Mac OS X is easy to configure for dial-in, ethernet, AirPort, cable modem, and DSL service. If you have a connection to the Internet, this chapter helps you set up your Mac to access it. Specifically, you learn what tools exist for setting up your network, where to configure your connections, and how to manage multiple locations.
The first step in connecting to any network (including the Internet) is determining what, exactly, is being connected. Mac OS X supports a number of technologies out of the box, such as standard wired (ethernet) networks, wireless AirPort networks, and, of course, broadband and dial-in ISPs. For each different type of network, you must collect connection information before continuing. Your network administrator or ISP should be able to provide the details of your network access, including
IP address—. An Internet Protocol address that’s used to uniquely identify your computer on the Internet
Subnet mask—. A filter that helps your computer differentiate between which machines are on the local network and which are on the Internet
Router—. A device address used to send and receive information to and from the Internet
Domain name server—. A computer that translates the name you see in your Web browser, such as www.poisontooth.com, into the corresponding IP address
ISP phone number—. A number used when creating a dial-in connection
Account name—. A username for your ISP Internet account
Password—. A password for your ISP Internet account
Proxy—. A computer that your Macintosh goes through to reach the Internet
If you’re using a dial-in connection, chances are good that all you need are a phone number, an account name, and a password. You should be absolutely positive that you have all the necessary information before you continue; otherwise, your computer could behave strangely when attempting to connect with incomplete or inaccurate information.
Watch Out!
Under no circumstances should you ever attempt to guess an IP address for your computer. Entering invalid information could potentially disrupt your entire network or cause intermittent (and difficult to diagnose) problems for other users.
With connection information in hand, open System Preferences, and click the Network button in the Internet & Network section. The Network pane is the control center for all your network connections. Figure 11.1 shows the Network Status section of that pane.
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At the bottom of all the sections in the Network Preferences pane is the Assist Me button. Clicking it launches the Network Setup Assistant, which asks you a series of questions to try to help you set up your Internet Connection. Basically, it collects the same information we’ll be discussing in the rest of this chapter If you aren’t sure which option is for you, the Setup Assistant’s questions may help you decide.
Near the top of the panel is the Show pop-up menu. Use this menu to choose between the different types of connections that your computer uses, such as Internal Modem, Built-in Ethernet, and AirPort. Let’s look at each one and how it can be set up for your ISP.
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If you use different types of connections (for example, a modem at home and AirPort at work), don’t worry. In the section “Setting Network Port Priorities and Locations” later in the chapter, you’ll see how several different connection types can get along without any conflicts.
If you use a modem to connect to the Internet, choose the appropriate Modem option in the Show pop-up menu. The lower portion of your screen changes slightly to reflect the type of connection you’re configuring. You see four buttons that lead to four individual setting panes:
PPP—. The most important pane, shown in Figure 11.2, the PPP settings enable you to set your username, password, and ISP phone number.
TCP/IP—. TCP/IP settings are rarely needed for dial-in connections. Unless you know otherwise, I recommend not touching anything found here.
Proxies—. If your ISP has provided proxy servers for your use, you might want to enter them here. A proxy manages requests to Internet resources on behalf of your computer to either increase speed or security.
Modem—. Settings specific to your computer’s modem. If you don’t like hearing the annoying connection sound, you can shut off the speaker here. Most important, you can activate the option to Show Modem Status in Menu Bar, which provides a menu extra that enables you to easily connect and disconnect from the Internet.
In the PPP section, enter the username and password you were given for your ISP, along with the phone number for the ISP’s servers. If you want to keep your password stored with the machine, click the Save Password check box.
There are a number of settings you might want to look at by clicking the PPP Options button. You can configure settings in a sheet to give you the ability to redial a busy connection, automatically connect when starting TCP/IP applications, and automatically disconnect if you choose Log Out from the Apple menu.
Click Apply Now to save the PPP settings. If you chose the PPP option to connect automatically when needed, you should be able to start Safari (see Chapter 12, “Using Safari”) and begin surfing the Web.
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If you didn’t choose to connect automatically, you can choose Show Modem Status in Menu Bar to activate the modem menu extra (this option is in the Modem section) to add a quick-control icon to your menu bar. Alternatively, the Internet Connect application can start and stop a dial-in setting. We talk more about that in “Using Internet Connect” toward the end of this chapter.
