Macs All-in-One For Dummies, 4th Edition (2014)
Book III. Beyond the Basics
Chapter 3. Networking Your Mac and Connecting Peripherals
In This Chapter
Configuring wired and wireless networks
Adding a printer to the network
Using Bluetooth
Most households and small businesses have a few computers, a printer or two, a scanner, an Internet service, and maybe even an external drive where files are backed up from each computer. (Be sure to read about the importance of backing up in Book III, Chapter 1.) You can connect and disconnect peripheral devices (your printers, scanners, and such) to and from your computer when you want to use them — which would be a big hassle and time waster — or you can set up a network.
A network allows multiple computers to share files and devices, such as printers, modems, or back-up hard drives. Connecting two computers is the simplest of networks, but even a home setting today typically has a printer shared by two computers (more on that in the following chapter). And when multiple computers connect to a network, they can share files almost as quickly and easily as copying a file from one folder to another.
After you understand the concept of networking, networks aren’t so difficult to set up. In this chapter, we show you how to set up a simple wired or wireless network — a few computers, a printer, and a modem. We then talk about another connectivity protocol — Bluetooth — which lets you connect peripherals (think keyboards and mice) wirelessly, as well as share files between devices. We delve into sharing in Book III, Chapter 4.
Creating a Wired Network
Setting up networks is easy with Macs because of Bonjour, Apple’s implementation of zero-configuration networking, which is part of your Mac’s operating system. With Bonjour, your Mac seeks and discovers the peripheral devices and servers on your local network and you don’t have to do any complicated configuring. You may see the word Bonjour in some of the networking preferences windows or when you set up chats (see Book II, Chapter 3). Sometimes you hear this referred to as plug and play — plug in your computer and peripherals and it just works!
The simplest wired network connects two computers, using either a USB or Thunderbolt cable or a cable that conforms to a networking cable standard called Ethernet. Your Mac has an Ethernet or Thunderbolt port or both. If you plug a cable into the ports of two Macs, you have a simple network, as shown in Figure 3-1.
Figure 3-1: A simple network connects two Macs via Ethernet or Thunderbolt cable.
All recent Mac models have Thunderbolt ports. Thunderbolt offers two-way 10 Gbps connections, making it up to 2 times faster than USB 3. All desktop Mac models and the non–Retina MacBook Pro also have Ethernet ports. Other MacBook models without an Ethernet port rely on a wireless (Wi-Fi) connection, a USB-Ethernet adapter, or a Thunderbolt-Ethernet adapter.
Ethernet cables are often identified by the speeds at which they can send data. The earliest Ethernet cables were Category 3 (Cat 3) cables and could transfer data at 10 megabits per second (Mbps). The next generation of Ethernet cables was Category 5 and 5e (Cat 5/5e) cables, which could transfer data at 100 Mbps. Category 6 (Cat 6) cables transfer data at 1,000 Mbps or one gigabit per second (Gbit/s). With networking, speed is everything and Category 6a (Cat 6a) and Category 7 (Cat 7) transfer data at 10 Gbit/s. Category 7a supports transfer speeds of 100 Gbit/s.
Because it’s physically impossible to connect more than two devices together with a single cable, wired networks use a hub. Each device connects to the hub, which indirectly connects each device to every other device also connected to the hub, as shown in Figure 3-2.
An improved variation of a hub is a switch. Physically, a hub and a switch both connect multiple devices in a single point (as shown in Figure 3-2).
With a hub, a network acts like one massive hallway that every computer shares. If many computers transfer data at the same time, the shared network can get crowded with data flowing everywhere, slowing the transfer of data throughout the network.
Figure 3-2: A hub or switch allows multiple computers to connect together in a network.
With a switch, the switch directs data between two devices. As a result, a switch can ensure that data transfers quickly, regardless of how much data the other devices on the network are transferring at the time.
