Wake on Wireless LAN (WoWLAN), iMac and Sonoma

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Level 1

5 points

Wake on Wireless LAN (WoWLAN), iMac and Sonoma

Is it possible to have an iMac configured to Wake on Wireless LAN (WoWLAN)? Note, I am not talking about Wake on LAN-- I already see that is available in Settings -> Energy Saver -> Wake for Network Access. However that iMac I use is connected by WiFi only and I have not been able to wake the machine remotely as a result.

I have an iMac20,1 running Sonoma 14.4. I have the "Wake or Network Access" selected in settings. It's connected to my pFsense router through a TP-LINK WAP. Specifically, I want to use AnyDesk to access the machine remotely. I have Linux machines on my network that respond properly to WoWLAN requests. And per the AnyDesk protocols, I do have an AnyDesk server on my network that never sleeps which is necessary to get the WoLAN or WoWLAN requests to occur when I remotely access a machine at sleep.

I can solve this problem by forcing the iMac to stay awake with 'caffeinate' but I'd prefer not to do so if there is a way for WoWLAN to work.

Thanks for your help.

iMac 27″, macOS 14.4

Posted on Mar 23, 2024 3:58 PM

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Answer 1

hcsitas

Level 6

13,964 points

Mar 24, 2024 7:11 AM in response to Halcyon77

Just disable Sleep - unnecessary for later Macs. Shut for long absences/idle overnights (i.e. do not manual-sleep), and for regular operation, use the settings exactly as shown below, should fix.

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Answer 2

Halcyon77 Author

Level 1

5 points

Mar 24, 2024 7:03 AM in response to BDAqua

Thanks for the reference. I looked through it carefully but have already tried all the suggestions. Plus, the original poster to that thread did not reply indicating his problem was resolved.

I recognize WoWLAN is a different protocol than WoLAN. However Apple should support it better. I do have one very old iMac (vintage 2013) on my network running Linux Mint and it has no issues with WoWLAN.

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