IPhone – MacBook as WiFi extender

iphonemacbook protime-capsulewifi

With AirDrop it seems that my MacBook Pro can have multiple Wifi Connections, so can I connect my iPhone to my Macbook at the same time as the macbook is connected to a Time Capsule's Wifi network.

I have both 5GHz and 2.4GHz Wifi in my house, and the 2.4GHz only just reaches my room, whereas the 5GHz signal is much better. Sometimes my iPhone cant connect to the 2.4GHz network without moving closer to the base station.

Is it possible to use my MacBook as an extender, so that my phone can connect to the Macbook and then use it's 5GHz connection, and it won't drop out and become unconnectable?

Best Answer

According to Dori's answer in this Apple.SE thread, what you're looking for is not possible:

In order for a Mac to create a local Wi-Fi network, it needs to have a wired Internet source.

More information can be found in this Apple Support KB:

Choose Apple menu > System Preferences and click Sharing.

Select Internet Sharing and click the checkbox if it isn’t checked.

Choose the Internet connection you want to share from the “Share your connection from” pop-up menu. For example, if you’re connected to the Internet over Ethernet, choose Ethernet.

Select how you want to share your Internet connection in the “To computers using” list. For example, if you want to share your Internet connection over AirPort, select AirPort. If you share your Internet connection using AirPort, click AirPort Options and give your network a name and password.

You'd need to hook your MacBook up to a wired connection before you can share Wi-Fi via Internet Sharing.

Related Solutions

IPhone – How to enable faster WiFi Roaming with Mac OS X & Airport base stations

You can change the system preferences for JoinMode and JoinModeFallback to be the following:

    JoinMode (String)
        Automatic
        Preferred
        Ranked
        Recent
        Strongest
    JoinModeFallback (String)
        Prompt
        JoinOpen
        KeepLooking
        DoNothing

Do this using the airport command:

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/A/Resources/airport

Run the command to see the options, up the top you'll see a section on how to sec preferences.

For instance:

sudo /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/A/Resources/airport prefs joinMode=Strongest

Note, this preference isn’t permanent, so you may need to automate this or issue it for specific problem situations or network providers.

IOS – How to tell which band (2.4GHz or 5GHz) the iPhone’s WiFi connection is on

You can not tell from the iPhone directly (as of iOS version 7 native). You should be able to tell via the wireless router your connected to in it's logging functions, WiFi client list or some similar mechanism within the router. I can't provide you an exact process as every router is different. This answer assumes you do not want to JailBreak your iPhone. If you are not adverse to doing so there may be an app in the Cydia app store that will show more meaningful information with regard to WiFi frequency information.

You can however detect what cell tower frequency your phone uses by using Field Test mode. This will special mode allows users to find out a range of information about the phone’s connection to the network. In particular, the information displayed in the Field Test mode allows users to discover exactly which tower their phone is connecting to and which frequency band (WiFi) the signals are being sent on.

To access this mode:

Access the iPhone's Field Test mode by typing *3001#12345#* in the phone’s keypad and press dial. This will bring up the Field Test menu.
Select the “Cell Information” menu option to display a summary of all nearby towers. The “RX” code displays the signal strength of each tower. These RX values are dBm signal strength readings, where lower values means strong signal (so -60 signifies stronger signal than -80). The towers are listed by signal strength, and the top tower is usually the tower your phone is connecting to.
Selecting the first tower will take you to a further menu that displays more specific information. The “Freq” value shows the frequency block that the network is using. If the Freq number is between 128 and 251, the tower is using the 850 MHz Cellular band. If the Freq number is between 512 and 810, the tower is using the 1900MHz PCS band.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

IPhone – How to enable faster WiFi Roaming with Mac OS X & Airport base stations

IOS – How to tell which band (2.4GHz or 5GHz) the iPhone’s WiFi connection is on

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