A variation of a switch is a router, which often adds a firewall by using Network Address Translation (NAT) and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). NAT uses one set of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, which identify the computers and peripherals on the network for local network traffic, and another set for external traffic. This eliminates the risk of your device having the same address as another device. DHCP lets the router assign a different IP address to the same device each time it connects to the network.
Because routers cost nearly the same as ordinary hubs and switches, most wired networks rely on routers. So if you want to create a wired network of computers, you need
· Two or more devices — computers, printers, scanners, modems, external drives
· A network switch or router with a number of ports equal to or greater than the number of devices you want to connect
· Enough cables (and of sufficient length) to connect each device to the network switch or router
The speed of a wired network depends entirely on the slowest speed of the components used in your network. So, if you plan to use the fastest cables in your network, make sure your network switch is designed for those cables. If not, you’ll have the fastest Ethernet cables connected to a slow network switch, which will run only as fast as the slowest part of your network.
After you connect your computers and peripherals to the hub or switch and turn everything on, follow these steps to make sure that your Mac is connected:
1. Choose 
⇒System Preferences.
The System Preferences window opens.
2. Click the Network icon.
3. Beside Ethernet or Thunderbolt, or whichever type of network cable or connection you use, you should see a green light and the word Connected underneath, as shown in Figure 3-3.
Figure 3-3: Use Network preferences to connect to the network.
4. To confirm that your printer is connected, click Show All or the Back button to return to the main System Preferences window.
5. Click the Printers & Scanners icon.
The Printers & Scanners preferences window opens, as shown in Figure 3-4. Printers and scanners connected to your network are listed on the left.
Figure 3-4: See the printers connected to your network.
6. Repeat these steps on other Macs and devices on your network.
We explain how to set up file sharing in Book III, Chapter 4. After you set up sharing, you see other computers on your network in the Finder under the Shared heading.
When you set up a wired network, the router may have wireless capabilities. If so, you can use an Ethernet cable to connect to the router a computer or printer that stays in one place, and then connect to the wireless network connection on your MacBook to work from your lawn chair in the garden or connect from a desktop Mac in another room in the house. To do so, turn on Wi-Fi and select the network, as we explain in the next section.
Creating a Wireless Network
Essentially, a wireless network is no different from a wired network, except (of course) that there are no wires. Instead, radio waves take their place. Wireless networks can be a bit slower than wired networks, but unless you transfer big files, going wireless is probably a tidier and more cost-effective alternative because there are no cables to buy or tack along the baseboard.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention two downsides to wireless networks:
· potential interference from cordless phones and microwave ovens
· less security because of the risk of others intercepting the signal
We show you how to create two types of wireless networks:
· A peer-to-peer (computer-to-computer) network that lets two or more Macs see each other without having to connect anything other than the computers themselves
· A wireless network that uses a wireless router and eventually a cable modem or DSL modem
Setting up a computer-to-computer network
Your Mac has a built-in AirPort Card, which lets it see other Macs and Wi-Fi–enabled devices just by turning on Wi-Fi and setting up a peer-to-peer (computer-to-computer) network. Do the following:
1. Choose ⇒System Preferences and then click the Network icon.
2. Click Wi-Fi in the list on the left (refer to Figure 3-3).
3. Click Turn Wi-Fi On.
4. Click the pop-up menu by Network Name and choose Create Network.
A dialog opens, as shown in Figure 3-5.
Figure 3-5: Create a computer-to-computer wireless network.
5. Give your network a name, such as Home or Office.
6. Open the Security pop-up menu and assign a password to your network.
We highly recommend you create a password to access your wireless network because wireless networks are easily viewed by other computers in the vicinity. You can choose a 40-bit WEP, which requires a 5-character password, or a 128-bit WEP, which requires a 13-character password. The longer the password, the harder it is for someone to guess what your password is.
Read more about WEP and WPA in the upcoming sidebar, “The hazards of wireless networking.”
