Set up home wireless network

[trooperj3]

I am completely new to Mac's and have been trying unsuccessfully to setup a wireless home network so that I can exchange files between my 2017 iMac and my new iPad Pro.
My iMac and iPad Pro are connected to the internet by wi-fi via a Netgear Nighthawk router. I have spoken to an Apple agent but he has told me that the only way to exchange files is via iCloud (with a 5gb limit unless you subscribe) or to install a NAS drive. I will also be buying a MacBook Pro in the next few weeks and again will want to exchange files between that and my iMac.
My knowledge of networking is vey limited so if anyone can advise me if there is another way to do this I would very much appreciate it.

 

[BrianBaughn]

There's likely nothing wrong with your home network. There are third-party apps that can "share" files between iOS devices and PCs, Macs or other OS computers including most NAS devices. How effective they would be for you depends on what you're wanting to do, exactly. I use the free version of "FileExplorer" along with having File Sharing set up on my Mac.

It will be easy for you to set up File Sharing between your two Macs when you get the new one.

Alternately, you could use a cloud service such as iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox et al.

 

[trooperj3]

There's likely nothing wrong with your home network. There are third-party apps that can "share" files between iOS devices and PCs, Macs or other OS computers including most NAS devices. How effective they would be for you depends on what you're wanting to do, exactly. I use the free version of "FileExplorer" along with having File Sharing set up on my Mac.

It will be easy for you to set up File Sharing between your two Macs when you get the new one.

Alternately, you could use a cloud service such as iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox et al.

[doublepost=1516730468][/doublepost]Thanks for your reply. I was expecting to be able to set up a home network on my iMac and then join that network with my iPad in order to exchange files etc. Hopefully it will be more straightforward to do this when I get a Macbook.
My query is how do I go about setting up a home network with my iMac? Do I need to be connected with an ethernet cable from my router to my iMac in order to use the wifi for creating a home network.
Even though my knowledge of networking is very limited it seemed a lot more straightforward to set up a home network on my Windows desktop and then to join that network with my Dell laptop.
I really only made the decision to go over to Apple because I was becoming more disillusioned with Windows 10 and I was in the market for a new desktop and laptop, also I was veering towards an all in one unit rather than a tower.
But it is proving to be a bigger learning curve than I had imagined!
I have set-up file sharing on my iMac and will now look into FileExplorer.

 

[BrianBaughn]

It won’t be any help to create a network with your iMac. Without knowing what reason you would do that…and you truly are in your own “home”...I’d have to say you’re over-complicating things.

By the way, sharing a Mac’s ethernet internet connection via wifi is one version of what is called “Internet Sharing” and is configured in System Preferences>Sharing.

 

[curmudgeonette]

I will also be buying a MacBook Pro in the next few weeks and again will want to exchange files between that and my iMac.

Exchanging between the two Macs will be easy:

Make sure both are connected to the net / Internet. On one machine (the slave), go to System Preferences -> Sharing and enable File Sharing. Then, on the other machine, in the Finder, choose Go Menu -> Connect to Server. Click Browse and find your other Mac. Enter the slave machine's account information when asked. At this point, the master computer will know about the slave's drive. You may have to fiddle with Finder preferences to get it to show up how you want. (I'm old fashioned and want all my drives to appear on the desktop.)

 

[kingjames1970]

Exchanging between the two Macs will be easy:

Make sure both are connected to the net / Internet. On one machine (the slave), go to System Preferences -> Sharing and enable File Sharing. Then, on the other machine, in the Finder, choose Go Menu -> Connect to Server. Click Browse and find your other Mac. Enter the slave machine's account information when asked. At this point, the master computer will know about the slave's drive. You may have to fiddle with Finder preferences to get it to show up how you want. (I'm old fashioned and want all my drives to appear on the desktop.)

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT203106

AirDrop can be useful.

 

[Precursor]

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT203106

AirDrop can be useful.

