I want to set up a basic home network

I currently use a windows laptop with 500GB and an external hard drive for backup, we use almost all the available storage on photos, movies and music. We are light computer users, primarily it is for internet use, iTunes syncing, uploading digital photos and eventually basic schoolwork for the kids. We desperately need to replace our laptop and I don't want to always have to buy one with 500GB or more of storage as it is costly and probably not the best solution.
I want to switch to Apple hardware that allows me to have two things:
- The ability to store all our heavy data files in a central location that I can access wirelessly on my network from other apple devices
- A good automatic backup system
Eventually as my kids get a bit older they too will have laptops, currently we all use iPads and my wife and I have iPhones.
I spoke to the rep at the apple store yesterday and was advised that within my budget a good solution was an Macbook Air with 128GB and a 2TB Airport Time Capsule - which I duly bought. They advised that I could "split" the storage on the ATC using it to backup whats on the laptop and use it as an external hard drive for all the photos etc. I did ask if this left me exposed by now only having this data on the ATC but it was implied that this is pretty safe given the fail rate of ATC being very low.
That being said I am reading online that using the ATC as both backup and external hard drive is perhaps not a good solution. If someone in the know was to tackle my problem how would you do it? Would you do this completely differently or add another piece of hardware to what I have?
We do not want to buy a desktop as we would never use it and there is approx $500 left in the budget if I had to add another piece of hardware to make this work.
Thanks
D

So if I have the external hard drive connected to the ATC can I wirelessly access it easily any time I am in wifi range?
I think you may have missed the part where I said above......
Connect a USB hard drive to the MacBook Air and put all your photos and media on that drive.
I did not suggest that you connect the drive to the Time Capsule......since access to the media would be very very slow this way...and even more importantly...Time Machine would not be able to back up the hard drive to the Time Capsule. Time Machine can only back up the external hard drive if it is connected directly to the MacBook Air.
What about for Apple TV? Can it access the drive or for that to work do the files have to be on a mac of some sorts?
Basically, you will be moving the iTunes Media Folder that contains all of your media from the Mac to the external hard drive that is connected to the MacBook Air....and probably the iPhoto Library (or your image library) as well.
Then, you will have to "point" iTunes at the new location of the library so that it will know where to find the files. More details on how to do that in the link below. The title talks about changing the location of the media folder on your Mac, but you would use the same into to change the location to the external hard drive.
iTunes for Mac: Moving your iTunes Media folder - Apple Support
If you move the iPhoto Library over to the external drive, you will have to "point" iPhoto at the new location of the library so that it will know where to find it in the future. To do that, you would hold down the option key on the Mac while you open iPhoto and use the Finder interface to navigate to the new location of the iPhoto Library.

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Help setting up HP6500A for home network

I bought a 6500A all in one with wireless capability to support three computers at my home. I have a desktop running Windows XP, a laptop running XP and a laptop running windows 7. My ISP is Verizon FIOS. I set up the 6500 with a wired connection to the desktop and that works fine. I sent a test print from the laptop running windows 7 and that worked fine. When I tried to see the printer from the laptop running XP, I can't see it. I have loaded the latest drivers from the HP website and there are no firewall issues preventing the laptop from seeing the printer.
Any suggestions on what to try next? Upgrading to Windows 7 on this laptop is not an option.

There is a better way to set up this printer. You are trying to share one PC's USB connection which is difficult, buggy and will only share the printing function, not scanning or faxing.
Let's connect your printer to your FIOS router (disconnect from the desktop):
- Unplug the FIOS line from the router
- Turn the power off on the router, wait 30 seconds, then turn the power back on.
- On the front of the printer: Setup > Network > WIreless Setup Wizard - follow the directions
- Now find the IP address of the printer (it should be listed in the Network menu of the printer or on the Wireless Network Test in the Network menu)
- Type the printer's IP into the address bar of an web browser.
- On that screen you will find a Networking Tab, then on the left Wireless, then the IPv4 Tab.
- On this screen you want to set a Manual IP. You need to set an IP address outside the range that the router automatically sets (called the DHCP range). If you know what that is, set an IP outside that range but no higher than 254 (the last number in the address). If you do not know, use the current IP address.
- Use 255.255.255.0 for the subnet (unless you know it is different, if so, use that)
- Enter the same IP as the printer except '.1' for the last number, in the gateway and first DNS. Leave the second DNS blank.
- Plug in the FIOS line, reboot the router.
- Now on each PC, go to Start > All Programs > Hewlett-Packard and run "Add a Device". Add the printer as a Network device. Delete the old USB instance of the printer in Control Panel > Printers.
Say thanks by clicking "Kudos" "thumbs up" in the post that helped you.
I am employed by HP

