Sharing Internet Connectivity - Easy On A Mac

As I type this, I am writing on my MacBook Pro, in the back seat of our minivan as my wife drives us for a day-long family errand trip. We're driving on I-5 North of Seattle and it's a clear day and the mountains in view are really beautiful with their late winter patches of snow.

I'm able to work because of my Sprint Mobile Broadband service lets me stay connected to the Internet at decent (equivalent to Digital Subscriber Line - DSL) speeds. (It helps, a lot, that I'm using a Xantrex 300 watt inverter providing just enough, and just good enough, "AC" power for the Apple AC power adapter for my MacBook Pro.)

The Geek in me is looking forward to another* family first in Broadband Wireless Internet Access. My daughter brought her new (Christmas present from the grandparents) MacBook with her on the trip and plans to use it to catch up on some homework (she's off this week for Spring Break). To my daughter, "using her laptop" is equivalent to being connected to the Internet at Broadband speeds. In our house, my daughter's laptop "just works" on the Internet because I've set up Wi-Fi coverage for the house. Years ago, for her previous computer (a desktop), I ran an Ethernet cable into her room. But ever since she's had the laptop, the Ethernet cable has gone unused; I doubt she even knows that she can connect her laptop via Ethernet. She's always used Wi-Fi.

So, this is our first family road trip since she got her laptop at Christmas. She's expecting to use her laptop to get caught up on some homework (she's on Spring Break this week) during the hours we'll be traveling in the car. But I doubt that she understands the complexity that the Wi-Fi Broadband Internet Access that she uses inside our house doesn't extend much past the end of the driveway.

But thanks to my Sprint Mobile Broadband Service... but mostly that the Mac makes it easy to share an Internet connection, she won't really know, or much care... how she's able to get on the Internet and do her homework (and MySpace, and email, and IM, and ...) from a moving vehicle, just like she is able to do at home.

The "secret" of this family vehicular Wi-Fi HotSpot is, again, that the Mac makes it easy to share an Internet connection - any kind of Internet connection - even dialup! So here are the steps I used to turn on Internet sharing of my Sprint Broadband:

1. Click the Apple Menu
2. Click System Preferences
3. In Internet and Network section, click Sharing
4. Clink the Internet tab
5. Select the correct device in the Share your Internet connection from section
   1. In my case, I selected Sierra Wireless AC5
6. Check the correct port in the To computers using: section
   1. In my case, I selected AirPort
7. Click the Start button
8. (Pop up window) Confirm that you do want to Share your Internet connection
9. (purely for grins) Click AirPort Options and enter a whimsical name for Network Name - mine is stroh_family_traveling_circus.
10. When your wireless user (like my daughter) is done using the Internet connection, be sure to turn off Internet Sharing; the button in Step 7 is now a Stop button.

I've seen the same thing done on a Windows system, but it wasn't nearly so quick and intuitive, at least to me.

As I finish this article, my daughter is happily online... and Dad seems pretty cool for having made this possible... even if he is a Geek.

* The previous Family First in Broadband Wireless Internet Access was earlier this week when I "cut over" our household Broadband Internet Access from Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) to Clearwire (fixed) Broadband Wireless Internet Access.

By Steve Stroh

This article is Copyright © 2008 by Steve Stroh except for specifically-marked excerpts. Excerpts and links are expressly permitted (and encouraged).

This article was written and posted via Broadband Wireless Internet Access (BWIA); Sprint Mobile Broadband service using a Sierra Wireless 595U USB modem - 1xEV-DO Rev. A.

Comments

[Andres Dominicci]

Hi Steve:

I do own a Sierra Sprint USB modem. I have an Imac G5, MacBook and a hmmm regular PC. As you said between Macs is very easy to share but right now my PC is out of the equation. How can I share my connection with my PC? Thanks.

Reply - If you turn on the Mac's Internet Sharing, via AirPort (Wi-Fi) or Ethernet, the PC should be able to use the shared Internet Access from the Mac. There's nothing proprietary (that I'm aware of) in the Mac's Internet Sharing. - Steve

[Dick]

Hi Steve,
I have an Alltel mobile broadband usb wireless adapter and share it just like you. But I want to password protect the sharing. Can you tell me how to set this up? In my preferences window I don't see any options for this.

[Ernesto Reyes]

Hi Steve, nice to read all your blogs regarding Mac. It is very useful by having an step by step on how to deal with Mac's sharing internet connectivity. Good job!