networking a PC to a Mac?

If both the PC and the MAC run TCP/IP, there can be some applications you can connect to back and forth. For example: Telnet, FTP or a Web Server. These are pure TCP/IP protocols.

Microsoft file and printer sharing uses the NetBIOS API (Network Application Programing Interface). Microsoft has a feature called NetBIOS over TCP/IP that allows Windows computers to natively "talk" to each other over a IP network.

It's been a very long time since I worked with a MAC and the last I remember only "Services for Macintosh" running on a Windows NT or Windows 2000 Server could help bridge this gap. Things could have changed since I last looked at a MAC but the Windows Server was the key to networking with a MAC.

BTW you should always disable NetBIOS over TCP/IP on your Network Interface Card that is connected to the Internet. There is absolutely no use for it (on the Internet) and it is a security hole for hackers. I have always seen NetBIOS enabled by default.

Dave.

 

If you only desire to share the bandwidth of your new DSL connection, you will need some sort of routing device or "smart hub or switch" (so to speak).

For example: I have a cable modem.
I have a Linksys Cable/DSN router.
I have five ports on the back of the router.
One of those ports is connected to the cable modem.
So I can have four machines or "nodes" connceted to the router. That is enough for me.
I could plug a Windows machine in one port and a MAC into another port and they should both be able to get on the Internet at the same time.

The router doesn't care. It just handles dolling out private IP addresses to the machines on your private network that request one. You still only have one valid Internet address, but the router manages the connection for everyone on your private network.

Nevertheless, this is all TCP/IP and the MAC must be configured for TCP/IP.

Dave.