Basic home network setup troubles: Airport, ethernet, and cable modem

Hi,
Having only just subscribed to a cable broadband service we're experiencing some troubles setting up a mixed-mode home network and I'm wondering whether we've got some of the very basics messed-up.
What we have is:
1. Recent version (white) ibook, with airport, running 10.4.7;
2. Old G4 PowerPC (450MHz I think) running 10.4.7 ... airport card available;
3. Old powerbook (?Lombard) running 10.2.8 ... no airport;
4. A PC running Windows XP (not that important to have this in the network though) with no wireless;
5. A 3com SuperStack 1100 switch;
6. A cable modem;
7. A Linksys BEFSX41 Etherfast Cable/DSL Router ... 4 ethernet switch ports;
8. An airport express base station;
9. An HP laser printer connected into the ethernet LAN.
We'd like to keep both our wireless and ethernet networks running with all computers able to access one another, print to the laser printer, and access the broadband (fixed IP address) account. We're not (yet) conderned with hosting websites from our home computers.
I'm unsure of how we should configure this system. Do I connect the airport base station to the switch (which is what we presently have) or into the router? Do I connect each of the hardwired PCs (and the printer) into the switch
and then the switch to the router via single conenction?
If we use DHCP to access the router have I got the potential for the router and the airport base station to interfere with one another?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I've pulled a few TCP/IP setup-for-idiots books from our local library but this specific situation doesn't seem to be well covered.
Cheers
Dougal

You probably have a few options here that will work. Considering the number of wired devices, I would suggest the following:
Cable modem > (Ethernet cable) > [Internet port] BEFSX41 [LAN_1] > (Ethernet cable) > SuperStack switch > (Ethernet cable) > [Ethernet port] AirPort Express Base Station (AX) > (wireless) > wireless clients, AND
SuperStack switch > (Ethernet cable) > wired clients
Then setup the AX as a bridge, as follows:
To set up the AirPort Express Base Station (AX) as a bridge, using the AirPort Admin Utility, connect your computer directly (using an Ethernet cable) to the Ethernet port of the AX, and then, make these settings:
Network tab
- Distribute IP addresses (unchecked)
- Apply the new setting.
- Wait at least 5 minutes.

Setting up DHCP on home network

I have a home network that has Mac Server running on a Mac mini. I have two Apple Extreme routers. In Server app in the Settings tab of the DHCP section I carelessly deleted all Networks and in the Clients tab I deleted all clients. Now I’m trying to correctly set up DHCP but have been unsuccessful.
If I try to add an entry in the Networks section I get the error message “Another DHCP server might be running”. In the Clients section I see two identical entries.
I’ve tried to understand the tutorials and other help sources but all of them devolve (for me) into technical gobbledygook that is way beyond my current understanding.
Can anyone provide a recipe for setting up DHCP for my network configuration?

Thanks, Linc. It turns out I did do just that after I concluded that the DNS service on Server is unnecessary when there's a router between the home network and the internet. The error message is probably referring to the router when it mentions "another DHCP server". I've just disabled the DNS service in Server and removed everything in the two tabs for DNS service.
I really don't know what's wrong about using one of the routers as the DHCP server.