7. Click Create.
Your network now appears next to Network Name.
You have two ways to connect to your wireless network: from Network System Preferences or from the Wi-Fi menu on the menulet.
To connect to your wireless network from Network System Preferences, follow these steps:
1. Click Wi-Fi in the list on the left.
2. Click the Turn Wi-Fi On button in the upper right of the window.
3. Open the pop-up menu by Network Name and choose the name of your network.
4. Enter the password, if you assigned one.
5. Click Join.
The Wi-Fi icon on the menulet now shows a computer rather than the Wi-Fi bars.
To connect to your wireless network from the Wi-Fi menu on the menulet, follow these steps:
1. Open the Wi-Fi pull-down menu on the menulet and drag to choose Turn Wi-Fi On.
2. Open the Wi-Fi pull-down menu again and choose your network.
3. Enter the password, if you assigned one.
4. Click Join.
The Wi-Fi icon on the menulet changes to a computer.
Wireless printers also work on a computer-to-computer network. Follow the printer manufacturer’s instructions for using a wireless printer on your network.
Setting up a wireless network with a router
When you use a computer-to-computer network, your Mac can’t connect to the Internet with Wi-Fi. Because your Mac has wireless capabilities, though, you probably want to connect to both the Internet and your network wirelessly.
As with a wired network, you need a router for a wireless network. Instead of managing physical cables, though, a wireless router manages signals based on the wireless network protocols. The earliest wireless networks followed a technical specification called 802.11b or 802.11a. Newer wireless equipment followed a faster wireless standard called 802.11g, and the latest standard (at the time of this writing) is 802.11n. The faster, upcoming standard is 802.11ac.
When setting up a wireless network, make sure that your router uses the same wireless standard as the built-in wireless radio or wireless adapter plugged into each of your devices. All new and recent Macs connect to Wi-Fi routers that use one to five types of the wireless 802.11 network standards.
You can buy any brand of wireless router to create a network, including Apple’s Airport Extreme Base Station or TimeCapsule. Any router you choose will come with specific software and instructions for setting up your network. The basic steps are to
1. Name your network and base station so devices on the network can then find and connect to your Wi-Fi network.
2. Set up a password.
WPA2 provides the most security (see the nearby sidebar, “The hazards of wireless networking,” for more information).
3. Define how you connect to the Internet.
You may need information from your Internet Service Provider (ISP) for this step (see Book I, Chapter 3).
4. Add printers and/or external hard drives.
5. Configure your Macs for sharing, as we explain in Book III, Chapter 4.
Because of physical obstacles, wireless networks don’t always reach certain parts of a room or building, resulting in “dead spots” where you can’t connect wirelessly. Walls or furniture can disrupt the wireless signals. You can add a device called an access point, which picks up the signal and rebroadcasts it beyond the reach of the Wi-Fi router, extending your wireless network range. The newest (but not widely distributed) Wi-Fi protocol — 802.11ac — uses a technology that is better at penetrating walls, which will make this problem less troublesome in the future.
The difference between an access point and a router is that the router is at the center of the network, allowing the computers to share printers (see the next chapter), Internet connections, and external hard drives. The access point is what allows the devices with wireless capabilities to connect to the network from a greater distance.
The hazards of wireless networking
To access a wired network, someone must physically connect a computer to the network with a cable. However, connecting to a wireless network can be done from another room, outside a building, or even across the street. As a result, wireless networks can be much less secure because a wireless network essentially shoves dozens of virtual cables out the window, so anyone can walk by and connect to the network.
The practice of connecting to unsecured wireless networks with malicious intentions is war driving (also called war flying, war walking, or war boating, depending on how you move around). The basic idea behind war driving is to drive around a city and keep track of which areas offer an unsecured wireless network. After getting connected to an unsecured wireless network, an intruder can wipe out files, capture personal information, or interfere with the network’s operation.