The next type of connection we look at is the built-in ethernet connection. If you have a wired 10BASE-T LAN or a DSL/cable modem hookup, this is where you’ll need to focus your attention. Choose Built-in Ethernet in the pop-up menu. Again, several sections enable you to fine-tune related areas.
The sections for the Ethernet settings are
TCP/IP—. Unlike the modem TCP/IP settings you saw earlier, the Ethernet TCP/IP pane, displayed in Figure 11.3, offers more configuration options than are typical of a wired network.
PPPoE—. PPP over ethernet is a common way for DSL-based services to connect. They generally require a username and password as a modem-based PPP connection does, but operate over a much faster ethernet wire.
AppleTalk—. The AppleTalk section is used to control whether you become part of a local AppleTalk network. AppleTalk is Apple’s traditional file-sharing protocol and is discussed further in Chapter 34, “Sharing Files and Running Network Services.”
Proxies—. If your ISP has provided proxy servers for your use, you might want to enter them here.
Ethernet—. If you need to look up your Ethernet ID, this is the place to look. Although IP addresses are identifying numbers assigned by your network that can be used to associate a computer with an action, Ethernet ID numbers are unique identifiers associated with the hardware of your computer. (The Configure pop-up menu can be used to access advanced settings, but it may be best to leave them unchanged without help from your system administrator.)
As you can see in Figure 11.3, you definitely need a few items before you can successfully operate an ethernet connection. Fill in the information that you collected from your network administrator or ISP now. If you’re lucky, at least a portion of these settings can be configured automatically by a BOOTP (boot protocol) or DHCP Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server on your network.
BOOTP and DHCP often provide automatic network setup on corporate and cable modem networks. If your network supports one of these services, you can use the Configure IPv4 pop-up menu in the TCP/IP section to select the appropriate protocol for your connection. Again, it’s important that you do not guess what you need to connect—using invalid settings could disrupt your entire network.
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The TCP/IP section of the Built-in Ethernet settings has button labeled Renew DHCP Lease. This is used to “refresh” the IP address assigned to you by your local network. Sometimes, if your connection is misbehaving, renewing your IP address can correct the problem.
If you’re required to use PPPoE, click the PPPoE button. In this pane, you can supply a username and password for your connection and enter optional identifying data for the ISP.
Near the bottom of the pane is a check box that enables you to view your PPPoE status in the menu bar. Clicking this check box adds a new menu extra that displays activity on your connection and gives you quick control over your settings.
Click the Apply Now button when you’re satisfied with your ethernet setup. You should be able to immediately use the network software on your computer, such as Mail and Safari.
The next connection method, AirPort, is available only if you’ve added an AirPort card to your system and are within range of a wireless base station. AirPort is Apple’s 802.11b-based wireless networking device that enables you to connect to the Internet without the burden of running network wires or phone lines.
To configure your AirPort connection, choose AirPort in the Show pop-up menu. AirPort setup, surprisingly, is identical to ethernet. The same TCP/IP, AppleTalk, and Proxies sections apply. There is, however, one additional section that’s essential to configure properly: the AirPort section, shown in Figure 11.4.
In the AirPort section, you can direct your computer to Join Automatic, which is whatever network is available, or Join a Specific Network.
AirPort networks are identified by a network name. When the Join a Specific Network radio button is selected, you can use the Network pop-up menu to choose one of the detected AirPort (or AirPort-compatible) networks, or manually type the name into the Preferred Network text field.
As with the modem and PPPoE settings, you can activate yet another menu extra—the AirPort signal strength—by clicking Show AirPort Status in Menu Bar. This menu extra also gives you the ability to instantly switch between the different available wireless networks and even shut down AirPort service if you want.
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The Allow This Computer to Create Networks check box allows computers with AirPort cards to create computer-to-computer networks with other AirPort-enabled computers even if no official network is present. To create a computer-to-computer network, check this option and the option to Show AirPort status in menu bar; then click on the AirPort status menu extra and choose Create Network. In the window that appears, enter a name for your network and click OK. (If you want to be sure that only specific people join your network, click the Show Options button and enter a five-digit password that will be required to join your network.) Others in your vicinity will be able to join your network as if it were another AirPort-based network by choosing it from their AirPort status menu extra.
Click Apply Now to start using your wireless network.
