How to share Internet connection between two laptops without using a router
Posted by Vincent Isles at Friday, August 28, 2009Situation: One laptop is connected to the Internet via a wired connection. Both laptops have working wireless adapters.
Essentially, the steps can be divided into two separate tasks: creating an ad hoc connection, and sharing the Internet connection once the ad hoc connection is established.
Creating an Ad Hoc Connection
1. In one of the laptops, go to Start > Control Panel > Network Connections.
2. Select the correct wireless network connection and right-click then choose Properties.
3. Select the Wireless Networks tab and under Preferred networks click on Add...
4. Put a name for Network name (SSID) and uncheck the "The key is provided for me automatically" option under Wireless network key. Check "This is a computer-to-computer (ad hoc) network; wireless access points are not used." Input a five- or thirteen-character password for network key.
5. Click on OK and then the next OK.
6. Place the cursor on the wireless icon at the taskbar, right-click and choose "View Available Networks". You should see the wireless network that you've just created. Double-click on it to connect - you will be prompted for the network key you've set up earlier. Once you connect to the ad hoc network, the current laptop will send radio beacons to the other laptop and the other laptop can now detect the ad hoc network.
7. Connect to the ad hoc network from the other laptop.
8. For best results, set up static IPs. Assign one laptop with an IP of 192.168.0.1, subnet 255.255.255.0, gateway 192.168.0.2, and DNS 192.168.0.2, while the other will have an IP of 192.168.0.2, subnet 255.255.255.0, gateway 192.168.0.1, and DNS 192.168.0.1.
Sharing the Internet Connection
1. Here you have to use the laptop connected to the Internet. Go to Start > Control Panel > Network Connections.
2. Select the connection to the Internet. Click on the Advanced tab.
3. Under Internet Connection Sharing, check "Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection" Uncheck the "Allow other network users to control or disable the shared Internet connection".
Try connecting to the Net now.