When you create a wireless network, you can make your network more secure by taking advantage of a variety of security measures and options. The simplest security measure is to use a password that locks out people who don’t know the password. Three types of passwords are used for wireless networks:
· Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is an older protocol and offers minimal (almost useless) protection. Because it’s an older protocol, it may not work on all your devices. Passwords use either 5 or 13 characters.
· Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) is better than WEP because it changes the encryption key for each data transmission.
· Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2) is the best choice because it uses the more secure Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) to encrypt the password when it’s transmitted.
For further protection, you can also use encryption. Encryption scrambles the data sent to and from the wireless network. Without encryption, anyone can intercept information sent through a wireless network (including passwords). Still another security measure involves configuring your wireless network to let only specific computers connect to the network. By doing this, an intruder can’t gain access to the wireless network because his or her computer is not approved to access the network.
Ultimately, wireless networking requires more security measures simply because it offers potential intruders the ability to access the network without physically being in the same room, house, or building. Wireless networks can be as safe as wired networks — as long as you turn on security options that can make your wireless network as secure as possible.
Connecting and Choosing a Printer
Out of the box, Mac OS X comes with a number of special files called printer drivers, which tell your Mac how to communicate with most popular models of printer brands. When you buy a new printer, it often comes with a CD that contains a printer driver or a website address where you can download the appropriate driver. You can install the printer driver to unlock special features that the Mac’s built-in drivers may not take advantage of.
Check the support section of the printer manufacturer’s website to see whether a newer version of the printer installation software is available. After you run the installer, check the website every now and then to see whether a newer version (than the one you installed) is available. Some installers place a print utility on the Dock, and you may be able to set up the print utility to check automatically for updates.
Making your Mac work with your printer involves a two-step process:
1. You connect your printer to your Mac, either physically with a USB cable or network connection (such as a USB or Ethernet connection to a router) or wirelessly to a Wi-Fi–enabled printer that’s connected to the same Wi-Fi network your Mac connects to.
2. You must install the proper printer driver on your Mac (if you don’t want to use the supplied driver that comes with Mac OS X, or if your Mac doesn’t have a driver for it). After you connect your printer to your Mac and install or select the correct printer driver, you can then print documents and control your printer’s options.
You can download additional printer drivers (and drivers for other types of hardware, such as scanners and pressure-sensitive tablets) directly from the Apple website (www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/drivers) or from the printer manufacturer’s website.
After you physically or wirelessly connect a printer to your Mac and install its printer driver, you may need to take one additional step and tell your Mac that this particular printer is connected. To get your Mac to recognize a connected printer, follow these steps:
1. Choose ⇒System Preferences and then click the Printers & Scanners icon to open the Printers & Scanners preferences pane.
2. Click the Add (+) button.
It’s at the bottom of the printer list in the background window shown in Figure 3-6.
Note: Your Mac may list local printers (printers directly attached to your Mac) as well as printers linked to your Mac via a network. See Book III, Chapter 4 to learn more about sharing printers.
Figure 3-6: Add or delete printers from the Printers & Scanners preferences pane.
3. In the Add dialog that appears you see a list of printers that are available on the network.
Click the Default tab if you don’t see the printers.
4. In the list, click the printer you want your Mac’s applications to always print to (unless you specify otherwise).
5. From the Use pop-up menu, choose the driver you want to use.
6. Click the Add button at the lower right of the Add window.
7. Click the Close button to quit System Preferences.
Biting into Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a wireless technology standard designed primarily for connecting devices within a short distance of one another — up to 30 feet. Because of its short-range nature, Bluetooth is handy for connecting computers for short periods of time and for transferring small files, unlike faster wired or wireless (Wi-Fi) networks that connect computers on a more permanent basis.
If you think Bluetooth is a distant relative of Bluebeard or Babe the big blue ox, think again. Bluetooth was named after tenth-century Danish King Harald, who during his short reign improved communication and merged the Danish and Norwegian tribes.