Can I set up a small home network on mt BThub3

Hi,
I have two standard PCs one running on Vista and the other on XP also a laptop. They all successfully access the internet via a BT Hub 3. One computer connects via a LAN cable the laptop and the other computer connect via a wirless connection
If possible I would like to network these three computers via the BT hub for data transfer and also for the computers to use the single printer I have.
I have read various items about setting up the computers to share a printer but as I have no experience of networks and how to intergrate the computers through the hub.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
David

This is quite straighforward, but I would recommend that you look at one of the many help pages on the web, that describe in detail what you need to do.
The home hub does not really play any part in this, its just an interconnection point.
Here is a page to get you started with Windows XP.
http://compnetworking.about.com/od/windowsxpnetworking/ht/sharewinxpfiles.htm
and Vista
http://windows.about.com/od/networkconnect/ss/sharing_files_printers_all.htm
There are some useful help pages here, for BT Broadband customers only, on my personal website.
BT Broadband customers - help with broadband, WiFi, networking, e-mail and phones.

How do I set up a second home network that bypasses Open DNS?

I have been having trouble downloading and streaming itunes content because I use Open DNS on my network.
There have been many posts about disabling Open DNS to solve the problem but if I do that, my internet filter goes away.
I would rather set up a second network that bypasses Open DNS and use it only for my Apple TV.
Is this possible and if so, how do I do it?
I have airport extreme base station with a second airport to extend the range, mac desktop, mac laptop, ATV, several iphones and ipads.
I'm running OS X 10.7.5.
Thanks in advance!

Are you suggesting that I go into my Airport router settings and just blank out the DNS settings and then reboot it?
Yes, exactly. You can always input those addresses again, if it does not solve the problem.
OpenDNS may offer some advantages over your whatever your ISP uses for DNS but optimizing download speed is not one of them.
Maybe I have jumped to the conclusion that Open DNS is the problem when maybe it isn't.
It is possible. As I understand it, Apple's servers attempt to use a location near you to deliver iTunes content, and OpenDNS may result in pointing it to a less ideal location.
3 hours may or may not be normal for HD movie. The download speed depends on a number of factors that are difficult to surmise without knowing details about your network and your ISP.

Setting up a (small) home network

I have an iBook G4, an old iMac (running OS 9), an inkjet printer, a laser printer, Airport Extreme and an Internet modem. I would like to hook all of this up so that both Macs are connected to both printers, both Macs are connected to the Internet and that I have wireless connection for internet and printing (to both printers) available to the iBook. (The iMac is not Airport compatible.)
Right now, everything works, but we have to unplug the printers from one Mac to the Airport when we want to print. Is there a single piece of hardware we need to hook this all together, or is it going to be more complicated than that?
I know just enough about this stuff to get by and/or to be dangerous, so any advice would be appreciated.

You've got a cable or DSL modem, right? I happen to have DSL, and my DSL modem is actually a combo DSL modem/router/wireless access point. So life is a bit easier for me. But both of my sons are on cable, and I think they both have a single wired port coming out of their cable modem, to which they have to connect a wireless router (like an Airport Extreme Base Station). Are you like that?
If so, while I don't have an AEBS, as far as I know, an AEBS has firewall capability in it, and can configure for DHCP IP address assignment or static IP address assignment or a mix of both (i.e., it routes).
If my presupposition is true, there are a couple of things I would do to configure your network. First would be to put your DSL/cable modem in bridge mode (so the IP address assigned by your ISP is passed through to the external IP address side of your AEBS) and then configure the AEBS for NAT (i.e., it doles out 10.0.x.x addresses to everything in your residential LAN). Why? Because if both devices are doing NAT, then the modem is giving your BS a 192.168.x.x address, and then your BS is giving your computers a 10.0.x.x address. Some applications (most notably iChat) do not like double-NATting traffic through two firewalls/routers.
I'm not sure whether a device in bridge mode can have an active firewall or not. Never tried it. If it can, enable your firewall on the modem. If it can't, enable the firewall in the AEBS.
Now, check whether your printers can support accepting DHCP address assignments from a router. They may need to have static IP addresses (i.e., you may need to manually assign IP addresses to the devices). I don't know enough about AEBSs to know whether they can support a mix of static and dynamic IP addresses on the local LAN side, or whether it is all of one or all of the other. So you may need to disable DHCP in the AEBS and give it (on the residential LAN side) and your computers and printers a manually assigned IP address. If it supports a mix of static and DHCP, just give them IP addresses in the static address range, and your computers can still be configured to accept DHCP assignments from the AEBS. If the printers support DHCP, never mind all this drivel.
If you don't have enough wired ports for the iMac and one or more of the printers are not wireless-capable, connect a printer or two to your iMac via USB, and enable printer sharing in System Preferences > Sharing on the iMac. Other computers on your residential LAN should be able to find the printers so long as the iMac is powered up and printer sharing has been enabled on it.
Now have that other martini!
(If you find that my post solves your problem, or is actually helpful towards arriving at a solution to your problem, please consider clicking on either the "helpful" or "solved" buttons in the header of my post. Thank you.)

