Mac refuses to share internet connection over WiFi
The set-up that has worked for me for years and years on end suddenly – as of this morning – failed to work.
I have my Mac switched on most the time, and to connect to my iPad I set up a network for Wifi: Create Network > Channel 11 > Security 128-Bit WEP. On my iPad, I could select it, enter my password, and enjoy all the couch-based browsing I wanted. Nothing router or modem based, as far as I am aware.
It worked all fine and dandy until yesterday.
This morning it decided not to:
Wi-Fi has the self-assigned IP address 169.XXX.XXX.XXX and will not be able to connect to the Internet.
(As I found, the 169 here is a dummy IP address that indicates no connection can be made.)
Indeed, if I reconnect my iPad to this network, it warns that "This network is not connected to the Internet" (and "Join anyway" does, as expected, nothing).
I have:
- restarted my Mac
- restarted my iPad
- restarted my modem (although Internet works correctly through the Mac)
- created a new network
- created a new network location
- renewed the DCHP lease
- deleted files such as com.apple.network.identification.plist, NetworkInterfaces.plist, and preferences.plist, and some more, as per https://www.technobezz.com/fix-common-connection-wifi-issue-self-assigned-ip-macbook/ and similar pages
- copied the EtherNet IP address to Wi-Fi's TCP/IP, using "DHCP with Manual Address" as per https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5355232
- deleted the Keychain entry for the password, as per a YouTube movie that "works for some"
- created a new user (which might have solved it if it's due to local settings).
This seems to cover answers to similar issues such as in Wi-Fi no longer connecting to the internet and MacBook connects to network over Ethernet but not WiFi.
I must admit that I did not follow the suggestion "... or reinstall the OS" under the last one, as it does not sound too appealing. I run a pretty old OS: 10.7.5 – but not by choice. I have some software crucial for work that has been proven incompatible with newer versions of OS X.
I am not aware of any possible modem/router problems I might be having – if so, they appeared overnight. I've never had to configure anything else 'manually' before; default settings always worked.
ifconfig reports the following:
lo0: flags=8049<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 16384
options=3<RXCSUM,TXCSUM>
inet6 fe80::1%lo0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x1
inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000
inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128
gif0: flags=8010<POINTOPOINT,MULTICAST> mtu 1280
stf0: flags=0<> mtu 1280
en0: flags=8863<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
options=27<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,TSO4>
ether 64:b9:e8:bb:06:9a
inet6 fe80::66b9:e8ff:febb:69a%en0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x4
inet 92.108.125.5 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 92.108.125.255
media: autoselect (100baseTX <full-duplex>)
status: active
en1: flags=8863<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
ether 04:1e:64:f1:24:2d
inet6 fe80::61e:64ff:fef1:242d%en1 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x5
inet 10.0.2.1 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 10.0.2.255
inet 169.254.17.180 netmask 0xffff0000 broadcast 169.254.255.255
media: autoselect
status: active
fw0: flags=8863<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 4078
lladdr 64:b9:e8:ff:fe:bb:06:9a
media: autoselect <full-duplex>
status: inactive
p2p0: flags=8802<BROADCAST,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 2304
ether 06:1e:64:f1:24:2d
media: autoselect
status: inactive
utun0: flags=8051<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
inet 10.10.6.6 --> 10.10.6.5 netmask 0xffffffff
but reading its man page only makes me realize how little I know of both the software and hardware parts of this (about this much -> ·). I do recognize 92.108.125.5 as my local IP address.
Anything left I can try? I'm slowly leaning towards the theory that although applying a sledgehammer might not fix it, at least it'll get rid of my frustration and give me an excuse to replace everything with new stuff.
I think you may be going about this all wrong.
Macs that are running OS X Lion (10.6) or later have a built-in feature called "Internet Sharing" inside of your system preferences.
- Click on the icon in the top menu bar and select System Preferences.
- Now click on Sharing.
- Click on Internet Sharing and then tick the checkmark next to Wi-Fi.
- Now turn on Internet Sharing by clicking the tick mark next to Internet Sharing in the sidebar.
- Click Start on the menu that pops up in order to turn Internet Sharing on. Your Mac should now show up as a Wi-Fi hotspot for your iPhone, iPad, and similar devices. Simply connect to it like you would any other Wi-Fi network. You can even change the name of your Mac in the same Internet Sharing menu to make it easier to find if you'd like.
via iMore
This should offer you what you are looking for.
So it sounds like you are trying to create a WiFi hotspot on your Mac so that your iPad can connect to the Internet (getting this clear in my head) through your Mac and then out to your cable modem/DSL/whatever, correct?
What is sounds like (IMHO) is that there may actually be an issue with the WiFi subsystem in the Mac. Hardware or Software, dunno, it could be elsewhere but we need to find where.
What you need is something else as a verification that it is not some strange interaction with your iPad and Mac. So if you have another Mac, iPad or iPhone, Heck even a Windows/Linux laptop with known good wifi that you can test against the Mac. Find a friend with a phone or laptop with wifi and offer them beer.
What you are trying to discover is where the fault lies. Is it the iPad, or the Mac?
You need to determine where the fault lies. Once you have isolated where (EG which device) the problem is you will have removed one of the variables and be able to focus on the problematic device.
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An afterthought. Your router doesn't have WiFi? And you are connecting to it with an ethernet cable? I also assume that getting to the internet on the Mac is not an issue?