How to connect two macs via ethernet?

This was a helpful reply but could I ask a few specifics? I have two Macs in the same room. One is my daily use iMac and the other is a dedicated music server Mac Mini. They both connect to the internet wirelessly through a nearby Airport Extreme and a fairly slow internet connection. I control the music server (which is running JRiver for Mac 22) from my iPhone or iPad as I wander about the building but to administer the music server I connect via the iMac and Screen Sharing. The music server is a music-only arrangement and one zone, so it could not be simpler. However, I am finding that, despite their close proximity, the management of the music server from the iMac is horrendously laggy and, furthermore, for some bizarre reason, when I play music it is registering at the WAN : LAN interface on the Extreme, even though it is intended to play directly through the system to which the Mac Mini is connected and not broadcast programme through the LAN (even though JRiver can do this). I get the distinct impression that the slowness of the link between the iMac and Mac Mini (which is really really slow) must be due to a yet to be discovered routing problem, rather than interference. The the distance between the router, Mac Mini and iMac is about 2m. So, to get to my question... I have set up an experiment whereby I have connected both computers by ethernet via a switch. I got a happy green light on the port for the Mini but only an amber light on the port for the iMac. While both computers were connected to the wireless LAN they were unwilling to talk to each other with self assigned addresses on the ethernet link. However, I closed ScreenSharing on the iMac over the wireless LAN and went to Go and found the Mini across the ethernet link, reset up ScreenSharing via ethernet while disconnected from the LAN. I then turned off the wireless LAN link on the Mini and resumed my wireless LAN connection on the iMac. Now the management connection from the iMac to the Mini is lickety-split and happy. However... the music server now cannot connect to the internet and cannot be controlled by the remote app on the iPhone and iPad... It might not matter that it does not speak to the internet but the latter problem is deal breaker. So, I am trying to find a way of setting up a discrete ethernet connection between the two computers purely for this management role, while both computers are connected to the wireless LAN and that seem to be a problem. Any advice anyone can offer would be appreciated. FYI the iMac is one year old and the Mini is the 2011 model. So I do not think I can use an alternative to ethernet, though happy to be told otherwise. Thanks for reading.

In your Finder > Help type "ethernet" in the searchbox and look at the topic, 'connecting two computers with ethernet'.

What are you actually trying to do? if its file sharing firewire is a good method, and probably alot quicker. 🙂

This is from my Help Window: (copy and paste)

Connecting two computers using Ethernet

You can use an Ethernet cable to connect two Mac computers and share files or play network games.

To connect two computers using Ethernet:

Connect a standard Ethernet cable from the Ethernet port on one computer to the Ethernet port on the other. You don’t need to use an Ethernet crossover cable.

If your computer doesn’t have an Ethernet port, try using a USB-to-Ethernet adapter.

On each computer, choose Apple menu > System Preferences and click Sharing. Note the computer name for each computer.

In the Finder on one of the computers, choose Go > “Connect to Server,” and then click Browse.

Double-click the other computer in the window and enter your password, if necessary.

If you manually configured the TCP/IP settings for the Ethernet service on the computer you are connecting to, you may need to enter that computer’s TCP/IP address in the “Connect to Server” dialog.

To see or set the TCP/IP address, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Network, and select Ethernet in the list.

Related Topics

sharing files

The one question I had - if both computers are connected to the same wireless router, would the computers that are connected via ethernet cable to each other know to go to each other via ethernet rather than wifi?