Connection Sharing Issue

[Droid13]

Dear All,

I have searched the forum and the Apple support website and haven't been able to get things to work.

Background:
My MacBook (May '07, Tiger) is currently connected to the internet via 802.1x ethernet. I would like to use the internet sharing feature to set up a small wi-fi network for my iPhone and my PS3 so that they can get some internet access through the MacBook. It is ok to do this on my current network.

The Problem:
I go to the sharing preferences pane and allow connection sharing, as well as personal web access in the firewall settings. I select to share ethernet via airport, name my network and type in a password. Then nothing happens. Airport is on and I cannot see my network on either the iPhone or the PS3.

I must be doing something wrong here, but can't see what. I am probably being stupid. Please help.

Regards,
Droid13

[BubbaJones]

So you have an airport, or are you connecting your Macbook directly to a wired router?

Nevermind... Mac OS newbie here :o

Try looking here (http://www.macinstruct.com/node/118).

[Droid13]

So you have an airport, or are you connecting your Macbook directly to a wired router?

Sorry, reading my paragraph it is a little muddled. What I am trying to achieve is:

Wired Connection -> MacBook Ethernet Port -> MacBook Airport -> Ad Hoc Wireless Network -> PS3/iPhone Wireless Connection

Thanks!
Droid13

[GfulDedFan]

Perhaps This Tutorial (http://www.macinstruct.com/node/118) will help. - GDF

Or where Bubba said..........

[BubbaJones]

Perhaps This Tutorial (http://www.macinstruct.com/node/118) will help. - GDF

Or where Bubba said..........

Heh. Once I realized that he meant the airport built into the laptop, I tried to cover up my ignorance by quickly googling the question and updating my post. Guess we both found the same link :p

[GfulDedFan]

Guess we both found the same link :p

I was going to say... that link wasn't there a minute ago. ;)

Actually, I've known about MacInstruct for some time. I used their Hard Drive upgrade tutorial in '07. Good stuff.

[Droid13]

Thanks for the link guys - both of you! - while the instructions are basically what I was doing anyway, I decided to switch everything off and follow them word for word, just in case I had done something silly.

It worked. Briefly. I had a little upwards pointing arrow over my Airport indicator and a network that my iPhone could detect and connect to. All I had to do was connect to the ethernet connection and everything would be great - or so I thought!

The second I use Internet Connect to connect to 802.1x verified ethernet, I lose my sharing ability. So the problem is to do with the way 802.1x works and the way I connect.

Any ideas?

Thanks again!
Droid13

[GfulDedFan]

How about: Mac OS X 10.5: How to configure Network preferences for 802.1X (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3326).

[Droid13]

Thanks for the link - had a look through it, doesn't contain much that I can make use of. Had a look at the 10.4 and 10.6 equivalents as well, just in case there was something in there. No luck.

I'm thinking this must be some kind of built-in OS X security - you could argue that by using a WEP encrypted Wi-Fi connection to share my secure 802.1x ethernet connection, I am compromising the overall safety of the network - connection sharing bypasses security.

On the other hand, my friends who have Windows systems have managed this without much hassle. I would like to find the option to allow this and just enable it. Blasted Mac!

Never mind. There probably is a way of getting this to work, I just can't find it. Grrr...

[Droid13]

Done some more intensive searching, this problem seems to have no documented solution. If anyone does know of a way of making this work, please let me know.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Droid13