How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS

With the recent release of Mario Kart DS and Tony Hawk: American Sk8land, Nintendo has launched its new WiFi service. If you've got an OS X box with internet access (other than through the AirPort card), and an AirPort card to transmit from, you can get online in no time.

Read on for a step-by-step guide that should have enough detail to be followed by a networking novice...

Here's how to use your Mac to share your internet connection with your DS:

Make sure you're connected to the internet via something other than the AirPort card (i.e. Ethernet).
Turn on Internet Sharing:
- Go to System Preferences, click on the Sharing icon, then click on the Internet tab.
- Change the Share your connection from: pop-up to 'Built-in Ethernet.'
- Under the To computers using section, check the AirPort box.
- Click Airport options...
  - Enter an easy name such as nds. Leave all the security options blank -- implementing security is an exercise left to the reader -- then click OK.
- Click Start in the Internet Sharing panel.
For sharing internet access with other computers, this is usually sufficient. However, the DS doesn't play well with the built-in DHCP server, so we have to manually configure the DS. To do this we, must gather some info...
Gather Information:
- Open Terminal.app and type ifconfig en1. In the output...
- Type dig. Near the bottom of this output will be SERVER: followed by an IP address. This will be the DNS server you will use for your DS.
Configure the DS:
- Edit your Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Settings from within a compatible game.
- Select a connection to edit.
- Choose Manual Setup.
- Enter the following parameters:
  - SSID: nds (or whatever you chose in step one)
  - Auto-obtain IP Address: No
  - IP Address: Take the first IP Address you obtained earlier, and make the last digit bigger. i.e., mine could be 10.0.2.4
  - Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
  - Gateway: The first IP Address, unchanged. (e.g. 10.0.2.1)
  - Auto-obtain DNS: No
  - Primary DNS: your DNS SERVER from the earlier dig output.
- Test your connection at the top of the screen. You should have no problem connecting.

That's it, now just have fun!

This hint was tested in Panther and Tiger, and the following links were very helpful in compiling this guide:

[robg adds: I don't have a DS, so I can't test this one...]

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The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

Nintendo DS Mario Kart friend codes
Authored by: druggedonions on Tue, Nov 29 2005 at 8:22AM PST

Got my copy of Mario Kart last week when it was released in the UK. So how bout we get a little online osxhints mario kart action, and publish friend codes here. Mine is

223398249306

Cheers J

Nintendo DS Mario Kart friend codes
Authored by: gnatman on Tue, Nov 29 2005 at 11:08AM PST

I'm up for a game of Mario Kart.

Here's my friends code:
025829
344628

Nintendo DS Mario Kart friend codes
Authored by: kevsteelio on Fri, Dec 30 2005 at 10:58AM PST

My code is

511162
928335

---
Kevin Steele

Nintendo DS Mario Kart friend codes
Authored by: the cow says moo on Sun, Mar 19 2006 at 9:00AM PST

my friend code is

098850059989

Nintendo DS Mario Kart friend codes
Authored by: dfbills on Tue, Jul 18 2006 at 9:35PM PDT

I'm in.. catch you guys online soon

382326
783376

---
-d

Nintendo DS Mario Kart friend codes
Authored by: Maraklov on Sat, Sep 23 2006 at 12:24PM PDT

just got my ds lite and mariokart

here's mine:
485410
121064

How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS
Authored by: Volt on Tue, Nov 29 2005 at 1:01PM PST

Wow. It's working rather nicely with my Powerbook.

I had to disable my firewall for it to connect, though.

How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS
Authored by: Volt on Tue, Nov 29 2005 at 1:28PM PST

I spoke too soon.

I can't find any opponents Worldwide, and I actually got disconnected while searching twice with an error code 85020. There's no info on that code at nintendowifi.com.

How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS
Authored by: pseudonym on Thu, Dec 22 2005 at 12:21PM PST

I tried this at work (for my son) and had the same experience. The connection test was successful but the application errored out when finding other users. In my case I think it was because UPD packets trying to reach the DS were being stopped by a corporate firewall.

How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS
Authored by: XFox on Wed, Mar 8 2006 at 4:00PM PST

I had to disable the firewall, too.
I'm with Mac OS X 10.4.5 and a Nintendo DS with Mario Kart DS.
If I don't disable the system firewall the connection test completes just fine but when I try to connect to the Nintendo WFC I keep getting a 61020 error code.
Who knows which port(s) I have to open to let the Nintendo DS connect to the Nintendo WFC?

