tailieunhanh - Wiring the Network

. Wiring the Network Most people connect their computers using one of two connection systems: Ethernet or Wi-Fi (which Apple calls AirPort). | . Wiring the Network Most people connect their computers using one of two connection systems Ethernet or Wi-Fi which Apple calls AirPort . . Ethernet Networks These days every Mac and every network-ready laser printer has an Ethernet jack on the back or side panel see Figure 13-1 . If you connect all of the Macs and Ethernet printers in your small office to a central Ethernet hub or router acompact inexpensive box with jacks for 5 10 or even more computers and printers you ve got yourself a very fast very reliable network. Most people wind up hiding the hub in a closet and running the wiring either along the edges of the room or inside the walls. You can buy Ethernet cables plus the hub at any computer store or less expensively from an Internet-based mail-order house. Hubs aren t Mac-specific. Tip If you want to connect only two Macs say your laptop and your desktop machine you don t need an Ethernet hub. Instead you just need a standard Ethernet cable. Run it directly between the Ethernet jacks of the two computers. You don t need a special crossover Ethernet cable as you did with Macs of old. Then connect the Macs as described in the box on Section don t use Ethernet at all just use a FireWire cable or a person-to-person AirPort network. Figure 13-1. Every Mac OS X-compatible Mac has an Ethernet jack left . It looks like an overweight telephone jack. It connects to an Ethernet router or hub right via an Ethernet cable also known as Cat 5 or Cat 6 which ends in what looks like an overweight telephone-wire plug also known as an RJ-45 connector . Ethernet is the best networking system for many offices. It s fast easy and cheap. . AirPort Networks Wi-Fi known to the geeks as and to Apple fans as AirPort means wireless networking. It s the technology that lets laptops the world over get online at high speed in any Wi-Fi hot spot. Hot spots are everywhere these days in homes offices coffee shops notably Starbucks hotels airports and .