I am tech saavy. No worries about dumbing down the answer for me... I just haven't explored hte networks at Mac enough to understand the following:

I am a first year going into Les Prince. I have a desktop and a laptop, both with Wirless-N (although I understand that Mac runs Wireless G). I have also purchsed a laser printer buuuuut.... It's not network ready.

Anyways, my goals are to do this:
My laptop and desktop will be on the network, and the printer connected to the desktop, physically.

Anywhere I go on campus, my laptop can Remote Desktop, can Fileshare, can get media from: My Desktop which is sitting On in my dorm. It can also print from anywhere in my room, or within range of the desktop.

And finally and most importantly, I can save/backup my notebook and desktop files to a third harddrive I am installing on my desktop, automatically, at regular intervals.


I don't know how the networks are all organized at Mac so I don't know how to manage half of this stuff, or if it is even possible. I know about the program that I need to install in order to get on the internet, and I know I sign in with my MacID ... That's all. But I am very tech saavy, so if you know how to answer this, you can explain in the easiest way for yourself.

Thanks in advance!

What OS are your desktop and laptop?

Vista and Windows 7.... i mean, they are vista now (unfortunatly) and they will be 7 when it comes out

Can't help ya there, sorry. Never used either.

ahhha, lol. I was actually expecting a reply in a few seconds saying: Yes, with those OS, you can. They have special networking capabilities that assist in setting up an AdHoc network... (or some message along those lines)

Instead, I think you were hoping I would say the OLDER OS, and... would you happen to know if it is possible with Windows XP? I manage a good network at my house, but I use a simple router.... Mac will have hundreds of routers all over campus, and I dont know if the dorms are connected to hte same ones as the main buildings and whatnot.

Originally Posted by mike_302

ahhha, lol. I was actually expecting a reply in a few seconds saying: Yes, with those OS, you can. They have special networking capabilities that assist in setting up an AdHoc network... (or some message along those lines)

Instead, I think you were hoping I would say the OLDER OS, and... would you happen to know if it is possible with Windows XP? I manage a good network at my house, but I use a simple router.... Mac will have hundreds of routers all over campus, and I dont know if the dorms are connected to hte same ones as the main buildings and whatnot.

I'm not too sure about Vista or W7 but I know that it will work for sure with XP since I am running a similar network at home. The only problem is that each building on campus has a different wireless network so you won't be able to access say your desktop or your printer from anywhere other than your residence building. I'm pretty sure this is the case but correct me if I'm wrong.

Just use remote desktop connection (+ VPN if McMaster blocks the connection to your remote desktop)

McMaster doesn't require any fancy connections for you to do that since it's via the internet.

Originally Posted by mike_302

ahhha, lol. I was actually expecting a reply in a few seconds saying: Yes, with those OS, you can. They have special networking capabilities that assist in setting up an AdHoc network... (or some message along those lines)

Instead, I think you were hoping I would say the OLDER OS, and... would you happen to know if it is possible with Windows XP? I manage a good network at my house, but I use a simple router.... Mac will have hundreds of routers all over campus, and I dont know if the dorms are connected to hte same ones as the main buildings and whatnot.

I was actually hoping youd say OS X on a Mac I'm a Mac tech, and all i know about windows is how to install programs lol

Hmmm, VPN eh... I know OF it, but I have never had to do it, so this will be interesting. Okay, that's great to know.

And at the very least for file back-ups, I can have it auto-save whenever they can connect to eachother... Somehow

You can try many application like tightvnc, ultravnc, or realvnc. And see which one suits you the best. I'm using my ipodtouch with tightvnc to operate my windows xp on safe mode.

Or you can try logmein, which controls desktop from website domain.

That's perfect! Thanks very much.

I've been limited to a few computers and a simple router-modem , a printer, and a ps3 at home.... You can only make so many interesting network connections between all of these things And now I have a whole campus that I can connect to, and some solid Wireless N which should be fun to play with since it has a range of here to Neptune.

I'm sure you will have 2 different network IPs for the Desktop and the Laptop.
Just install something like VNC and you're good to go. You use the internal network so you don't need to login with the Mac ID.

great, thanks!