networking macs and windows

Factual Questions
1

i tried searching, but not having any luck.

we’ve got a macG4 with osx and a pc with windows 98, but i may put 200Professional on it, if needed.

i have a switch. i have a hub. i have a cable modem.

the cable modem is connected to the hub. the pc is connected to the hub. the hub is connected to the switch and the mac is connected to the switch.

um, now what? i don’t know where to start :confused:

2

Why do you have a switch and a hub? You really should have a router. If you just have a dumb hub you may need to pay for another IP address. If you have a router there is no need, you can hook up as many computers as there are ports (more if you connect hubs/switches to the router).

Can you tell us what model of switch you have? Maybe it can act as a router.

All of the above refers to getting them both on the internet at once, if you want to share files between the two somone else will have to help you with that.

3

they are both happily connected to the internet at the same time. i need to be able to share files, if possible.

both the hub and switch are netgear.

4

I believe that one of your platforms will need to be running a server version (i.e., Win2K Server or OSX Server) in order to get any cross-platform connectivity. I have a Win2K Server PC that my Macs can access, but with OS9 the PCs can’t access files on the Macs.

No experience with OSX so I can’t offer any specific help on that end. But you can try searching on MacWindows and see if they can offer any specifics in setting up your network.

5

I’d recommend you dump the switch (which isn’t really necessary), plug a second ethernet card into the mac and use the mac as a gateway to the internet (Helpful Tutorial ).

So basically it’d be set up like this:

Mac:
ethernet1: hub
ethernet2: cable modem

PC:
ethernet1: hub

This will let you configure a firewall, and also let you assign IP addresses on your local network. Then you can simply FTP files within the network.

Check out THIS tutorial on other ways (besides running FTP, etc) to get Mac and PC talking to one another.

6

thanks guys. i now have a place to start.

7

No server version needed. Mac OS X has built-in SAMBA which is a SMB layer for talking with Windows-networking devices.

I recommend keeping the switch, though.