At one time, I moved to a rented apartment with my old router, which before that had served faithfully for five years. But, apparently, during the move, something went wrong, and the router died a heroic death. As a result, in a new place, I received only an Ethernet cable and the almost complete absence of mobile Internet. Running to buy a router at that moment was a big enough problem, so I had to improvise almost on the fly. My iMac was used as an access point . As a result, I lived all three months of the rented apartment with just such a bundle.
Previously, almost all Macs had Ethernet connectors.
What was most surprising in this situation was that not all users are able to turn their computer into a full-fledged router . If this is easy enough to do with an iPhone, then with regard to the computer, you need to tinker a bit with the settings. In any case, it is quite simple even for the most inexperienced user. Let’s see how you can turn your Mac into a router .
How to share internet from macbook
You can add Ethernet to new MacBooks using adapters.
Distributing the Internet from modern Macs is not as easy as it might seem at first glance. Old laptops and computers were equipped with an Ethernet connector. Therefore, a network cable could be connected to them directly, set up a connection and create an access point. In the current lineup, only Mac Mini is equipped with a similar connector. Therefore, it is easiest to use it as a modem. If you want to share the Internet from your iMac or MacBook, then you will need an adapter from USB-C to Ethernet . It can be purchased on Aliexpress for a symbolic 220 rubles.
If you have everything ready and the computer is connected to the network using a cable, then to configure the access point, do the following:
The settings for hotspot on a Mac are a little more complicated than on an iPhone.
- Open System Preferences.
- Go to the “Sharing” section.
- Select “Internet Sharing”.
- Select your wired Internet connection from the “Shared connection” drop-down list.
- In the “For computers using:” box, check Wi-Fi.
- Click on “Wi-Fi Settings” and in the window that appears, configure “Network Name”, “WPA2 Personal” security level, set a password and click “OK”.
- Activate the “Internet Sharing” switch.
After that, on any of your other devices, find the newly created hotspot and connect to it. The most interesting thing is that for three months of observing such a far from budget modem, no problems with the connection were revealed at all. The speed was, if not the same, then very close to a regular router. That is why at that time I did not begin to purchase any kind of router for a while, but waited for the move to my housing and here I calmly installed what I wanted.
For a short time, this is a great option that can provide Internet to your entire family. The only disadvantage of this mode of using the computer is that it must always be in an active state. If for Aimak this is no problem, then we usually carry a MacBook with us for some work on the road. Here, the device will have to be settled at home for some time.
This method of obtaining wireless Internet is perfect for trips to some European hotels. For some reason, not all of them have switched to wireless Wi-Fi Internet and still offer Ethernet cables in the rooms. There are very few such places left, but they still exist.
How to share internet via bluetooth
In addition to Ethernet, other connectors can be added using an adapter.
But more often than not, another connection option may be required. When the computer is connected to Wi-Fi , and the iPhone or iPad for some reason cannot establish a connection. Macs have a more powerful Wi-Fi module, so the likelihood that it will be able to maintain a stable connection is much higher. Therefore, you can set up a hotspot on your computer and connect your smartphone or tablet to it.
Keep in mind that all Macs can only support one Wi-Fi connection . That is, if a computer or laptop is connected to a wireless network, then it will not be able to distribute the Internet in this way. And vice versa, if distribution occurs, as per the instructions above, then the device will not be able to connect to Wi-Fi. In such a situation, Bluetooth can come to the rescue:
It’s good that you can even distribute wireless Internet to other devices.
- Open System Preferences.
- Go to the “Sharing” section.
- Select “Internet Sharing”.
- In the drop-down list “Shared connection” select Wi-Fi.
- In the box “For computers using:” check the box “Bluetooth PAN”.
- Activate the “Internet Sharing” switch.
After these steps, establish a Bluetooth connection between your smartphone or tablet and Mac to access the Internet. Often this connection option is much more convenient than trying to catch Wi-Fi on an iPhone or iPad. For the most part, this applies to public networks, which are often congested. Therefore, sometimes it’s easier to connect a more powerful computer to Wi-Fi and give access to any of your mobile devices.