Quick Wireless question

[WildKat]

I have a quick question to which the answer is probably no but..

I have a regular wired router that shares out my internet connection between 3 PCs. I also have a laptop with wireless and want to connect that wirelessly but dont want to purchase a wireless router as I am happy with the setup. Can I use a USB wireless adapter on one of the PCs to share out internet to my laptop?

[RogueSpear]

Normally I would say yes you can using Internet Connection Sharing, but maybe not. There is a good chance that your router uses the 192.168.1.0 network and that you can't change it. It's been an awful long time since I've messed with Internet Connection Sharing, but I believe that it creates a private network and acts as a DHCP server for clients using the exact same network. And I don't think you can change that either. I could be wrong though. Best thing probably would be to give it a shot if you already have the USB WiFi adapter.

[possy_99]

it's my understanding that you can run wireless devices without a wireless hub/acces spoint in what's called 'ad hoc' mode. Weather you can share an internet connection like this I am unsure.

..here a good google link.... seems possible ;o)

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=int...ad+hoc%22&meta=

[coconut]

i may be off but the problem is routing traffic from ethernet card to/from wireless card. your best bet would be a wireless router, you can get one cheap from newegg.com, or maybe you can get something going with the routing and remote access service. but anyways fastest, headache-free way is a wireless router - setting one up these days is a matter of minutes

[RogueSpear]

@WildKat, I would have to agree with coconut on this one. The other benefit here is that would wouldn't be putting a drag on the PC with two network interfaces and your wireless laptop wouldn't be dependant on the availability of the multihomed PC for it's internet access.

[WildKat]

Thanks for the reply guys. I really cant be bothered to get a router just for the laptop plus I havent got anymore space left. I might just try adhoc method after I buy a cheapy USB adapter.

[eyeball]

if i remember correctly when you enable ICS it gives the computer acting as the gateway 192.168.1.1 so if you could change the ip of the router to 192.168.1.2 and give the other pcs static address i dont see why it wouldnt work

although you will have to tell the laptop that its a computer to computer network (i.e Ad-hoc) as someone mentioned earlier, or maybe the laptop will see the usb as an access point.. who knows?

let us know how you get on with this

good luck

[WildKat]

Normally I would say yes you can using Internet Connection Sharing, but maybe not. There is a good chance that your router uses the 192.168.1.0 network and that you can't change it. It's been an awful long time since I've messed with Internet Connection Sharing, but I believe that it creates a private network and acts as a DHCP server for clients using the exact same network. And I don't think you can change that either. I could be wrong though. Best thing probably would be to give it a shot if you already have the USB WiFi adapter.

Ok I got hold of an adapter and the adhoc network seems to work but ICS does not. It seems to be a problem with the IP. I can change the IP on my router but I cant get it to work...

[WildKat]

My router was originally on 192.168.0.1 which ICS apparantly needs so I changed the routers IP to 192.168.0.5. The two PC's on the router (one of which I will share) use 192.168.0.160 and 192.168.0.166.

From this point when ICS is enabled it changes the LAN to 192.168.0.1 but then Internet on the host stops working. When I select automatically configure IP on TCP/IP config the Internet works on the host but still nothing on the client (laptop). Maybe the laptop is not being assigned an IP from ICS?

Im not familiar with how to set this up so any help would be much appreciated.