Your iPhone may run out of data or you may lose your local Wi-Fi connection due to any number of reasons. Sometimes, internet connections just go down when you need them the most. But there are ways to get a working internet connection on your iPhone even in such situations. One of the ways is to use your Mac and create a Wi-Fi hotspot. Then connect your iPhone to this network and you are all set! Let us see how to share Wi-Fi from Mac to iPhone.
You can come across such unpleasant situations all the time! Maybe the network you are using suddenly changed the password. Or the bandwidth is not enough for your iPhone to run smoothly. Or maybe you just need to connect to a network urgently and connecting to the available Wi-Fi network is a time-consuming process. Probably you want to share your Wi-Fi but do not want to share your password. Sometimes you just run out of mobile data! For all such situations, this guide of how to share Wi-Fi from Mac to iPhone will help immensely.
Use this method if your Mac is connected to an Ethernet connection, i.e. any wired connection like a LAN cable.
Follow these steps:
- On your Mac, open System Preferences and click on “Sharing.”
- Check the option “Internet Sharing.”
- Go to Share your connection from > Ethernet.
- Select the option “To computers using” below and choose “Wi-Fi.”
- Click on “Wi-Fi Options.” Choose a password. Under “Security,” select “WPA2 Personal.” Enter your password and enter it again against the “Verify” box. Click “OK.”
- Check the option “Internet Sharing” on the left panel. Click “Start” on the popup window. This will activate the hotspot.
- Now, on your iPhone, go to Settings > Wi-Fi, and select the network you just created.
- Enter the password and you will be connected to the network.
This method will only work if your Mac has a wired connection. But what if you do not have one?
If you are running your Mac on a Wi-Fi network, you cannot create a hotspot without an accessory. You will need to purchase a Wi-Fi network adapter to enable other devices to connect to the same wireless network. This adapter will let your Mac allow other devices to connect to the Wi-Fi signal it is connected to by creating a hotspot.
Connect your Wi-Fi adapter to your Mac and follow the on-screen instructions to set it up. The process will vary from device to device and depend upon the adapter you are using. Once done, follow the same steps as above and you are all set!
There is another way to share the network of your Mac with your iPhone, and that is via Bluetooth. Maybe you do not have a wired connection, neither do you have an adapter. And still, you need a connection for your iPhone. What do you do then?
You have to pair your Mac and iPhone through Bluetooth. The steps are similar to that of sharing via Ethernet, except for a tweak. Against the “To computers using” box, select “Bluetooth PAN.”
These are the steps to follow:
- Turn on Bluetooth on both your iPhone and Mac.
- Pair the two devices using the unique code.
- After they are paired, the Wi-Fi signal on your Mac will show an arrow symbol.
- On your iPhone, go to Wi-Fi and choose the name of your Mac.
- When prompted to join the Personal Hotspot, tap on “Join.”
- Enter the password, and you will be connected.
These are the various ways of how to share Wi-Fi from Mac to iPhone. With a wired connection, the process is straight forward. If you do not have one, you can simply use Bluetooth to connect the two devices. The process is simpler if you have a Wi-Fi adapter, although buying one just for this purpose is not necessary.