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How to turn your Macbook into a hotel wifi hotspot?

I'm in one of those most annoying hotels where they charge by the laptop, rather than by the room, and my buddy and I are aren't very happy paying $25/day for Internet! Isn't there some way we can use one of our Macs to share the connection?


Dave's Answer:

Yeah, it's amazing to me that all hotels don't just give you free Internet access as part of your room charge, but too many of 'em are run by accountants rather than people focused on the customer experience. I can't tell you the number of times I've spent more in a month on hotel Internet than on my high-speed connection in my office!

However, I suppose it's their hotel, not ours, so they get to pick their policies. That doesn't preclude us from having a bit of hacking fun and trying to circumvent things, does it?

What I really like are little wifi base unit gizmos like the Apple Airport Express or similar. For $99 it's a tiny little device that does just what you want.

If all you have are laptops, there's another cool solution, one that's super easy to set up on a Mac and super hard to set up - in my experience - on a PC: Set up a computer-to-computer network so that your computer becomes a wifi base station!

The wrinkle: the device that's going to act as a base station and let other computers piggy-back on the Internet connection has to be hard-wired into the network. That is, you can't connect to the hotel wireless via wifi and also serve as a base unit. If you have an Ethernet option and the right wire in your room, however, here's how you proceed...

The easiest way is to click on the wifi icon on your computer and choose "Create Network...":

mac os x create wifi network

The system them asks you to name your network. I suggest something memorable (I often have fun and name it things like "Hackers Rule" or similar, to freak out other hotel guests, but that's another story):

mac os x create wifi network name

Check "Require Password" and enter a password: you don't *have* to do this but since anyone who connects can see the public material on your own computer, I strongly encourage even a rudimentary password.

mac os x create wifi network name password

Now you need to go and turn on Internet sharing. This is done by going to Apple --> System Preferences... --> Sharing, which looks like this:

mac share internet connection

and clicking on "Internet Sharing". When you do, it'll warn you:

mac share internet connection warning

It's all good. Choose "Start" and close that window.

Now your network should be up and running.

Part Two: Joining a Computer to Computer Network

Now let me show you real quickly what it looks like when you join a computer-to-computer network. In this case, the network is called "darbo". First, I click on the "airport icon on the menu bar and see my choices, including this one under "Devices":

mac os x join wifi network

Choose it, and like any other network you'd join that has a password, Mac OS X prompts you to enter the correct network password here:

mac os x join wifi network password

Once you've done so, you're in! Now when you look at the airport menu, you'll see the Device network selected:

mac os x wifi network connected

Notice the "Disconnect from darbo" option: that's the clean way to disconnect when you're done, but I'm sure you can just close your laptop and everything'll be fine.

With a little bit of practice, you'll find that you can set up impromptu wireless networks in just a minute or two, and if you're saving $10-15/day by doing so, well, that's well worth the effort.



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Comments

Way cool, DaveTaylor! You rock!
This is news I can use.
Thanks.

Posted by: Toosinbeymen at March 25, 2009 4:20 AM

Great idea!

However if there is a need for an ethernet connection this only works in fewer settings because more and more hotels use WiFi.

My solution is the following: I use a Asus WL-330GE "pocet router/ethernet adapter/ethernet gateway". You can set this device in different modes and in one of these modes it connects to the wifi-nework and acts as a hotspot in the same time (using different subnets / NAT).

Another mode it supports is when it acts as an "wifi-to-ethernet adapter". In this mode I hook it up to my "FritzBox" (a router/Voip/telefon/DSL-modem etc. that is veeeeery popular in Germany), configure the VOIP and WiFi settings and connect the phone from the hotelroom to the box. In the "FritzBox" I put the MAC-Adress and the IP-Settings from my Laptop so the hotel-WiFi thinks this is my laptop "calling".

With this config I have my own LAN/WLAN and my telephone number from home without paying roaming for the mobile phone nor having to pay the phonebills from the hotel without loosing the comfort of using a regular phone.

You can find the WL-330GL at amazon for about 60$. It has about the size of a credit card (only a bit thicker) and an even be powersupplied through an USB cable - ideal for traveling.

Posted by: Gabriel at June 5, 2009 3:31 PM

Thank you so much, this was such a handy guide. I'm living in India as a student and have my mac and iphone here with me. My iphone is unlocked and using a prepaid sim, but can't connect to the countries data network just yet. I've been trying to find ways to use it online but with a serious lack of wifi hotspots I can't easily update it. This proved to be the most effective solution. Thanks again!

Posted by: Nick at September 6, 2009 4:31 AM

I have something to say, now that you mention it, but ...
Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!











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