Sharing the Internet connection on one computer with other devices in the network. Internet sharing performs the functions of a router, which forwards requests to the Internet and directs the responses back to the appropriate machine (see
NAT).
Internet sharing can also be used to create a mobile hotspot. For example, if an Ethernet cable is the only connection to the Internet, a laptop computer with both wired and wireless capability can convert wired Ethernet to Wi-Fi and vice versa for any Wi-Fi devices in the vicinity. See
ICS and
cellular hotspot.