1. Sierra Mac Stopped Wake For Network Access Password

Apr 04, 2014  First ensure the Mac is set up to be woken over the network: Open the Energy Saver system preferences; Check the “Wake for network access” option. Note this may be in a separate tab, and might be called “Wake for Ethernet Access” or “Wake for Wi-Fi network access,” depending on the configuration of your system. In Snow Leopard, if you enable waking for network access, your Mac will periodically wake up every two hours (possibly sooner), no matter what. Mind you, it's a special new 'lightweight wake' with the display staying off, and it'll go right back to sleep in about 20 seconds.

Most people will never have to (or want to) manage their networking profiles or locations. Setting up a connection to a Wi-Fi hotspot is all they'd need to do. However, some users might want or need tighter control over how their computer accesses the network and the internet.

Why would you want to control your network profile?

Depending on your use case, there may never be a reason for you to manage your network profile. If you have a computer that never leaves a particular network, then you can literally set it and forget it.

If you have a MacBook, then you might have access to a privileged network when at one location and need just typical network access when at another location. One such situation would be using a specialized network gateway.

For example, I have a network where my computers with low requirements of secure internet access go out to the internet via one gateway whilst my computers that require a higher level of security go out another gateway that has VPN encryption.

What's the problem?

If I were to take my MacBook that uses the secure gateway to a friend's house, I would not be able to access the internet without making changes to the network settings.

Depending on your network topology, these changes can be complicated and tedious. Adding a new network location would simplify the process of making the transition without having to memorize IPs, gateways, subnet masks and DNS servers. One location would have my secure network settings, the other would have a general connection setup.

How to set up a new network location

Let's start by setting up our various network profiles.

1. Start System Preferences.
2. Click Network.

3. Tap the connection you want to manage. In our example, Wi-Fi.

4. Click the Location drop down arrow.
5. Click Edit Locations.

6. Click the + to add a new location and give it a name. In this example this will be our Secure network.

7. Click Done.
8. Click Advanced.

9. Setup the network requirements you need for your specialized network location. You can follow our instructions for changing your gateway if you need help with that.

10. Click OK.
11. If you need more specialized network settings, repeat steps 4 through 10.

How to use your new network profiles

Once you've set everything up, using the locations will be a breeze.

1. Start System Preferences.
2. Click Network.
3. Tap the connection you want to manage. In our example, Wi-Fi.
4. Click the Location drop down arrow.
5. Select the Network Location you need at the moment.

6. Click Apply.

What about iOS?

iOS is already setup to 'expect' different needs for different Wi-Fi networks. If you make a gateway change on one Wi-Fi network, iOS already knows that you'd need a separate networking profile when changing to a another Wi-Fi network.

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Final thoughts and comments

I'd really like it if Apple were to make macOS Wi-Fi networking work similarly to iOS Wi-Fi networking. Case in point, I setup my wife's work laptop to use our encrypted VPN gateway for security purposes. She rarely used that laptop away from home. We once experienced a power outage when she required internet access. She went to a friends home but she couldn't access the internet due to the network settings from our home network. Since I didn't setup a roaming network location on her laptop, she was 'stuck' not having access until I explained how to reset her network settings. If her device was an iOS device, she would not have needed anything changed and things would have worked seamlessly.

What are your thoughts? Do you need to change your network locations on your macOS device? Wish it would work similarly to an iOS device? Let us know in the comments!

macOS Catalina

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If your Mac goes to sleep unexpectedly

Make sure that Energy Saver is set up the way you want: choose Apple () menu > System Preferences, then click Energy Saver. Adjust one or more of the following controls to affect when your Mac goes to sleep. Some of these controls might not be available on your Mac.

• 'Turn display off after' slider
• 'Display sleep' slider
• 'Computer sleep' slider
  If a slider is set to 'Never,' sleep is disabled for that feature.
• Schedule button

Make sure that you aren't putting your Mac to sleep accidentally:

• Pressing the power button can put your Mac to sleep.
• Moving your mouse pointer to a hot corner can put your Mac to sleep, depending on your Mission Control settings. Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Mission Control. Click the Hot Corners button, then see if any of the corners are set to 'Put Display to Sleep.'
• Using magnets near your Mac notebook can put your Mac to sleep.

If your Mac doesn't go to sleep when you expect

Check your Energy Saver settings as described above, and be aware that your Mac won't automatically go to sleep unless it's inactive:

• The same network activities that can wake your Mac can also keep your Mac from sleeping.
• Any app or other process that's running on your Mac could also be keeping your Mac awake. Check the Energy Saver pane of Activity Monitor to identify apps that need your Mac to be awake. If 'Yes' appears in the Preventing Sleep column for an app, your Mac won't automatically sleep while the app is running. Other apps prevent sleep only when doing certain things, such playing music or video, printing, or downloading files.

If you started from macOS Recovery on a Mac notebook, automatic sleep is disabled as long as the Mac is using AC power.

If your Mac wakes unexpectedly

Your Mac might wake for these activities:

• Network activity that uses the Wake on Demand feature. Examples of network activity include iTunes sharing, photo sharing, printer sharing, file sharing, and using Back to My Mac.*
• Enhanced notifications from FaceTime, Messages, and other apps and services.
• Bluetooth activity. To prevent Bluetooth devices from waking your Mac, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Bluetooth. Click the Advanced Button, then deselect 'Allow Bluetooth devices to wake this computer.'

If you have a MacBook Pro (2016 or later) or MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, 2017), note that these models are designed to start up when you open their lids or connect them to power.

*As of July 1, 2019, Back to My Mac service is no longer available.

If your Mac doesn't wake when you expect

Your Mac might pause a few seconds before it wakes up. If it doesn't seem to wake at all, check for these possibilities:

• Your screen brightness might be turned down.
• If you're using an external display, your display might be turned off.
• Your Mac might be in safe sleep. To wake from safe sleep, press the power button.
• Check for a sleep indicator light, if applicable, and make sure that your Mac isn't turned off.

If the previous steps don't work

These additional steps may help identify or resolve the issue:

• Reset the SMC.
• Reset NVRAM.
• Disconnect external devices other than your Apple keyboard, mouse, and display. If that resolves the issue, gradually reconnect your devices, testing each time, until you find the device that is interfering with sleep. Then check the documentation that came with the device, or contact the device manufacturer.
• Start up in Safe Mode to see if the issue is related to non-Apple startup items, login items, or kernel extensions.
• Try to isolate the issue by using another user account.

Sierra Mac Stopped Wake For Network Access Password

If you still see the issue, contact Apple Support.

FaceTime is not available in all countries or regions.