Connection with Modem?

Question

Might be very silly but, Do I still need to have connection to my Modem, when the iMac has the airport connected?
I'm currently not connected to the Modem, and the internet works very fine with the airport connection, can i cancel the Modem subscription?
Thanks for helping me.

Answer 1

Hi,
Yes keep the modem to negotiate a connection with your ISP. Airport is Apple's name for wireless (the signal, not the modem) using what's known as an Airport Card inside your Mac to communicate wirelessly with other wireless capable devices in range of the signal. An Airport Extreme Base Station for instance provides the Access Point for obtaining internet wirelessly but it does not negotiate ISP ADSL or Cable connections, for this you will still need a relevant broadband or cable modem. Often modems are equipped wireless access points too.
Deb, if you are currently using the internet wirelessly but don't have a wireless modem or base station your Mac will have discovered and connected itself to an access point that is not your own (such as public wireless or even a neighbours internet). If you need to remedy this simply switch off Airport using the triangle in the menubar. To answer your question on security, wireless technology is not as secure as wired but it can be made safe enough for use depending on how you connect to the wireless access point, preferably using encryption and MAC address filtering together. Pls post back if I've misunderstood your situation or if you need more detail. The name of your modem would help in this case.