How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS
Authored by: deh2k on Tue, Nov 29 2005 at 2:05PM PST

Is there a reason that you use the Mac as the wireless router and not just any WiFi access point such as an AirPort base station?

How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS
Authored by: cliph on Wed, Nov 30 2005 at 2:33AM PST

Not everyone has wireless access point or a base station and this tip lets people know how to get online with their DS even without an AP.

---
Cliph/ff
http://chicks-dig-unix.net/

How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS
Authored by: schiznik on Wed, Nov 30 2005 at 4:49PM PST

Any idea how would you do the first two steps if you do have an airport base station?

How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS
Authored by: Mseric on Sat, Dec 3 2005 at 1:45PM PST

<Type dig. Near the bottom of this output will be SERVER: followed by an IP address. This will be the DNS server you will use for your DS.>

Does anybody know why when I type dig the answer is:

"connection timed out; no servers could be reached"

Thanks :-)

How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS
Authored by: mrmaxmrmax on Tue, Dec 20 2005 at 6:35PM PST

> Open Terminal.app and type ifconfig en1. In the output...

%stuff: ipconfig en1

usage: ipconfig <command> <args>
where <command> is one of waitall, getifaddr, ifcount, getoption, getpacket, set, setverbose

Am I doing something wrong?

How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS
Authored by: intrntmn on Sat, Dec 31 2005 at 10:02AM PST

it looks like you are typing IPCONFIG instead of IFCONFIG ... try again :c)

How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS
Authored by: alanbuxey on Thu, Jan 5 2006 at 2:00PM PST

its 'ifconfig' not ipconfig.

ipconfig is the Windows version of 'related' command. ipconfig on MacOSX does an entirely different thing :-)

How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS
Authored by: tacitcat on Wed, Jun 27 2007 at 7:04PM PDT

I did what the poster suggested and it found the connection, but then while testing, it kept going and going and going until I had to shut it off. Has anyone had this happen? All the wireless bars were up, and the icon was green.

How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS
Authored by: Nic00 on Sun, Jun 4 2006 at 12:07PM PDT

I did this perfectly disabled my firewall all of that but I still get error 52100. It knows this is here but it can't connect to server. What now?

How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS
Authored by: Heferkimbo on Thu, Jul 6 2006 at 7:07PM PDT

Hello... to all the people who cant connect from your NDS to your mac if your firewall is on, the answer is click the "Share Web" option in the services tab... thats it.. but be sure to follow all the steps above..

DONE, now, get online and play!!

WEP Encryption, AirPort and your DS Lite
Authored by: ijoshchicago on Tue, Jul 18 2006 at 12:28PM PDT

I found this kbase article about making it easy to work with other wireless hardware with AirPort.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=108058

I set up my internet sharing with WEP 128Kbit and used a 13 character password/key. Worked like a charm. Now I just need to get faster karts to kick some online tail! :)

How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS
Authored by: sophieisdabest on Fri, Jul 28 2006 at 2:22AM PDT

This does not work for Animal Crossing Wild World. How do you setup Nintendo Wifi on Animal Crossing?

How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS
Authored by: lczeroro on Fri, Aug 4 2006 at 5:34PM PDT

Same problem here. Somebody help out with Animal Crossing! This hint only seems to work with all games except for Animal Crossing.

Doesn't connect
Authored by: apfhex on Mon, Sep 4 2006 at 2:04PM PDT

This doesn't work at all for me. Test Connection gives me an error code 52101, "Connected to Access Point but unable to connect to the server." I disabled OS X's firewall and checked all the settings. Maybe it's because I'm still behind a router (not wireless though)?

Doesn't connect
Authored by: apfhex on Mon, Sep 4 2006 at 3:13PM PDT

Nevermind, I got it working (missed the step about changing the IP up one digit from 10.0.2.1 to 10.0.2.2!!), but had to disable the Firewall to actually connect.

