How to: Share your Mac’s Internet connection

You’re in a hotel that charges $15 per client for Internet access and there are three of you using notebooks. What to do? Pay $45—about what fast residential broadband costs per month—or find a way to share the wealth (bits are after all free)?

Well you being the clever lass (or lad) with the MacBook quickly tethers via Ethernet and then smoothly shares the connection wirelessly with your two hapless counterparts, saving the company money and earning a special spot in your boss’s black, money-grubbing heart.

Alternately, you could save the $30 for yourself and your multiple Mac + iPod touch (or iPhone) toting family. Whatever the situation, here’s what you need to do share and share alike.

1. Go to System Preferences, and then click “Sharing.”

2. Select “Internet Sharing”
— Do NOT click the “On” checkbox just yet as you won’t be able to change any settings

3. Choose a network service from the “Share your connection from” pop-up menu, select “Ethernet.”

4. Select a way to share your Internet connection from the “To computers using” list, click “AirPort.”

5. Click Airport Options and choose a password to protect your connection (irony intended)
— A five character password yields 40-bit protection, 13 characters gives you 128-bit

6. Click the Internet Sharing “On” checkbox to begin the connection, and you should be good to go.

See also:
— Mac OS X 10.5 Help: Sharing your Internet connection (Apple)
— Mac software: The best free Wi-Fi software for your Mac
— iTunes: Where to find internet radio stations
— Mac software: Free and cheap alternatives to Microsoft Office …

That was easy, eh? I will have more of this kind of fun to share in the days and weeks to come.

In the meantime, what are some of your favorite Airport tricks? Share a description and a link or two below…

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• Wi-Fi setup: How do I access the internet with my iPod touch?
• Apple releases Airport Extreme update 2008-002; Improves connectivity and compatibility of various audio applications
• iTunes: Where to find internet radio stations
• Pirate Bay data shows Mac users don’t share
• Apple iPad has Wi-Fi connection problems