Hiya
Mspotts
Reading what you've typed, you say you 'can' get a 'connection' in the living room and bedroom but nothing seems to work in terms of applications.. meaning internet conectivity, sharing of printers, sharing of network drives etc etc ISNT working?
Or is it that you CAN get a connection AND get access to the internet and shared printers etc but ONLY from the bedroom?
that last bit indicates to me right off that although the signal quality is there, it may be 'unstable' - could be a number of things, signal interference on the same channel from other nearby routers (try changing the channel on your router and then on all PC's that need to access it) driver issues, and just the 'unluckiness' that various items in yoru house are causing signal variations. Do you have a fishtank by any chance? water is a great 'absorber' of wifi signals, do you have brick internal walls or the flimsier stud wall type? various metallic objects can cause signal fluctuations. Also, do you have a wireless DECT phone? if so, they have been known to interefere with wifi signals. On top of that, signal leakage from microwaves, mobile phones, tv signals can to a certain extent cause this type of problem.
Peedal
I think you need to equip the MAC's with a wireless wifi adaptor (as well as the PC) these are like 'aerials' to pickup the signal being sent out by the router. Easiest way is USB ones which just 'plug into' a spare usb port saving you from opening up the innards of a machine. From that point on, I don't think it matters if it's a PC or MAC thats connected. I think you might have to buy adaptors that ARE MAC certified, but im not 100% sure. Nip into an Apple store or on their website and see if they have wi'fi adaptors. Other than that, you should find it relatively straighforward to get them connected.
Disclaimer is - I've personally as yet not used MACs (thinking about checking them out to see what the fuss is all about!) so I'm not so upto speed on all their seemingly overpriced extra's as well. Theoretcially they shouldn't be any different from a PC wi-fi setup.
Wi-fi is very very popular indeed, and looks like I'm keeping my setup for now although I'm going to bolster it with Powerline networking - basically that is where you use the property's mains wiring to send networking signals for computers around the property. When you have the inevitable wi-fi dead spots this solution effectively and neatly sorts the problem. Should also be easily workable for these MAC thingy's too!!
Hope this helps yer both a bit!
Cheers! DtM! West London & Slough UK!