How to Set Up Multiple Network Locations on Your Mac GA S REGULAR Menu Lifewire Tech for Humans Newsletter! Search Close GO Internet, Networking, & Security > Home Networking
Set up Multiple Network Locations on Your Mac
Control how and when your Mac connects to the internet
By Tom Nelson Tom Nelson Writer Tom Nelson is an engineer, programmer, network manager, and computer network and systems designer who has written for Other World Computing,and others. Tom is also president of Coyote Moon, Inc., a Macintosh and Windows consulting firm. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on December 2, 2020 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Home Networking The Wireless Connection Routers & Firewalls Network Hubs ISP Broadband Ethernet Installing & Upgrading Wi-Fi & Wireless Rather than change the network settings manually each time you change locations, you can use the Mac's Network Location service to create multiple "locations." Each has settings to match a specific network port's configuration. For example, you can have one location for your home to connect to your wired Ethernet network. You can set another for your office, which also uses wired Ethernet, but with different DNS (domain name server) settings. Finally, you can create a location for the wireless connection at your favorite coffee house. Instructions in this article apply to Mac OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion) and later. How to Set up Locations
You can have as many locations as you need. You can even have multiple network locations for the same physical location. For example, if you have both a wired network and a wireless network at home, you can create a separate network location for each. Here's how to set up and manage locations on your Mac. Open System Preferences by clicking its icon in the Dock, or by selecting it from the Apple menu. Click the Network icon. Select Edit Locations from the Location drop-down menu. To base the new location on an existing one because many of the parameters are the same, select the location you want to copy from the list of current locations. Click the gear icon and select Duplicate Location from the pop-up menu. To create a new location from scratch, click the plus (+) icon. System Preferences creates a new location with a default name of "Untitled." Change the name to something that identifies the location. Click the Done button. You can now set up the network connection information for each network port for the new location you created. Once you complete each network port's setup, you can switch between the various locations using the Location drop-down menu. Automatic Location
Switching between home, office, and mobile connections is now just a drop-down menu away, but it can e even easier than that. If you select the Automatic entry in the Location drop-down menu, your Mac selects the best location by seeing which connections are up and working. The Automatic option works best when each location type is unique; for example, one wireless location and one wired location. When multiple locations have similar types of connections, the Automatic option sometimes picks the wrong one, which can lead to connection problems. How to Set the Preferred Network Order
To help the Automatic option make the best possible guess for which network to use, you can set a preferred order for making a connection. For example, you may want to connect wirelessly to your 802.11ac Wi-Fi network operating on the 5 GHz frequencies. If that network is not available, then try the same Wi-Fi network at 2.4 GHz. Finally, if neither network is available, try connecting to the 802.11n guest network your office runs. With the Automatic location selected in the drop-down menu, select the Wi-Fi icon in the Network preference pane sidebar and click the Advanced button. Select the Wi-Fi tab in the Wi-Fi drop-down sheet to open a list of networks you have connected to in the past. Select a network and drag it to the desired position in the preference list. Preferences are from the top, being the most preferred network to connect to, to the last network in the list, being the least desirable network to make a connection to. To add a Wi-Fi network to the list, click the plus (+) sign button at the bottom of the list, then follow the prompts to add an additional network. Remove a network from the list to help ensure you will never connect to that network automatically by selecting a network from the list and clicking the minus (-) sign. How to Connect a Mac to a Router Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire How to Reset Network Settings on Mac How to Share Your Internet Connection on a Mac via Wi-Fi How to Fix a Missing AirPlay Icon on iPhone and Mac How to Use Chromecast Without Wi-Fi How to Connect to a Server How to Back up Your Mac to an External Hard Drive With Time Machine How to Fix Wi-Fi Authentication Problems on Android How to Connect a Router to the Internet How to Block a Wi-Fi Network How to Join a Wireless Network From Any Device Fixing an iPad That Won't Connect to Wi-Fi Share an Internet Connection in Windows How to Set Up an Amazon Fire Tablet How to Set Up a New Android Tablet How to Connect Google Home to Wi-Fi How to Change Your IP Address Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies