I thought I'd ask the ever-reliable crowd on AppleTalk Australia, as I keep getting blank looks from all the alledged Mac expert 'geezers' over here.. :huh:

It looks like most of the UK Broadband providers provide USB ADSL modems free as part of their packages here. As an owner of an Airport Express which I purposely brought for this task, I wanted to use a ADSL broadband modem that connects to my P'book via LAN cable and therefore also via the A'Express network which I use for iTunes broadcast throughout our apartment here..

If they insist on providing me with a USB modem, does anyone know if one of these could connect through the USB 'printer' port on the A'Express and successfully transmit to the P'book, the same way a modem transmits through the LAN plug??

I doubt it, but any advice is appreciated.

If all else fails i'll just have to track down a Mac-compatible ADSL modem that will do the job, and pay the £ to get it rather than using the free one..

thanks..

I cannot offer you a "yes" or "no" but do consider that IF the usb of the airport Express can be use for the modem, you will not be able to use that anymore (for the printer).
You could consider getting an adapter where you can use with the modem and ur airport express rather than hunting for another modem/ISP.

Modem (USB) <--> (USB) adapter (LAN Cable) <--> Airport Express <--> pBook and Printer (in future?)

I thinks it unlikely to work as you would have no way to control the modem. I suspect the software you normally use for controlling the modem would not detect it. Also OS X has software built in for sharing printers but I don't think there is anything for sharing generic USB devices or modems.

Thanks Jmi and Gothikon, I didn't know such an adapter for going from USB to LAN existed.. and yes I will need to connect an all-in-one printer so using the USB for modem is not preferred - I will have a look around and see what I can find here..

It would be worth the time to buy an ethernet modem on eBay and sell your USB one on eBay to recoup some of the cost.

USB DSL modems are a pain in my experience. They only seem to work "well" when they are connected to a wintel machine.

yep get a d-link dsl-200 or something like that, it has pppoe whihc is what airport wants. if you're a bit of a DIY'er you could use a old pc (pentium 200 or so) load it up with clarkconnect, and use that to go between your modem and your Airporrt BS, this has the added advantage of having an FTP server, a websever, a mail serv... etc etc etc.

i thought most single port usb modems come with a ethernet port as well, so that you could instead connect to the internet using that freeing up the usb on your expresss for the printing. can you find out the specific modem model from the isp?