Most mobile phones and tablets have built-in Bluetooth capabilities, which makes it easy to wirelessly sync calendars and address books between a hand-held device and a computer (as we explain in Book I, Chapter 3). Bluetooth-enabled input devices, such as wireless keyboards, mice, and game consoles, as well as wireless headsets for chatting with Messages or using Internet phone services like Skype, connect to your Mac by using your Mac’s built-in Bluetooth feature.
Configuring Bluetooth on your Mac
The first step to using Bluetooth is to configure your Mac’s Bluetooth preferences. For example, you may not want to allow other computers to browse your hard drive through Bluetooth without your express permission. Otherwise, someone could access your Mac and browse its hard drive from across the room, and you would never know it.
Although both your Mac and your iOS device (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch) have Bluetooth, you can’t transfer files between them with Bluetooth — yet.
To configure how Bluetooth works on your Mac, follow these steps:
1. Choose ⇒System Preferences, and then click the Sharing icon.
Alternatively, right-click (two-finger click on a trackpad) the System Preferences icon on the Dock and choose Sharing from the menu that appears.
2. Select the Bluetooth Sharing check box and make sure that Bluetooth Sharing is highlighted.
The Sharing window opens, as shown in Figure 3-7.
Figure 3-7: The Sharing window lists preference choices for Bluetooth.
3. Choose one of the following from the When Receiving Items pop-up menu:
· Accept and Save: Automatically saves any files sent to you through Bluetooth. (We don’t recommend this option because someone can send you a malicious application, such as a virus or Trojan Horse, which can wipe out your files when opened.)
· Accept and Open: Automatically saves and opens any files sent to you through Bluetooth. (We don’t recommend this option because this — like the previous option — could automatically run a malicious application sent to your Mac through Bluetooth.)
· Ask What to Do: Displays a dialog that gives you the option of accepting or rejecting a file sent to you through Bluetooth. This option is probably your best choice.
· Never Allow: Always blocks anyone from sending you files through Bluetooth.
4. Choose either Documents or Other from the Folder for Accepted Items pop-up menu.
If you choose Other, an Open dialog appears, letting you navigate to and click a folder where you want to store any files sent to you through Bluetooth.
5. Choose one of the following from the When Other Devices Browse pop-up menu:
· Always Allow: Automatically gives another (any) Bluetooth device full access to the contents of your Mac. (Not recommended — this allows others to mess up your files accidentally or deliberately.)
· Ask What to Do: Displays a dialog that gives you the option of accepting or rejecting another device’s attempt to access your Mac through Bluetooth.
· Never Allow: Always blocks anyone from browsing through your Mac by using Bluetooth.
6. Choose either Public or Other from the Folder Others Can Browse pop-up menu.
If you choose Other, an Open dialog appears, letting you select a folder that you can share.
7. Click the Open Bluetooth Preferences button and go on to the next section.
Pairing a Bluetooth device
Pairing allows you to predetermine which Bluetooth-enabled devices can connect to your Mac. By pairing, you can keep strangers from trying to access your Mac without your knowledge. For additional security, paired devices require a password (also called a passkey) that further verifies that a specific device is allowed to connect to your Mac.
Pairing with your Mac
To pair a device with your Mac, follow these steps:
1. Right-click (two-finger click on a trackpad) the System Preferences icon on the Dock and choose Bluetooth from the menu that appears.
Alternatively, choose ⇒System Preferences to open the System Preferences window and then click the Bluetooth icon.
The Bluetooth preferences pane appears.
2. If Bluetooth is off, click the Turn Bluetooth On button.
The Devices list shows Bluetooth-enabled devices in the vicinity and any devices you previously connected to.
3. Click the Pair button next to the device you want to pair with your Mac.
A dialog shows a code that you should make sure matches the code on the device you’re pairing. Click or tap Pair on the device to confirm, and the device appears as Connected in the Devices list, as shown in Figure 3-8.
