How to: Set up your Mac as wireless hotspot

Photo credit: .michael.newman. (Flickr)

There are times when we want to share our Internet connection with other devices. Thankfully there’s a really quick and simple way to share your Mac’s Internet connection with other devices using the Mac’s built in components.

Sharing an Ethernet Internet connection via AirPort (Wifi) connection

1. Open System preferences
2. Select Sharing
3. Highlight Internet Sharing from the left hand pane
4. Choose Ethernet from the “Share your connection from” drop down box
5. Tick Airport on the right hand pane
6. Click AirPort Options
7. Give your hotspot a name
8. Choose a secure password
9. Change the WEP Key Length to 128-bit
10. Click Ok
11. Tick Internet Sharing on the left hand pane
12. Click Start to agree to it sharing your connection
13. On your mobile device find your new wireless hotspot and authenticate to it
14. When you’ve finished using the hotspot, disable it again by reversing step 11

Sharing an USB mobile broadband stick via AirPort (Wifi) connection

1. Open System preferences
2. Select Sharing
3. Highlight Internet Sharing from the left hand pane
4. Choose your mobile device from the “Share your connection from” drop down box (mine is Vodafone K3760)
5. Tick Airport on the right hand pane
6. Click AirPort Options
7. Give your hotspot a name
8. Choose a secure password
9. Change the WEP Key Length to 128-bit
10. Click Ok
11. Tick Internet Sharing on the left hand pane
12. Click Start to agree to it sharing your connection
13. On your mobile device find your new wireless hotspot and authenticate to it
14. When you’ve finished using the hotspot, disable it again by reversing step 11

BONUS Tip: Sharing an USB mobile broadband stick via an Ethernet connection

1. Open System preferences
2. Select Sharing
3. Highlight Internet Sharing from the left hand pane
4. Choose your mobile device from the “Share your connection from” drop down box (mine is Vodafone K3760)
5. Tick Ethernet on the right hand pane
6. Tick Internet Sharing on the left hand pane
7. Click Start to agree to it sharing your connection
8. On your mobile device find your new wireless hotspot and authenticate to it
9. When you’ve finished using the hotspot, disable it again by reversing step 6

In order to share your Ethernet connection it is assumend you are directly connecting to one other device. Newer deices will not required a crossed Ethernet cable since the network ports will auto detect a direct cable connection whereas older devices may require a special crossed Ethernet cable for this to work.

Tags: broadband, Ethernet, hotspot, internet, Mac, mobile, share, USB, WiFi

Category: Apple, How To, Technology