What do I need to set up a mac home network - complete Apple newbie

Okay. I've been using iPods and my iPhone for years, and I'm thinking about going full Mac. I plan to get a refurbished Macbook Pro from Amazon (haven't decided which one.) I currently have a Westell combo modem/router and am considering getting a wireless-capable external hard drive to hold more files. Ideally, then, my iTunes content would be available on any iDevice I may own. Can all these items connect or do i need more Apple-specific hardware?

I've seen, but never used, a combination modem/router - I've only ever used Cisco/Lynksys and Airport Extremes with separate 'stand-alone' cable/DSL modems. So I'm not sure that your setup will do what you're trying to do.
If you had an Airport Extreme, or another router with a USB plug, you could likely attach a drive to your router that could be shared by all users. Does your modem/router have a USB port?
Clinton

Simple Home networking with Mac OS X Server

Hi all,
Can anybody give me a quick guide to setting up a basic home network with the use of Mac OS X Server for central administration?
I have 2 desktop macs, 1 mac laptop and 2 PC laptops and occasionally I have a number of friends bringing around their laptops.
I would like to set up all the basic services so that guests and registered users can access share points and home folders . I would also like to be able to use the DHCP service for this and be able to use basic services like DNS and AFP.
Does anybody know how to quickly set this up on a private home network?
I am new to Mac OS X Server so be gentle
Thanks.

John Detroye works for Apple education in Colorado, USA. He has written what i consider the best practical guide to setting up a Server system for use in a School, which is essentially what you want to do. Although he wrote it initially for 10.3 Panther Server, almost all of it still applies.
http://homepage.mac.com/johnd
Then:
Downloads - T & T etc. > Latest_Tips >Panther_Tips > mini-basic-0205a.pdf
a zipped 2.5 MB .pdf file is downloaded (about 25 pages) I strongly recommend you Print it out. I marked up my paper copy as I worked with it.

I cannot printany web pages or emails over a wireless home network. My OS is windows 7 and am using an Epson printer. I know I have the home network set up correctly as i can print files over the network.

I cannot print any email or web pages over a wireless home network. I know that I can print my files over this network, just not anything from the web or emails using Firefox. I am using Windows 7 and printing to an Epson.
== This happened ==
Every time Firefox opened
== when I set up the wireless home network.

The most likely reason for this is that the wrong printer is chosen in the File->Print window.
In Firefox, go to File->Print and click the dropdown box with printer names. Ensure that the correct network printer is selected, then try printing again.

Is the OS X server good for a home network?

Is the OS X server a good idea for a basic home network?? Nighthawk AC7000 , PS3 , multiple wifi devices etc...

I find OS X server a great Home Server mostly if you you have more that one computer on which many people want to log in.
For the rest, iCloud may do the trick, you can use external drives for big files, and doubling server with iCloud may add a layer of complexity.
Todd Olthoff does a great job on Youtube with home servers and I read a few good ebooks on the topic.
Notes:
iPhones and iPads are considered Personal Devices in my world, unless I deploy-rotate the in schools.
I aslo got a Static IP, a domain name to go with it, a router that doubles DNS if I may use that expression.
It's even a little more complex if you are not in the USA:
iBooks Caching in Canada was, and maybe still a problem.
Register devices on iCloud too was delayed.
VPP was hard to come by in my appreciation of things.
FB

