How to Tether a MacBook to a Desktop

You can set up network tethering between a MacBook and a desktop computer.

Tethering is the process of sharing the active network connection from one computer or device with another computer or device that cannot connect to the Internet on its own. The Mac OS X operating system, which runs on all Apple computers, supports network tethering through Ethernet or FireWire. For example, you could enable tethering on your MacBook laptop and then access its Internet connection from a Mac or Windows desktop computer.

Things You'll Need

• MacBook running OS X 10.5 or later

Instructions

1. Go to the Apple menu in the upper left corner of your MacBook's screen and choose "System Preferences."

2. Select the "Sharing" control panel underneath the Internet & Wireless heading.

3. Highlight "Internet Sharing" from the list of services on the left side of the window.

4. Open the drop-down menu labeled "Share your connection from" and choose the type of connection your MacBook is currently using to access the Internet.

5. Check the box in the "To computers using" section for the port type you want to use for tethering. You can choose between Ethernet and FireWire.

6. Connect your desktop computer to the MacBook using an Ethernet cable or a FireWire cable to start tethering between the two computers.

References

• Apple Support: Sharing Your Internet Connection