How to turn Mac into a WiFi hotspot without software

With the increased use of wireless mobile devices, sharing internet connections have become very necessary too. Just recently I was in a condition where I had a Mac laptop with an internet connection and several of my friends who had their wireless mobile devices with them, we all needed to surf the internet at the same time. Then the need to share my internet connection arose. With my Windows 7 PC I can turn my machine into a WiFi hotspot using Connectify and we can all connect and surf at the same time. In this case I was with a Mac laptop and I was pretty sure sharing with Connectify isn’t an option.

So I am going to show you how I turned my Mac laptop into a WiFi hotspot for all my friends to connect and surf the internet.

How to turn your Mac into a WiFi hotspot without software:

Connect your Mac to an Ethernet connection. Then open the system preferences from the menu in the top left corner.

Click on the Sharing under the internet and Wireless category.

Next tick the ‘Internet Sharing’, ensure the ‘Share your connection from’ is on Ethernet, and then choose the WiFi option on ‘To Computers using’.

A warning asking if you are sure you want to turn on internet sharing will pop up, choose ‘Start’ to proceed to the sharing settings.

Next, click on the ‘Wi-Fi Options’ button where you will be prompted to configure your network. Specify your network name, channel and password.

Click ok to finish your configuration. You will then be taken back to the previous screen, then select the ‘Internet Sharing’ on the services column.

Then another pop up warning requesting you turn on your WiFi if you must share the connection will appear if your WiFi is turned off. Turn it on

Then you will be prompted again if you are want to turn on internet sharing as before, choose Start. Then your Ethernet network has been shared turning your Mac into a WiFi hotspot without any software. Now let’s test it with a wireless device

Connecting to your Mac’s WiFi hotspot with a wires device:

Grab an iPad, iPhone or any other wireless device and enter the ‘Settings’, under WiFi, make sure the WiFi is switched on, then automatically your wireless device will search for wireless networks in range and list them under ‘Choose a Network’.

Select the network we just created and shared on your Mac, it will immediately request for the password to join the network. Once you provide the correct password you saved on the WiFi options on your Mac, the wireless device will join the network and you can start surfing from your wireless device immediately.

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