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macOS: Broadcast Wi-Fi Direct Hotspot - Host AP Mode
I want to make a program which configures my Mac to broadcast a Wi-Fi Direct hotspot: a peer-to-peer network without an internet connection which is joinable by other devices including non-Apple devices (e.g. Android devices). This connection would allow for low latency comunication between external devices and my Mac without the need for extra Wi-Fi router hardware. From my understanding, the Mac network interface must be configured to be in Host AP (Access Point) mode so that it can host other connections. How can I write a program which enables Host AP mode and broadcasts a Wi-Fi hotspot from my Mac? Note: I do not want to create an Ad-Hoc (IBSS) connection because Android devices do not support joining this kind of Wi-Fi connection. Many years ago, it was possible to set the Mac Wi-Fi interface to Host AP mode via a function in CoreWLAN: CWInterface.startHostAPModeWithSSID. You can see this function referenced in this gist. But sadly, this function is no longer accessible. At this point in time, I see no way in the CoreWLAN library to set a CWInterface to be in hostAP interface mode, although the CWInterfaceMode.hostAP enumeration suggests this is possible. It is possible to enable Host AP mode via the Settings app > Sharing > Internet Sharing settings. But this requires a legitimate internet connection to be present. For my use case, I do not want a connection to the internet. I simply want to allow devices to communicate with my Mac directly, peer-to-peer over Wi-Fi. Is there any alternative? Could I implement this functionality in a Network Extension or Kernel Extension? Thank you all for any help you can provide!
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Jul ’24