begin with!

BTW - 10.4.3 is finally out. http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301984 for details :)

[Paddylekker]

I was just thinking that if the belkin in working then just leave that as. You could then put the printer and AE (sorry but yeah connected via USB) anywhere you like as long as its in range of the belkin. I'd assign each machine its own IP (personal pref) and then have everything route through the belkin. The AE would then basically only be a print server (and airtunes eventually if you want) although its possible that you could use it as a repeater to extend the range of your signal. The Airport cards will communicate as easily with the belkin as they would with the AE.

Just make sure you lock down the connection - I presume the belkin supports wpa2.

@paint_by_numbers - glad you got sorted - Too bad telkom couldnt have connected the bladdy line to begin with!

BTW - 10.4.3 is finally out. http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301984 for details :)

Cheers bwana, you're a star.

So, to clarify: I set up the AE, connect it to the printer with a USB cable and get the AE onto the Belkin network (I'm sure I'll work out how to do that correctly).

The PC and the Belkin are going to be in one room, the G5 in another and the printer in a third room (don't ask why). Should be fine shouldn't it?

[musan]

Sounds interesting, I will be keeping an eye on progress. :)

o no presure just what i need ;)

[TimTango]

Oh, and the other reason I want the Airport base station is because the Belkin doesn't have a USB port for me to hook up a printer.

Do I actually have to use a USB cable to connect the printer to the base station (because that would be really awkward given the location of the sockets etc in the house) or can I get a USB wireless connector?

I'm a mac user. PB and a mac mini at home.
I started out with an Airport Extreme base station, also for the print server and because it's nice and easy to set up. And at the time I was using it to share my dial connection over WiFi.
But in my old house I found the transmitter on the Airport was not strong enough, and I bought a Senao WiFi AP and hooked it up with the Airport using WDS (yes, it works, even if Apple says they can only do WDS with other Apple kit). I've moved house now, got ADSL at home, and sharing my printer from the mini. So all the old reasons for getting my Airport basestation have evaporated.

Anyway - I'd advise taking a look at other wireless kit if you want something cheaper and more powerful than Apple.
Otherwise if you can't live without the Airport, I'll give you a great deal on mine 2nd-hand with a Quickertek external antennae thrown in.
PM me and we can get in touch via email...

[Donovan]

I have an iBook G4 running OS X 10.4.3. Best purchase I ever made, and by far the best computer I've ever owned.

[bwana]

Cheers bwana, you're a star.

So, to clarify: I set up the AE, connect it to the printer with a USB cable and get the AE onto the Belkin network (I'm sure I'll work out how to do that correctly).

The PC and the Belkin are going to be in one room, the G5 in another and the printer in a third room (don't ask why). Should be fine shouldn't it?
Thats pretty much it - you can either set it to allocate ip's with dhcp or do it yourself. Personally I like specifying the IPs - at least you know which machine has what ip - handy when you introduce pc's into the mix and want to use XP's remote desktop.

I love those little AE's. :)

[Paddylekker]

Thats pretty much it - you can either set it to allocate ip's with dhcp or do it yourself. Personally I like specifying the IPs - at least you know which machine has what ip - handy when you introduce pc's into the mix and want to use XP's remote desktop.

I love those little AE's. :)

Right, the sister tracked down the equipment in Ireland. It's arriving on Friday night.

Specifying IPs and all that might be a little beyond me.

Will my ISP tech heads, whoever they might be cos I haven't chosen an ISP yet, help me over the phone you reckon?

[bwana]

Right, the sister tracked down the equipment in Ireland. It's arriving on Friday night.

Specifying IPs and all that might be a little beyond me.

Will my ISP tech heads, whoever they might be cos I haven't chosen an ISP yet, help me over the phone you reckon?I dont know how much I'd rely upon the ISP. Once you've got the router sorted everything else is a cinch. There's probably no reason for you not to use DHCP - if you run in to difficulties down the road then make the necessary alterations then. Just make life easier for yourself and have the router assign all the ip's and dont let the AE also try to do it.

[Donovan]

Apple just released an update for airport - http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/airportupdate2005001.html.

Maybe this will help?

[kolakidd]

I've just connected up my network of mac's at home using belkin. Belkin are the manufacturers of the airport unit.

To correct a comment I made in an earlier post, netgear supports mac on some of it's device's. Other's like the wirelss usb dongle, they completely ignore.

OH, and try the new version of Camino, with this plugin
http://www.nada.de/mac/camitools/camioptions.html

difference in download speed from Safari and Firefox is pretty phenominal

[lgravett]

Yeah I am an apple user using Telkom ADSL. I have 2 machines. One connected via network cable to the router, and then a MacBook Pro connected wirelessly. I had to replace my router and the wireless wont connect now, any ideas anyone? I have entered the correct WEP key but still no luck. Everything was fine until the router blew up???

[paint_by_numbers]

Does the new router work when you connect via cable? Which router did you buy? Maybe you have an IP address clash. If the wireless router's IP address clashes with another device then it won't work. I used to have a Linksys wireless router connected to a modem and both used the same IP address. I changed the router's IP address and all worked fine.