Sharing Laptop Internet Connection

I use to have an Apple laptop so I know first hand that it was possible to share the internet connection you were using from the laptop to other devices. It's called AirPort on them and it uses the wifi adapter to share internet connection to other devices(like a Nintendo DS or Xbox Live).

So the way it works is you connect your DSL/Cable modem to the Apple laptop with an ethernet cable. Then you go to the AirPort settings and turn on Internet Sharing. It was pretty simple and worked well.

Now that I have this e1505 with WiFi built in, I want to do the same thing. I've tried using google but all that comes up is advice dealing with connecting a laptop to a wireless router and no mention of what I had in mind.

It has to be possible right?

The Intel Pro Wireless 3945ABG inside this laptop had some software installed on the computer that helps locate a wireless connection. But it does not have any options similar to AirPort where you can share the internet connection. I went to My Network Place and clicked on "setup a wirless network" and it looked like I found what I was looking for. It asked to create an SSID name for the connection and then I chose "Set up a network manually" because the other option was to add the settings to a USB device which I didn't need. At this point I wasn't sure if this was what I was looking for but I hit Next anyway. Then I got an error and it wouldn't proceed to the next step. It kept saying "Depending on the wireless software running on this computer, the Wireless Network Setup Wizard might not work." and I couldn't move any further.

So now I'm stumped. I'm using a Dell E1505 that I just got this week and it's running Windows MCE. I've got the Intel Pro wireless option on it. Thanks for reading.

 

I'm just going to bump this once. I finally got the Wireless Network Setup Wizard to work by uninstalling the Intel Pro Wireless software. I got through all the steps and it finished and gave me the SSID and WEP key to print and give to my other computers. Well, that was it. No mention of any network or internet sharing open. And the wireless connection is still disconnected.

I tried connecting to the wifi from my Nintendo DS but it couldn't find a signal. So then I setup my Nintendo DS manually to connect using the SSID and WEP key the Wireless Network Setup gave. But it still couldn't find a signal.

Don't know where to move from here. Someone on another forum said it's possible and directed me to the Wizard I used but I haven't gotten back to them to tell them it hasn't done anything.

 

right click on the the network connection > properties > advanced

why do you want to share the connection? don't you have a router?

 

I have no router at the moment. I really want this to work first. By the way the Advanced properties of the Wireless Connection does have an Internet Sharing check box but that's for sharing files with other computers connected to a router.

Heres what's happened so far as I just told someone else:

I stumpled upon someone saying to setup an ad hoc network. From what I gathered, it turns the wireless adapater signal in the laptop to a peer and other devices can connect to it and each other. The problem is I can't find the Ad Hoc settings that actually work on my Wireless adapter >:[

Here is what my Intel Wireless Adapater settings look like. There, um, freaking bland.

http://img226.imageshack.us/my.php?image=adhoc10vn.jpg

Post above has the first Ad hoc setting. All that's for is choosing the channel.

http://img81.imageshack.us/my.php?image=adhoc22wg.jpg

This one shows the wireless mode which is supposedley where I'm suppose to look for the Ad Hoc mode. Ofcourse, nothing. Just your standard 80211 modes.

Don't know what to do.

 

You're best bet is to use Windows Internet Connection Sharing.

Description of ICS

That link, and the links in it, should have all the info you need on how to set it up. Make sure you read the parts/links about Windows Firewall.

Edit - I just saw your reply in the other post. Setting up an ad-hoc network is required, but will not allow access to the internet from the 2nd device without ICS. I think the checkbox you mentioned above is the right checkbox to enable ICS, but you want to share the Internet connection, not the wireless one.

 

no, the description is "Internet Connection Sharing - Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection"

 

Right, I had a hunch that ICS was suppose to be enabled, I came to it before while fiddling through settings. But the first thing I need to do is setup an ad hoc network like you mentioned and I can't find the settings to do this on my wireless network adapter.

 

I use the Intel PROset software, myself, and there is a wizard to add a new wireless network, where you can select between infrastructure or ad-hoc, but I don't know if this is to establish one or connect to one...

 

I have a version of Intel Proset Wireless software installed on my Dell E1505 as well. It doesn't seem to have an ability to create an ad hoc network of your own AFAIK.

 

when you double-click the PROset icon in the system tray, in the network profiles section, click the Add button. you can create an ad-hoc network in the wizard that pops up, so far as I can tell. when you're setting the profile name and SSID, you just select the ad-hoc radio button.

 

Success! Well, sort of.

Even though I created an ad hoc network none of my other devices can connect to the wireless connection. They can detect the connection but they cannot connect.

For instance, my Xbox 360 with the Official Wireless USB Adapter finds the connection and lists exactly what the SSID and Band are but after it tries to connect to test it I get a failed attempt everytime.

The exact same thing happens to my Nintendo DS. It finds the connection but after hitting "Test Connection" it gives back an error message saying connection failed.

I haven't set a WEP key either yet just so I could first see if everything was ok and then move on to security.

 

you might try now going to your network properties (control panel > network connections, right-click the wireless connection and select properties) then on the properties dialog, click the advanced tab and enable the internet connection sharing.