When I'm travelling I only have Internet via my iPhone, which I can share to my Mac via Personal Hotspot just fine. However, I have a VoIP desk phone which only gets internet via ethernet cabling. I have tried plugging the phone directly in to my Mac, and then turning on Internet Sharing to share the connection from Wi-Fi to the ethernet ports. But the phone does not pick up any connection. Is this possible and how can it be done?


Not a networking expert, but I tried using a switch in between the Mac and the VoIP phone, and it worked! No idea why the VoIP phone wouldn't work when plugging directly in to the Mac, but oh well - very happy!


I've had a lot of experience using internet sharing under OS X. For inexplicable reasons, it's quite unreliable. Internet sharing also jumps around between OS X versions. What works in 10.5 might not work in 10.6 which might not work in 10.7, all the way though 10.10. Your trick of putting a switch in between is a good hack.

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You could also try using mobile router as an access point. It would be a client to your phone's hotspot and then offer ethernet to both your VOIP and your Mac. This offers the benefit of being able to make calls with your Mac either absent or turned off.

  • True, and thanks. However, all I had was the equipment I had there, and luckily the switch did the trick! – Jayden Lawson Apr 1 '16 at 6:48
  • Great. I've done a lot of networking. I used to be stubborn and try to just make do with what I had but I've learnt that it's much more efficient to buy an extra switch or router (even buy a drop-in backup) than to try to make edge software situations work. It's partly the drop in quality in Apple's core code, partly how much the price of reasonable quality networking equipment has fallen since Chinese manufacturers like TP-Link have entered the market. – Foliovision Apr 2 '16 at 21:29

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