You haven't mentioned the effect of using a crossover cable instead of a patch cable (above), or of using an ethernet switch between the modem and an iBook. Are you able to borrow a switch? They are platform-agnostic, so one from the PeeCee world will work.
Try this even if your iBooks are dual USB or later, and therefore nominally capable of auto-MDIX.
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Try this even if your iBooks are dual USB or later, and therefore nominally capable of auto-MDIX.
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