Take Control of Your Apple Wi-Fi Network

Appendix B: Setting up a Software Base Station

You can use a Mac equipped with a Wi-Fi adapter card not just as a client on a Wi-Fi network, but also as a base station. In this appendix, I explain how to set up a software base station in 10.5 Leopard and later, as well as how to use Ad Hoc Networking, which has some elements in common with software base stations.

Software Base Station or Ad Hoc Network?

A software base station walks and talks like a base station: it puts out the same kind of messages that other computers recognize from a base station. You need at least two network interfaces to turn on a software base station: a Wi-Fi adapter plus some other interface, like an Ethernet network connection.

Ad hoc networking is a computer-to-computer ...