I concur
Airdrop is super fast, I use it all the time

 

[trooperj3]

Thanks for all your replies, it's much appreciated. I did download FileExplorer but although I could see me iMac displayed on my iPad it would not let me log into it even though I put in my user name and password that I use on my iMac.
I then followed the link and managed to use Airdrop which worked for me, though if I could get FileExplorer to work I think I would would prefer that as I'm hoping it would allow me access to all of my shared folders on my iMac. I wouldn't mind paying for the full version if I could get it to work.
Incidentally the Apple agent I spoke to never mentioned Airdrop but suggested using a NAS drive which doesn't give me a lot of confidence in his particular knowledge of Apple.
I expect it will be easier to connect to my iMac when I get a Macbook.

 

[haruhiko]

Why don’t you use airdrop? I do it all the time.
[doublepost=1516797983][/doublepost]Some apps like GoodReader (which hasn’t been updated for a long time) and video players like Infuse, etc. supports SMB File Sharing so you can read files or folders shared by the Mac.

SMB File Sharing is not super reliable though, and requires quite a bit of tweaking before it’s working most of the time.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Give your devices static IPs, preferably via your router's DHCP reservations (called "Manage Reserved LAN IP Addresses" by Netgear) so that FileExplorer will find them easily.

All I had to do to get FileExplorer to work was enable File Sharing on the Mac. In FileExplorer I just added the LAN IP of my Mac and entered my Mac's User Account info into "User Name" and "Password". It ought to work via computer name but I have static IPs so I'm not sure if it's as reliable without those.

 

[Precursor]

Thanks for all your replies, it's much appreciated. I did download FileExplorer but although I could see me iMac displayed on my iPad it would not let me log into it even though I put in my user name and password that I use on my iMac.
I then followed the link and managed to use Airdrop which worked for me, though if I could get FileExplorer to work I think I would would prefer that as I'm hoping it would allow me access to all of my shared folders on my iMac. I wouldn't mind paying for the full version if I could get it to work.
Incidentally the Apple agent I spoke to never mentioned Airdrop but suggested using a NAS drive which doesn't give me a lot of confidence in his particular knowledge of Apple.
I expect it will be easier to connect to my iMac when I get a Macbook.

Why don't you use iCloud Drive? I have it on all my devices, I can access same files from my iPhone, İpad, iMac, MBP etc.

 

[alien3dx]

Why don't you use iCloud Drive? I have it on all my devices, I can access same files from my iPhone, İpad, iMac, MBP etc.

i don't want to use that thing again.. dam dangerous.. delete file without notice.
[doublepost=1516801283][/doublepost]

I am completely new to Mac's and have been trying unsuccessfully to setup a wireless home network so that I can exchange files between my 2017 iMac and my new iPad Pro.
My iMac and iPad Pro are connected to the internet by wi-fi via a Netgear Nighthawk router. I have spoken to an Apple agent but he has told me that the only way to exchange files is via iCloud (with a 5gb limit unless you subscribe) or to install a NAS drive. I will also be buying a MacBook Pro in the next few weeks and again will want to exchange files between that and my iMac.
My knowledge of networking is vey limited so if anyone can advise me if there is another way to do this I would very much appreciate it.

My home network consist imac,acer laptop few phone ios and android. IOS and imac you can access the file via icloud . You can create share network between imac and windows.. You can remote desktop windows but i have no idea to remote mac which not involve with money.The easiest is to create FTP server so you can share between all your file..

 

[Fishrrman]

Just a suggestion:
If the iMac is in the same room as the router, use a wired (ethernet) connection between them.
One less thing to worry about...

 

[rctlr]

For Desktop to Laptop, and as long as they are on the same network, enable File Sharing on one (System Preferences -> Sharing -> File Sharing.
Then in Folder connect to Server afp://machinename.local (or it's ip address)

As AFP is enabled, you can download iFiles2 http://www.ifilesapp.com/ which will let you connect via AFP to your desktop computer.

Another alternative is SFTP - as that uses ssh (which is usually enabled on your computers).

For macOS - cyberduck or filezilla using SFTP (ip address of computer, port 22) logging in with your username and password.
for iOS - again iFiles2 or Transmit https://panic.com/transmit-ios/ can connect using SFTP
[doublepost=1516807550][/doublepost]

i have no idea to remote mac which not involve with money.

enable Screen Sharing in "Shares" in System Properties, and in a webbrowser

vnc://ipaddress:5900

or download and install realvnc connect from https://www.realvnc.com/en/ and set up - Personal Version allows 5 computer remotely controlled over the internet.