Getting a mac, keeping the pc...Little help?

[jonowells1]

Can someone please give me an insight as to how I would share my internet connection, when I get my new mac and transfer the pc to my parents room. The modem will need to be hooked up to the mac as its in my room.
Please bare in mind, I am completely clueless when it comes to things like this! Thanks in advance.

[jonze]

hello jono.
you could either connect the two PCs up in a LAN via a router, with the cable modem plugged into the router (probably the most sensible way), or perhaps share the connection on the mac and have a crossover cable between the mac and the pc (probably not such a good idea).

there are probably other ways, but personally I'd opt for a decent router (wired router if you're a gamer at heart, or do some serious downloading - wireless if you're in it for the browsing etc).

[Halcyon]

A router will let you connect 4 computers to the internet and enable you to browse with any machine, without the others having to be on.

I assume you connect to the net via ethernet at the moment so as long as you have an ethernet port on the other computer too, you will be fine. Nearly all new PC's and Mac's have these ports now a days.

As the router needs to sit next to the modem, you may not want a long cable going from the router to the Pc in your other room, so in that case, for one of the PC's, you would put in a wireless network card and make sure you get a wireless cable router. Then there will be no need for wires.

[Rob]

Moving to Networking