setting up an office network for mac and pc

The router creates a number of internal IP addresses-private addresses used only within your local network. The router, as its name implies, routes devices connected to it (either with a wire or via Wi-Fi) so that they can access your Internet connection. (If you have a static account, you’ll always have the same IP address if you have a dynamic account-which is most common-your IP address can change.) This IP address is your main thoroughfare to the Internet. This address is selected from a range of addresses that the ISP owns, and it can change depending on the kind of account you’ve signed up for. In most cases, the modem/router relationship works this way: Your Internet service provider assigns something called an IP address to your Internet account. When you signed up for that service, either someone installed it for you or you were sent the gear you needed and you followed the instructions necessary to connect to the Internet. I’m going to assume that you already have some variety of Internet service-along with a broadband modem (the box that brings broadband Internet service into your home or office) that includes or is connected to a router (a device that distributes network addresses to computers and mobile devices connected to it). Now, just about anyone can configure and join a network.

If you just mentioned the word networking (outside the context of calling former business associates to seek a better job), those around you shook with fear.īlessedly, those days are almost entirely over. At one time, a typical Mac user would no more have connected a couple of computers to the Internet via a local network than they would have extracted their own kidney.

Setting up an office network for mac and pc