[clug] Help in Setting up WiFi

[Hal Ashburner]

Hi Elizabeth,

The most common way wireless networking is set up is as follows.

There is an ADSL modem and wireless router (Or a cable modem attached to 
a router).
The wireless router is connected to the internet.
The wireless router is set up and has what's called an ESSID and maybe a 
password.

The mac mini connects to the wirless router.
The gigabit laptop connects to the wireless router.

All 3 machines, (router, mac mini & laptop) are now on the same local 
network.

In the mac mini's System Preferences you would select "sharing" then 
check "printer sharing"

Through the magic of Avahi (aka bonjour, aka zeroconf) your laptop 
should now "just know" about the printer and be able to print to it. 
Most distros ship with avahi enabled in their default desktop which is 
usually Gnome or KDE.

This is the most basic way of doing what you're talking about. It may 
not be exactly what you want but it might serve as a reasonable starting 
point. I'm sure I'm underestimating your expertise to be on the safe 
side and don't mean anything by that.
Let us know how the above doesn't meet your needs or doesn't work and we 
can go from there.

Kind regards,
Hal Ashburner



On 22/Jun/10 6:02 PM, Elizabeth Waddell wrote:
>
>
> Elizabeth Waddell wrote:
>
> 1 am a newbie who is trying to set up a wifi connection between my 
> Apple Mac Mini desktop and a Gigabyte laptop running Linux (Slackware 
> 13.1). I want to access the Mac's printer and internet connection on 
> my Linux machine from various locations about the house.
>
> I am unfamiliar with networking of any kind and the information that I 
> have located on the net relating to wifi seems to presume a basic 
> knowledge of wired networking.
>
> I have fiddled around with every setting that I can think of on both 
> machines and although I can get Wicd on the Linux computer to detect 
> the presence of the Mac, I cannot manage to get a usable connection.
>
> I live in Yass, but I could bring the Linux computer, plus a Mac 
> laptop into the next Clug meeting. Would anyone be prepared to show me 
> how to connect the two? Hopefully, I could then transfer the settings 
> to the Mac Mini at home.
>
> Alternatively, could anyone suggest a guide to setting up wifi that is 
> couched in a straightforward language that I can understand?
>
> Regards
>
>
>
> Elizabeth Waddell
>
>
>