Figure 3-8: Bluetooth preferences let you pair a device with your Mac.
To unpair a device or remove a previously paired device from the list, make sure Bluetooth is turned on and then hover the pointer to the right of the device you want to remove. Click the X that appears (refer to Figure 3-8).
If you connect Bluetooth-enabled input devices to your Mac, such as keyboards, mice, or trackpads, you should consider a few advanced settings. Choose ⇒System Preferences and then click the Bluetooth icon or right-click (Control-click on a trackpad) the System Preferences icon on the Dock and choose Bluetooth. Click Advanced in the lower-right corner, and you see the window shown in Figure 3-9. Choose the settings that apply to the devices you use. For example, if you use a Bluetooth-enabled keyboard, you want to select the first and third options so that if your Mac doesn’t see the keyboard, it opens Bluetooth Preferences automatically, and you can wake your Mac by touching the keyboard. For a wireless mouse, choose the second and third options.
Figure 3-9: Choose how your Mac interacts with input devices from the advanced Bluetooth settings.
Troubleshooting connections with Bluetooth-enabled devices
Sometimes you pair a device with your Mac, but the connection doesn’t seem to hold when your Mac goes to sleep. If you connect a keyboard or headset to your computer and experience problems with the Bluetooth connection, power down the device by following this procedure:
1. Shut down your Mac.
2. Turn off the keyboard or headset and hold the power button for five seconds.
3. Turn on your Mac.
4. When your Mac says there is no keyboard connected, turn on the keyboard and hold the power button for 10 seconds.
Alternatively, turn on the headset and hold the power button for 10 seconds.
5. Pair the device with your Mac as explained in the preceding section.
Sharing through Bluetooth
Because Bluetooth lets you create a simple, short-range network between Macs, you can use a Bluetooth network to share files or even an Internet connection with others. Such a simple network isn’t meant to share massive numbers of files or a long-term Internet connection, but it is handy for quick e-mail access or browsing a web page.
The speed of ordinary networks connected through Ethernet cables is 10, 100, or 1,000 megabits per second (Mbps), whereas the maximum speed of a Bluetooth network is only 1 Mbps.
When you want to copy a file from your Mac to another device, such as another Mac or a PC running Windows, you can set up a Bluetooth connection. Sharing files through Bluetooth allows you to transfer files to another device without the hassle of using connecting cables or mutually compatible removable storage devices like portable hard drives or USB flash drives. It’s also a viable option when you’re out of range of a Wi-Fi network.
To share files through Bluetooth, follow these steps:
1. From the Finder, choose Go⇒Utilities.
The contents of the Utilities folder appear.
2. Double-click the Bluetooth File Exchange icon.
A Select File to Send window appears.
Choose ⇒System Preferences⇒Bluetooth and then click Show Bluetooth in Menu Bar. Then to quickly transfer files, click the Bluetooth icon on the menu bar to choose Send File to Device and then proceed.
3. Select a file.
To select multiple files, hold down the 
key and click each file you want to send.
4. Click Send.
A Send File window appears, listing all Bluetooth-enabled devices near your Mac, as shown in Figure 3-10.
Figure 3-10: The Send File window lets you choose a Bluetooth-enabled device to receive your file.
5. Select a Bluetooth-enabled device and click Send.
If you choose another Mac or mobile phone (but not an iPhone) to receive your files, a dialog may appear on the receiving device, asking the user to accept or decline the file transfer, as shown in Figure 3-11.
If the receiving device has been configured to Accept and Save or Accept and Open (transferred files), you won’t see the dialog in Figure 3-11. The dialog in Figure 3-11 appears only if the user has selected Ask What to Do (the default option) when configuring Bluetooth settings.
Figure 3-11: The receiving device can accept or decline a file transfer.
See Book III, Chapter 4 to learn about sharing an Internet connection with Bluetooth.