The Butt Ugly Weblog

Connectivity with Mac

One of the best, yet relatively unknown features, of Mac OSX is the ease with which you can share a connection. I tried with my work computer - the Thinkpad on the right - to get to the internet, but alas, no such luck. The WLAN connection does not work (signal is too weak) and for some reason, it also refuses to discover my cell phone over Bluetooth (it does, however, discover my previous phone, which is 2900 km away - some radio, huh?) However, my Mac does work (the Macbook antennas are apparently very good), so for once I'm grateful that I happened to lug two laptops with me.

So, I connect the Mac to the internet (and pay something horrendous), and then go to System Preferences -> Sharing Preferences -> Internet Sharing. Turn "Internet sharing on" from "Airport" to "Ethernet", put an Ethernet cable between Thinkpad and Mac, and hey! The Thinkpad is on the internet! VPN works and everything - the only downside being that the umbilical cord connecting the two modern wonders is about one meter, so I can't go too far. Internet sharing is by the way also a great way for not paying for two computers ;-)

I could, of course, share the 3G connection from the phone via the Mac's built-in WLAN, to get the truly wireless solution, but I think that's doing it over the top already. Besides, that would be even more expensive...

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