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Can I connect two Macs to share wireless internet access?

amin

amin

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 17, 2003
977
9
Boston, MA
I'm sure this has been posted, but my search pulled up hundreds of threads. After I scanned the first 50, I decided to just post my question.

I have to wait a few days (at most) for my job to register my MAC address so that the new Mac Pro has access to the network/internet via ethernet. It does not have an Airport card or Bluetooth. While I am waiting, is there a way to connect the Mac Pro to my Powerbook (which has Wifi internet access) such that it can piggyback on the internet connection as a temporary solution?

Thanks much,
Amin
 
Put the ethernet cable between the macpro & powerbook / or a firewire cable.

On the powerbook, go into sytstem prefs / go into sharing

in Shaing / select internet.

Click share internet from Airport, and tick either ethernet or firewire and then click START..

That's it...
 
Won't the lack of a network-approved MAC address still inhibit this? The connection advice is sound, but it still has to get through the same network. Or does the sharing cancel that out?
 
^ It shouldn't.

If he already has a working wireless connection on a powerbook, sharing the internet access via firewire or ethernet should not be a problem on your macpro.
 
The network will only see the MBP's MAC address.

You'll be good to go with the above posted method.

You could also bring a router in and clone the MAC address of the MBP as well.

The first method is better because it is free though.
 
Wouldn't you need a cross-over cable to go from network card -> network card?
 
MacRumorUser said:
Put the ethernet cable between the macpro & powerbook / or a firewire cable.

On the powerbook, go into sytstem prefs / go into sharing

in Shaing / select internet.

Click share internet from Airport, and tick either ethernet or firewire and then click START..

That's it...
Click to expand...

Thank you. I will try it as soon as the Mac Pro arrives (Fedex says Wednesday :) )
 
apunkrockmonk said:
You could also bring a router in and clone the MAC address of the MBP as well.
Click to expand...

That is an appealing option and I don't mind paying a little for it. Is there a router that supports MAC address cloning but is not wireless? I don't want to get dinged for creating a wireless network at work, and I really have no use for wireless on my Mac Pro. It would simply enable me to get up and running faster without relying on a wireless connection.

Edit/Addendum - I think I found a good, cheap wired router to serve my needs - Linksys BEFSR41. Looks like it does MAC cloning, doesn't have wireless capabilities, and did I mention it's cheap?
 
amin said:
That is an appealing option and I don't mind paying a little for it. Is there a router that supports MAC address cloning but is not wireless? I don't want to get dinged for creating a wireless network at work, and I really have no use for wireless on my Mac Pro. It would simply enable me to get up and running faster without relying on a wireless connection.

Edit/Addendum - I think I found a good, cheap wired router to serve my needs - Linksys BEFSR41. Looks like it does MAC cloning, doesn't have wireless capabilities, and did I mention it's cheap?
Click to expand...

Any Linksys router that I've ever used had MAC cloning avaiable.

Also, if you find a good deal on a wireless router (one that was cheaper then a wired router) you can always turn off the wireless.
 
apunkrockmonk said:
Any Linksys router that I've ever used had MAC cloning avaiable.

Also, if you find a good deal on a wireless router (one that was cheaper then a wired router) you can always turn off the wireless.
Click to expand...

I know it's dumb, but somehow I feel more secure getting one that can't do wireless :rolleyes: .
 
MacRumorUser said:
Put the ethernet cable between the macpro & powerbook / or a firewire cable.

On the powerbook, go into sytstem prefs / go into sharing

in Shaing / select internet.

Click share internet from Airport, and tick either ethernet or firewire and then click START..

That's it...
Click to expand...

Just wanted to post back here that this is working (with FW). Thanks again MacRumorUser!
 
I am having an problem with this issue, and was wondering if someone out there can tell me where I'm going wrong.

I have a PowerMac G5 (Tiger) with an Airport card that connects to the internet via my Belkin router. That works no problem.

I have an iMac G3 (Panther) with no Airport, and would like to share the G5's Airport connection to the G3 over ethernet.

I connected the two with a standard, non-crossover ethernet cable; if I turn on file sharing on the G3, from the G5 I can see the G3's home directory and read/write files on there (to check if any network transport is possible between the two).

However, from the G3 I cannot connect to the internet. In the preferences I set it to assign address using DHCP, and it [seems to] gets one on the same network as the G5, but I can't even ping the G5, let alone use its internet connection.

Do I really need a crossover from G3->G5 (or a switch, which I can get cheaper than a crossover)? I thought G3->G3 needs crossover, but not G3->G5. And if a crossover is needed, how the hell does the file sharing work?!?!

I would have tried FireWire, but the G3 doesn't recognise its FireWire as a network adapter (is this a G3 hardware or Panther issue?).
 
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