Kindle wont connect via iMac Internet Sharing

Question

Level 1

8 points

Kindle wont connect via iMac Internet Sharing

I set up internet sharing with my new iMac, my iphones and itouches all can hook up, but my kindle 3 tells me that it is an incorrect password or that it cant connect to this network. Any ideas?

Mac OS X (10.6.6)

Posted on Feb 3, 2011 8:12 PM

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Answer 1

Dah•veed

Level 9

64,633 points

Feb 4, 2011 3:12 PM in response to baccurso

Welcome to the Apple Discussions!

For a non-Apple device you must use only a 5 alphanumeric character, 40-bit WEP password or only a 13 alphanumeric character 128-bit WEP password.

Dah•veed

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Answer 2

baccurso Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 4, 2011 5:49 PM in response to Dah•veed

Right now the current password is 5 (all alpha character), 40bit WEP password. Is it a problem
that the password is not a mixed use password?

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Answer 3

Dah•veed

Level 9

64,633 points

Feb 4, 2011 6:09 PM in response to baccurso

Have you tried seeing if it will connect if the network for sharing is not password protected?

There is not a lot of support available that I can find online for these Kindles. I read a few posts in other forums where folks were having issues with WPA2 & 3 protected networks. That type of protection is not available on the Mac when internet sharing. They solved the issue by going a step deeper in connecting. They identified the network but did not supply the password. They were then informed that the network needed a password and did they want to connect with the password. When they answered yes they were taken a step farther where they supplied the password that previously did not work and they were immediately connected to their network.

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Answer 4

baccurso Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 4, 2011 7:25 PM in response to Dah•veed

I tried turning off the password protection and tried
to hook up my kindle to the wifi and it said it failed,
unable to hook up with it. I had a Netgear router before
and no problem but that died, so for the mean time
i am using my mac as a wifi.

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Answer 5

Feb 7, 2011 8:36 AM in response to baccurso

I have the same issue. No problem having ITouch or iPads connecting. Kindle will not connect. Kindle FAQ mentions the following:

"Your Kindle can connect to Wi-Fi networks or hotspots that use the 802.11b, 802.11g, or 802.11n (in b or g compatibility mode) standard. Kindle does not connect to enterprise or ad-hoc Wi-Fi networks (networks that allow peer-to-peer connections without a wireless access point). "

I believe that iMac internet sharing sets up an ad-hoc network, without a wireless access point, which may be the problem you are experiencing.

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Answer 6

baccurso Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 7, 2011 7:59 PM in response to Bill Cruise

Yeah I kind of figured, thanks for re-assuring my dilemma, time to get a router.

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Answer 7

max2go

Level 1

0 points

Apr 9, 2011 8:21 AM in response to baccurso

HOW TO GET IT TO WORK:

A. On your Mac:

0. Make sure Internet works in general and that internet sharing is properly configured and works with another (Apple) computer / iDevice (Apple device)
1. System Preferences => Sharing => Internet Sharing (disabled to configure) => AirPort (enabled) => AirPort Options...
2. Network Name: (alpha characters, upper/lower case mix, no spaces; other characters might work, not tested; space(s) in-between might work, not tested)
3. Channel: Automatic
4. Enable encryption (using WEP) => enabled (optional)
4a. Password, Confirm Password: (optional, 5 characters or 13 characters, depending on key length at next step, alphanumeric tested, upper/lower case mix tested, other characters tested but not as the first character)
4b. WEP Key Length: 40 or 128 bit (both tested)
5. OK to confirm => Internet Sharing (enabled) => Start

B. On your Kindle:

0. Make sure the network name you chose above shows up, if not select "Rescan".
1. Connect => Password (optional, if encryption selected above)
2. Unable to Connect to Wi-Fi Network => set up network
3. Network Name: (should be properly filled in)
4. Connection Type: static (switch to)
5. IP Address: 10.0.2.x (I chose 4 for x)
6. Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
7. Router: 10.0.2.1
8. DNS: 10.0.2.1
9. Security Type: WEP (WPA, WPA2 so far unsupported by OS X)
10. Password: (should be properly filled in)
11. connect

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Answer 8

Apr 12, 2011 11:57 AM in response to Bill Cruise

Actually the mac sets up a WAP node. Windows internet sharing uses ad-hoc. The problem is that the kindle aways uses 0 in the "number of seconds since boot" field of the dhcp request packet, and the mac has a filter of 4. So it ignores the DHCP request from the kindle (and the xbox, and the Nintendo). If you change the filter to 0, then the mac happily hands out the addresses. How to do it:

1. start internet sharing
2. cp /etc/bootpd.plist . ## don't forget the "." that means the current directory!!
3. stop internet sharing
4. open bootpd.plist
5. change reply thresholdseconds to 0
6. sudo cp bootpd.plist /etc
7. start internet sharing

Normally the bootpd.plist is created and destroyed as you start up and stop internet sharing. If the file already exists, it uses the values in it. This can cause problems if, for example you move your laptop to a network that uses the same network values as the plist. So if you do this at work with an ethernet address of a.b.c.x, the bootpd.plist will have addresses of 10.0.2.x. If you go home and have a home router that also uses 10.0.2.x, then the mac will get confused. However, if your home network uses 192.168.0.x, then you will still be ok.

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Answer 9

Apr 13, 2011 2:57 AM in response to max2go

The above method works perfectly, it's just a pain in the *** to enter numbers one at a time on the Kindle. It's a primitive input system compared to a touch device.

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Answer 10

Sep 5, 2011 9:41 AM in response to Thomas Dean1

Thank you! Your solution works like a charm! You just saved me some money on an unnecesary router. 🙂

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Answer 11

Sep 30, 2011 7:47 PM in response to max2go

I thank you kind sir. after much frustration and confusion your post got my Kindle up and running.

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Answer 12

Dec 28, 2011 7:57 AM in response to Thomas Dean1

Hi,

I found your advice when looking for answers about how to connect a Kindle to iMac internet sharing. It appears to have solved the issue for many.

Possibly I'm not that iMac savy but I don't understand your instructions from 2 onwards. What's cp? I guess it's command prompt but I don't know how to open command prompt on an iMac.

Would it be possible to provide a bit more of a detailed explanation?

Many thanks.

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Answer 13

BJBW

Level 1

0 points

Dec 29, 2011 4:42 PM in response to max2go

Brilliant! Better than six bottles of beer in an easy carrying case! Thanks so much for the trouble shooting and the solution. Spent an hour on the phone with Amazon and they told me I needed to buy a separate router! Really!! Come on, Man! I knew there had to be a solution and you had it! Awesome!!!!

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Answer 14

Jan 31, 2012 9:09 AM in response to max2go

Max,

I tried last night yo set up a Sony media player to my adhoc Aiport Extreme card in the iMac. I spent 35 minutes with Sony before they told me it couldn't be done, I needed a router.

This morning a cup of joe gave me the impetus to do a quick internet search. Long story short your instructions connected it to the internet first try without a router. Thanks for your help.

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Answer 15

Aug 15, 2013 8:24 PM in response to max2go

Thankyou SOOOOOOOO much max2go.

I didn't change anything on my iMac but I did follow your instructions for the Kindle and BINGO!

I have been googling this for 7 months (not sure why I didn't find your solution before but anyhooooo) and yours has been the only solution that has worked.

I am SOOOOOOO happy right now!!

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