Multiple Mac Solution

Surely Macintosh computers can share a dialup connection, but what's the best way to do it?

[December 23, 1999]

On the ISP-Tech list in December 1999, PJ posted a two-pronged question about linking multiple Macs to a single dial up connection:

"I have a customer that wants to put five G3 and Performa Macs on one dial up connection. I know if they were PCs we could use something like Wingate. I assume there is a similar product for Mac, but I don't know what it is. They have Mac OS 6 and 8. Would it be better to use a hardware solution vs. software since they are mixed?"

 

[DT wrote] The Mac software solution is called IPNetRouter. It costs about $89 and works on any Mac from the 68030 up. Having worked with a bunch of these type software routers on windoze, I think this is the best I've seen on either platform.

You can download it directly from Sustainable Softworks.

Several respondants chimed in with their favorite hardware solutions:

[MN had this recommendation] "Look at 3Com's LANModem with two 56K modems built in. If it's like the LANModem with the ISDN TA built in - which I've used -- it uses a Web interface for configuration, so it should work with a Mac. It acts as a proxy, with very minimal configuration. Plus, if they have a second phone line, they can take advantage of the second modem for faster speeds. You can even set it up to only use the second line when the bandwidth demand reaches a certain predefined threshold."

[RDW countered] "Any of the WebRamp routers will do the same. The 310 is cheaper than the LANModem, and for sure it will work with Macs."

[JER had still another suggestion] "The best and cheapest solution we have found is the Macsense PalmRouter. It supports modems, cable modems, DSL, ISDN, etc."

[DT, however, argued against the hardware router approach] "You can buy a used Mac 2ci for $50 to $75. Running IPNetRouter on a system like this—using it as a dedicated router—would give you a much more powerful solution than the WebRamp—at half the price.

Or, you could run IPNR on one the faster G3s if it is to be used as a desktop and a gateway at the same time."

 —End