That wasn’t so bad, was it? Everything that you need to get yourself connected to the Internet is all located in one System Preferences panel. Unfortunately, not all users’ network setups are so easy. Many of us use our PowerBooks at home to dial in to the network, and then go to work and connect via ethernet, and, finally, stop by a coffee shop on the way home to relax and browse the Web via AirPort.
In Mac OS X, all your different network connections can be active simultaneously! This means that if it is possible for your computer to find a way to connect to a network, it will! Obviously, you don’t want it trying to dial the phone if it has already found a connection, and, true to form, Mac OS X is smart enough to understand that if it is connected, it doesn’t need to try any of the other connection methods. In fact, you can alter the order in which it tries to connect to the network by choosing Network Port Configurations in the Network Preferences panel’s Show pop-up menu. Figure 11.5 shows this configuration pane.
Here you can see four port configurations: one modem, one ethernet, one AirPort, and one called IrDA, which we’ll discuss in the following note. You can drag these different configuration settings up and down in the list to determine the order in which Mac OS X attempts to use them. If you prefer that the computer doesn’t attempt to connect using one of these configurations, deselect the check box in front of that item.
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IrDA is an infrared wireless communication protocol that can be used to transfer files between compatible devices.(Some models of the Macintosh, especially laptops, have infrared ports; you’ll have to check your computer’s documentation to see whether yours is one of them.) Like the computer-to-computer networks discussed in the earlier “AirPort” section, this allows enabled devices and computers to interact even when no formal network is available.
Using the New, Delete, and Duplicate buttons on the right side of the pane, you can create alternative configurations for each of your built-in connection methods. These new configurations appear in the Show pop-up menu and are set up just as you set up the modem, ethernet, and AirPort connections earlier.
Mac OS X creates collections of port settings called locations that you can easily switch between. So far you’ve been dealing with a location called Automatic, shown in the Location pop-up menu of the Network Preferences panel.
To create a new location, choose New Location from the Location pop-up menu. After you create a new location, you can edit the port configurations and priorities just as you have under the default Automatic location. To manage the locations that you’ve set up, choose Edit Locations in the Location pop-up menu.
Switching from one location to another is simply a matter of choosing its name in the Location pop-up menu or the Location submenu under the systemwide Apple menu.
The Internet Connect application, which you can launch from the Applications folder, is the final stop in your tour of Mac OS X network utilities. This is a rather strange application that offers a shortcut to several of the same features found in the Network Preferences panel. It can be used for both modem and AirPort connections to quickly log in to different configurations in your current location.
Figure 11.6 displays the Modem side of the Internet Connect application.
To log in to your ISP via modem, follow these steps:
Choose the modem configuration you created earlier in the Configuration pop-up menu at the top of the window.
Enter the phone number for your ISP or choose from those listed in the pop-up menu.
The login name should already be set as configured in the Network Preferences panel. If you didn’t save your password in the panel, you must enter it here.
Click the Show Modem Status in Menu Bar check box to add the modem menu extra to your screen.
Click Connect to start using your dial-in connection.
After you’ve connected to your ISP, the Connect button changes to Disconnect, giving you a quick way to break the modem connection.
AirPort users also stand to benefit from the Internet Connect application. Along with modem configurations, AirPort settings are also shown in the Configuration pop-up menu. Choosing an AirPort-based configuration displays the status of the connection and signal strength, as shown in Figure 11.7.
Use the Turn AirPort Off (and subsequent Turn AirPort On) button to disable or enable the AirPort card in your computer. To switch to another wireless network, use the Network pop-up menu.
Finally, to see a readout of the signal strength at all times, check the Show AirPort Status in Menu Bar check box.As you can see, many features of the Internet Connect application are already accessible through the Network Preferences panel. However, Internet Connect has one more setting that we haven’t seen before: VPN, which stands for Virtual Private Network. VPN allows remote users to connect to a specially configured network securely and interact as if they were within the local network. Your system administrator will know whether this would apply to you.
Regardless, the Internet Connect application offers a quick means of viewing your connection status and changing common settings.
In this chapter, you learned how to set up your Mac OS X computer for network access through traditional wired networks, wireless AirPort connections, and, of course, dial-up ISPs. Mac OS X networking has a number of advantages, including the ability to automatically configure itself to whatever type of network is currently available. This feature, combined with a simplified locations manager, makes it easy to adapt your computer to any sort of network environment.