Mac Internet Sharing Warning

[JudahNichols]

I would like to connect my sons switch to my macs wifi signal because the switch has poor wifi reception but my mac has full reception. I believe the macs wifi abilities are significantly better than the switch. Id prefer to use this as opposed to a signal booster or anything because it should be free and available right now so I wont have to expose myself to the quarantine situation.

It gives me a warning when I'm setting it up and I don't quite understand the risk can someone explain it a little more clearly. What exactly could happen if I turn it on. Attached is a screenshot of the warning message I received.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

That warning while scary isn't harmful. Once you do enable Internet sharing, be sure to add a secure password to it (ideally a different one than your regular WiFi) and give it a different name. Now the switch should be able to securely connect.

Realize that this option means that the Mac will need to be awake for the connection to work. If you have the Mac going to sleep for inactivity, the connection might drop.

 

[JudahNichols]

That warning while scary isn't harmful. Once you do enable Internet sharing, be sure to add a secure password to it (ideally a different one than your regular WiFi) and give it a different name. Now the switch should be able to securely connect.

Realize that this option means that the Mac will need to be awake for the connection to work. If you have the Mac going to sleep for inactivity, the connection might drop.

I appreciate the quick reply I think I can move forward with your advice but I am curious as to why there is a warning to begin with is it for big office buildings where it can cause problems? Just for my own trivia database in my mind I'd be curious to know why that warning is there and who its for.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Correct. You are essentially creating another network in addition to what's there and if you happen to call it the same thing as the regular network, you might end up in a loop of some sort and trigger all kinds of goofiness.

In a home environment, the risk is minimal.

 

[JudahNichols]

Thank You again! As this is my first post in this forum do I need to mark it resolved in some way or do I just leave it be?

 

[chscag]

Thanks for using our forums.

You can leave the post as is. If you have any more questions, let us know.