How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS
Authored by: awcomix on Tue, Sep 12 2006 at 4:53PM PDT

I tried what you have suggested and I still seem to get error messages. Maybe I'm confused about what equipment I actually need.
I have an imac G5 that is connected to the internet through my ethernet port (I do not have a wireless router or airport base station)
So can I use the DS's wifi capabilites just by using the G5's internal airport card?
Also any updates and or extra tips on setting up the the DS through a mac?

How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS
Authored by: superg on Tue, Sep 12 2006 at 10:38PM PDT

I have the same setup as you and I've gotten it to work. I was having a ton of problems before I read this, but once I read this I realized that I needed to put a static IP on the DS to get it to work. Is your DS set to DHCP or static?

How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS
Authored by: lizard on Sat, Oct 21 2006 at 7:01AM PDT

Heres how to do it without dropping your firewall entirely.

Create a new entry in the firewall panel with these entries
Type Other
TCP 28900-28910 , 29900-29910
UDP 1225-1227, 3365-3367
Description NDS (or whatever...)

Make sure its ticked open and then in the advanced settings make sure that you dont have "Block all UDP Traffic" set. The Stealth Mode can stay on.

Mac Mini + Nintendo DS
Authored by: Moai on Sun, Jan 21 2007 at 12:31PM PST

I finally got it working.

Note that if you haven't used the built-in AirPort before, it's not switched on, but you cannot see it anywhere in System Preferences window. Then also ifconfig en1 doesn't give you anything useful.

How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS
Authored by: kevion on Mon, Feb 12 2007 at 8:19PM PST

This was such an excellent resource, and it worked perfectly the very first time. Thank you so much!

How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS
Authored by: superflames on Thu, Feb 15 2007 at 7:36AM PST

Just a question : what the firts inet does mean? I tried to find an answer on the web, but nothing!
Why do not use the second one which is the IP adress I configured for my airport card?
Thanks.

How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS
Authored by: Ni Mip on Sun, Apr 1 2007 at 11:59PM PDT

Everything worked perfectly fine, except that it came up with the error 20100. I've looked everywhere but I can't find any instructions on what it means or how to fix it. Can anyone help?

How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS
Authored by: incentas on Tue, Jun 26 2007 at 5:05AM PDT

My DS won't let me set the subnet mask to 225.225.225.0
It says (exactly):
"These settings are invalid.
Confirm the information and try
again. Call 1-800-895-1672
in the USA and Canada for help."
Is there some setting in another menu that I need to use? I used to have a wireless hub, and one of my slots has that in it. Could this be causing the problem? What do I need to do to fix it?

How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS
Authored by: bmabesugo on Sun, Sep 30 2007 at 2:31AM PDT

it works perfectly!!!! love u man!!

How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS
Authored by: ESMP on Mon, Mar 31 2008 at 9:51PM PDT

DUDE! You made me happy... I was about to give up on this thing... Wasn't able to connect with anything!!!

But now, I CAN!!! THANKS!!!

How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS
Authored by: yellowspace on Thu, Sep 4 2008 at 1:55AM PDT

I have a DS Lite and run 10.4.11 on my G4. I just bought a Pluscom PCI wireless 802.11 b/g card. I have virgin media cable broadband that works thru the etherent cable. I tried all the steps but got stock at point 2

Turn on Internet Sharing: Go to System Preferences, click on the Sharing icon, then click on the Internet tab. Change the Share your connection from: pop-up to 'Built-in Ethernet.' Under the To computers using section, check the AirPort box. Click Airport options... Enter an easy name such as nds. Leave all the security options blank -- implementing security is an exercise left to the reader -- then click OK.

While the card can pick up the next door neighbours BT homehub connection, if I type 192.168.1.1 on safari (as instructed by pluscom tech support) nothing comes up. I gave up on tech support as they couldnt understand that I ran os x and not vista. nay help appreciated.

Nintendo DS Mario Kart friend codes
Authored by: ramotarv on Mon, Nov 23 2009 at 9:40AM PST

hi my ds lite mario kart friend code is 532811721901 look forward to racing with you soon

How to share a wireless connection with a Nintendo DS
Authored by: GSGeek on Fri, Dec 18 2009 at 6:11PM PST

Awesome!
Just tried it on MacOS-X (Snow Leopard)&desktop iMac and it worked. Just played Tetris-DS in Battle mode over the Internet.
I've learned the dig cmd in the process (works on Linux boxes too :), and I can put Nintendo's USB Wifi connector to retirement.

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