Home networking with WRT54GL

Hello,
   I could use some basic home network advice.
I'd like to share drives and printers with my two machines-
a custom computer (Windows XP Home Sp3 connected
through the WRT54GL and DSL modem) and a Gateway
M280E Tablet PC (Windows XP Tablet 2005 connected
through built in Wireless). At this point I have a successful
Internet connections for both computers. As per your site
the custom computer has the following:
IP              192.168.2.100
Mask        255.255.255.0
Gateway 192.168.2.1
I got the connection to the WRT54GL using DHCP
and a cloned MAC address.
How do I set up the home network between these two
computers. I've tried the home network setup wizard
several times without luck. The workgroup name
is the same for both machines. I see the "sharing" hand
under drives on both computers. The only message I
receive is:
        Homepcs (my chosen name) is not accessible.
       You might not have permission to use this network
        resource.
Comment: I miss the simplicity of entering subnets like
169.254.x.x in windows 98 !
I know there must be a simple solution. Please provide
some instructions or a link to a solution for this network
architecture.
                                                                       custom computer (wired)
Phone line--DSL modem -WRT54GL<
                                                                       Gateway M280E (wireless)

Ensure no firewall blocking (antivirus firewall, Windows firewall, etc) on both computers, and you also need to enable file/printer sharing properly. You can take a look on this simple file sharing or printer sharing article to learn more.

How to add a new printer and laptop to my home network

Greetings, Need tech help. I have 2 issues going on.
First I am trying to add a 2nd Printer to my home network. I was given an HP 4050N printer. I want to add it to my home network. My main printer is an HP Photosmart 8450. It is attached to my desktop thro a Belkin USB 4 port switch and then to my Desktop PC via a USB port. THe HP 4050N has both parrallel and serial connectors...no USB ports. WHat is the recommended method to hook up. I also have an actiontec wireless router. Initially I had 2 separate desktop units talking to my main printer, but noe the second desktop has it's own printer.
Second, I recently acquired an HP Elite Book 2540P laptop. I got it to power make my SOlidworks and Autocad software portable. I would like to add this to my home network but dont know if wireless of serial hookup is the best way to go.
I hope this makes sense. I am open to reconfiguring everything if it makes sense. My internet and TV are driven through the Action-tec router.
I would appreciate some guidance.

@foleyba4
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Thank you,
Omar
I Work for HP

Small home network using a mini

Hello i'd like to set up a small home network. The component i have are:
A broadband connection via a cable modem
A mac mini which can act as a server (i'd like to provide access to shared photos and music, and connect an external HD for backup and storage)
2 airport wireless routers
2 macbook pro laptops and 1 mini all with wireless
Any suggestions as to the most effective way to link this all together?
Thanks
Tim

Hi Tim,
You've accidentally posted this on the iPod Mini forum, not the Mac Mini!
Mark

How to setup once an Airport home network and keep it alive?

Hello!
I have the following hardware setup:
1 - A Macmini 2009, Ethernet wired to my router which allows the connection to the internet;
2 - An HP Deskjet printer, USB connected to the Macmini;
3 - My wife's laptop PC, WiFi connected to my Mac.
My Macmini handles the internet connection the traditionnal way (Ethernet and PPoE) and has a static IP on it.
(Why a Static IP? Because I run my own Webserver.)
I set up a WiFi Home Network in order to allow my wife sharing both my Internet Connection and the Printer Connection.
Everything run well: fast and smooth. The PC has Internet and Printer access.
Problem is:
After each restart, I must re-create the Airport home network.
System Preferences-->Airport doesn't memorize the name, parameters and credentials of this network.
How can I fix this?
Many thanks in advance for your replies!
Best regards
Gerry

If your router is wireless, you should probably use the laptop to configure it to take care of the network (i.e. have the router distribute the IP addresses). Then you can connect your computer to it via the LAN port on the router. Otherwise, you would have to set up your computer to "share its Internet connection" (via Preferences/Sharing or Preferences/Network not sure). I don't think you need to create a network for this.

I want to set up a basic home network

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