connecting up home wifi

bibibobo

hi, i have a wifi 54mbps b/g laptop. if i buy a usb wifi 54mbps dongle for my desktop e.g. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=9716031901&sspagename=ADME:B:AAQ:UK:1 will i be able to make a connection between the laptop and desktop so i browse and copy files back and forth?? Will i be able to set up a connection allowing me to route through the desktop for internet surfing? - sorry if it seems like a dumb question - it sjust that its hard to keep up with the latest technology and networking from year to year!!

irlrobins

Yes if you buy a wireless network adapter for PC then you would be able to create an ad hoc wireless network between the laptop and desktop. If you then share one or more folders on each PC you can copy files across. Your wireless card manual will have instructions ho how to set up an ad hoc network. You might need to manually assign ip addresses to each machine as there is no DHCP server.

As regards sharing an internet connection, yes this is also possible, but can sometimes be a lil tricky to set up. What sort of internet connection do you have (dialup, broadband, etc) and how is it connected to the desktop?

bibibobo

I have a dialup connection on the desktop. Would it be possible to setup a vnc connection to initiate the connection and then have the software make the connection available to the trusted wireless network?

irlrobins

Yep VNC would work. Use Internet connection sharing to share the dialup. Google it if ur not sure how to enable it.

MunsterCycling

bibibobo wrote:

I have a dialup connection on the desktop. Would it be possible to setup a vnc connection to initiate the connection and then have the software make the connection available to the trusted wireless network?

The initiate connection bit can be automated by ticking the 'Allow other users to initiate a connection' when you're setting up ICS.

bibibobo

irlrobins wrote:

Yes if you buy a wireless network adapter for PC then you would be able to create an ad hoc wireless network between the laptop and desktop. If you then share one or more folders on each PC you can copy files across. Your wireless card manual will have instructions ho how to set up an ad hoc network. You might need to manually assign ip addresses to each machine as there is no DHCP server.

As regards sharing an internet connection, yes this is also possible, but can sometimes be a lil tricky to set up. What sort of internet connection do you have (dialup, broadband, etc) and how is it connected to the desktop?

I have setup an ad hoc wireless network after great difficulty fiddling with settings ... i didn't have the SSID the same on both desktop and laptop ... i have WPA-None, TKIP network authentication enabled with long password. There was also an option to enable AES authentication --- Question: is my current settings the most secure i can get?

Also is an adhoc network limited to 11Mbps thus restricting the 54Mbps which is in theory available ? Is it possible to setup an infrastructure network in my current configuration to get the benefit of max speed?

My configuration is: laptop with in built WiFi b/g communicating with desktop with USB WiFi b/g adaptor. Desktop connects to the internet via dialup (!). I mainly want to transfer large files back and forth between the PC's and occassionally surf the net remotely so i will have to enable file sharing and internet connection sharing.

Another question: do i need to setup IP addresses manually and if so what are good ones to pick? 198.186.1.1 etc?

irlrobins

bibibobo wrote:

Question: is my current settings the most secure i can get?

no, but it will suffice probably. Defeat all but the most determined hacker

bibibobo wrote:

Also is an adhoc network limited to 11Mbps thus restricting the 54Mbps which is in theory available ?

The 802.11g specification does not include any requirement to support Ad-Hoc mode at 802.11g speeds. A company could supply a radio that only does 11Mbits/sec in ad-hoc mode and still be 802.11g compliant.

bibibobo wrote:

Another question: do i need to setup IP addresses manually and if so what are good ones to pick? 198.186.1.1 etc?

Manual ip addresses are needed as u don't have a dhcp server running. Use 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.1.2. Should work fine for you.