Sorry this is a little long. Instructions follow. I agree with the suggestion of the hub. You can find 10baseT hubs for $30-40 at your choice of online computer shops. Just do a quick search. Chances are it will be a "mini-hub," which are usually about 6 inches wide by 1 inch high by 4 inches in depth. Get as many ports as you think you'll need- probably 5 will be more than enough. 100baseT hubs are a bit pricier, but get it if you think you need the speed. IMHO, unless you're going to have tens or hundreds of machines, 10baseT is more than sufficient. Ethernet is defined to be hot-swappable, so simply plug a cat-5 cable (look at the label, it should say category 5 or cat 5 or cat V or some such) between the hub and the computer without worrying about whether everything's off or on. However, I'd recommend everything on to ensure it all works ;) The cable should also have RJ-45 connectors at the ends. They look like phone jacks, but with 8 leads instead of 4. Then, inside of the AppleTalk control panel, choose "Ethernet" instead of "printer/modem port" or "Remote Access" or whatever. Close the control panel and click "save,": your AppleTalk preferences won't get updated unless you do so. You can then use the chooser as you would over a localtalk network. To play video games which require TCP/IP based networking, it will be a little bit more complicated. First, MAKE SURE TO WRITE DOWN YOUR EXISTING SETTINGS inside of your "TCP/IP" control panel. Then, just to be double-sure, choose to "duplicate settings," and name those settings "Internet settings," (if you dial-in to the internet using them), or some other obvious name. Then change the "Connect via:" heading to "Ethernet," "Configure:" to "Manual," and then type in 192.168.0.1 for the IP address, and 255.255.255.0 for the subnet mask. This IP address needs to be unique. So each machine on the network should get a different address. It's best to give them all addresses on the same subnet, so name the next machine on the network 192.168.0.2 or 192.168.0.3 and so on. Then, if you "duplicate settings" again, (name it "Home LAN" or some other obvious name), you can jump between your home network settings and internet network settings just by using the configurations manager (hit command-K, or go to "configurations..." under the file menu while inside the TCP/IP control panel). When you play a networked game, if it asks for an IP address, type in the IP address of the machine you want to play. Or, if it's like Quake3, just click on "network game (LAN)," and it has a little program to automatically search out any games on a LAN. (Local Area Network, if I haven't mentioned it before.) One technical note: I suggest using 192.168.xxx.xxx because those network addresses are reserved for local networks which will never be on the Internet. If you try to go on the Internet with that address as your local address, no router will respond to it, as it's been reserved for local use only. Oh, and don't try to randomly assign yourself your own IP address, and then go on the Internet. IP addresses need to be unique, and the computer will complain if it detects another machine using the same IP address. Hope this helps, -Nathan ---------- Duo/2400 List, The friendliest place on the Net! A listserv for users and fans of Mac subportables. FAQ at <http://www.themacintoshguy.com/lists/DuoListFAQ.shtml> Be sure to visit Mac2400! <http://www.sineware.com/mac2400> X-Router | Share your DSL or cable modem between multiple computers! Dr. Bott | <http://www.drbott.com/prod/MIH120.html> Midwest Mac Parts <http://www.midwestmac.com> | After-market parts for Macs. Fix your ticking dock for $59 w/ trade-in of PS. 888-356-1104 PowerBook Guy is | Click here! Everything PowerBook! | http://www.powerbookguy.com
