Mac OS X Leopard: The Missing Manual

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In January 2000, Apple CEO Steve Jobs explained to the Macworld Expo crowds that he and his team had had a mighty brainstorm: Apple controls both ends of the connection between a Mac and the Apple Web site. As a result, Apple should be able to create some pretty clever Internet-based features as a reward to loyal Mac fans. Later that same day, the Apple Web site offered a suite of free services called iTools.

POWER USER'S CLINIC: Internet Sharing as a Bridge

Ordinarily, only one Mac has Internet Sharing turned on: the one that's connected directly to the Internet.

But sometimes, you might want another Mac "downstream" to have it on, too. That's when you want to bridge two networks.

Consider the setup shown here: There are really two networks: one that uses AirPort, and another con-nected to an Ethernet hub.

If you play your cards right, all of these Macs can get online simultaneously, using a single Internet connection.

Set up the gateway Mac so that it's an AirPort base station, exactly as described on these pages.

Start setting up the bridge Mac the way you'd set up the other AirPort Macs—with AirPort selected as the primary connection method, and "Using DHCP" turned on in the Network panel.

Then visit the bridge Mac's Sharing panel. Turn on Internet Sharing here, too, but this time select "To computers using: Built-in Ethernet."

The bridge Mac is now on both networks. It uses the AirPort connection as a bridge to the gateway Mac and the Internet—and its Ethernet connection ...