Networking wirelessly with a laptop

Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 3:37 pm

I currently have two laptops in my house, with wireless capabilities. if anyone can help, I was wondering if there was a way to access the internet with one laptop, wireless-ly, through one that is plugged into the internet directly. the models we are running are Dell Latitudes D820, and D520. thanks

Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 3:45 pm

use Ad-Hoc mode. I'm not sure it Ad-Hoc will funtion on the laptops, as only PCI works. But, it's worth a try.

http://www.cs.washington.edu/research/edtech/presenter/doc/adhoc.html

This tutorial can explain better than I can. I don't know if a signal would be hidden or not, and it also takes a few reboots. Be patient, as Ad-Hoc has not been refined well.

Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 4:13 pm

Yes ad-hoc to connect the two laptops to each other, but on the one with the internet connection, (which should be the one that initiates the ad-hoc connection), you need to enable internet connection sharing via the 'add a home or small office network' wizard. Select the internal lan as the device that connects to the internet, and the wireless as the device which has to share the internet connection. Once you have the ad-hoc connection running on both, you need to run the same wizard on the second laptop. The wizard should see there is an available internet connection on the first laptop. Simply choose the option to use that internet connection..

Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:54 pm

why don`t you run the 2 of them wireless. i have 1 desktop pc with a belkin wireless desktop card. and a laptop with built in wireless had no problems with it you can do the same with the 2 laptops its up to you Very Happy

but if you don`t well follow advice from the others if u want to leave it the way it is

Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 12:33 am

Like others have stated, Ad-Hoc mode should work just fine. Both the D820 and D520 should have dual band a/g wireless. You will need to go into the properties of the wireless card in each laptop to make certain Ad-Hoc is enabled.
If, however, you happen to have a wireless router already, bypass Ad-Hoc and use your router, again as others have stated. Make certain you have a router that works with your cards, 802.11 a or g. Also make sure you turn off broadcasting of SSID, and encrypt your network as well. It takes a little more time to set up, but its worth it.
(Believe me, I have not paid for the internet in 4 years or so, and its thanks in part to my neighbors broadcasting their SSID and not encrypting)

If you go about it Ad-Hoc, you should still encrypt your home network.
If you are using Windows XP:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/expert/bowman_02april08.mspx
exactly how its done without a router.

Again, trust me, turn on encryption.
Good luck! Very Happy