It's not always easy or worthwhile to maintain a network of any quality when you're just on dialup, unless you've got a router that happens to dial-out for you, in which case it's more of a necessity than anything else.

ANyway, if you can find the right version (it does exist, trust me) you may have more luck with opentransport, if your mac has enough memory. I always found OT to be a nicer, faster, easier, and more complete solution.