chowinlondon

If the OP is only sharing between him and wife, there is no need to get a router. Just get a Crossed LAN cable. (this is not the normal ones used to connect from PC to router, it is a specific PC to PC cable)

For the OP, you'll have to connect your laptop to the internet wirelessly. As mentioned in post #2, you'll need to enable Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) from your wireless device, to be shared via your Local Area Connection. When you do that, your Local Area Connection will automatically be set to 192.168.0.1 (IP) and 255.255.255.0 (Subnet mask).

Connect your wife's laptop to your own laptop with the Crossed Ethernet Cable. Your wife's laptop should be able to search for the IP without problems. But if there is a problem, you can set it manually at 192.168.0.x, where x can be anything between 2 and 254, subnet 255.255.255.0 and Default Gateway 192.168.0.1 (this is the important one).

Then if you click on Internet Explorer/Mozilla/your browser of choice you should have no problems surfing.

boberonicus

Or you could just plug the Linksys travel router into the wall. More secure, no wires, no ICS setup, and one of you sits at the desk while the other can hang out anywhere in the room...

CessnaJock

Don't forget the conjugation of the verb "to stink."

ICS stinks
ICS stank
ICS has stunk

If you can't find a "crossed" cable, try "crossover."

chowinlondon

Could someone please kindly clarify to me what the above post is supposed to mean?

kanebear

Internet Connection Sharing is not a suitable replacement for a router. It can be fiddly to set up, it's flaky, it positively won't work with SafeNet based VPN clients and it requires your laptop be left on 24/7 to act as an access point. I will ALWAYS prefer the hardware solution vs. turning my ~$2k notebook into a $25 travel router. I've said it before and will say it again, the D-link DWL-G730AP is small enough not to make any sort of dent in a travel bag. If one doesn't want to carry the power brick, it can even be powered via USB. Of course the computer needs to be on for that too.

tlc

Linksys WTR54-GS does exactly what you want. It sits on one wireless network and routes it to another private one. My husband and I just got one and it works flawlessly. We can both use our laptops, our cell phone and our ipods all on wireless with only one paid connection.

The D-Link DWL-G730AP does not do that. you would need to have two of them connected with a wire to get the same effect.

And of course Amazon halved the price of the Lynksys 2 days after we bought ours.

dgwright99

Wow, you are doing well - I can't remeber it ever being that little; I have usually had to pay E20+, and in one case 20 POUNDS.

What really p***es me off is when you have to buy a card; although a rip-off, $30 is justifyable to expense if it lets me answer email. Whjat seems really bizarre that they make it so hard to buy their outrageously priced service ? Why can't I just enter my CC# and go ?

richarddd

Newegg and Amazon reviewers have a slight preference for the d-link over the linksys. Any other views on which is better?

richarddd

The users guide, page 12, figure 5-4: "You can only connect to a public wireless network that has open access"

This suggests that if your hotel has security on its wireless network, you can't use the linksys to share.

An Amazon reviewer confirms: "when using it to share a wireless connection, you can only use it to share an unsecure connection; i.e. it can't associate with a WEP or WAP access point."

cblaisd

You're past my knowledge

So, for, say, the typical Hampton Inn where you get a wifi code with your check-in packet for the free wifi does that mean that's WEP or WAP, or has the hotel simply set up a portal page through which you must authenticate?

And is my understanding correct that a) the Linksys product allows you to re-distribute a wifi connection wirelessly, but b) the D-Link product only allows you to set up a wifi network from a wired connection?

boberonicus

> So, for, say, the typical Hampton Inn where you get a wifi code with your
> check-in packet for the free wifi does that mean that's WEP or WAP,
No.

> has the hotel simply set up a portal page through which you must authenticate?
Yes.

> the Linksys product allows you to re-distribute a wifi connection wirelessly
Yes.

nmenaker

almost none of this is necessary at all, certainly not the CrossOVER cable. Just enable the internet on ONE computer via WIFI, then setup ICS of THAT connection to the ETHERNET connection of that computer. Then, just connect a REGULAR ethernet cable from THAT computer to the second computer, and it will get DHCP from the HOSt computer. No cross over needed, most hotels with internet have ethernet cables you can use, I DO carry a single small cable for when I need this, or when I send a WIFI signal to my LINKSYS travel router to enable other people in the room to access the internet..

But, for this solution a crossover cable is not required, i've been doing without for several years.

LAX-1K

I'm guessing that you probably have auto-switching LAN cards in your laptops? In order to correctly connect two computers directly together without a hub or switch is to use a crossover cable.

And, to add to the group, I will heartily recommend the Linksys WRT-54G. I have one of these, and it's been a great little travel companion. Wireless bridge, wireless repeater, WAP, router, etc. - it just works.

nmenaker

nope, no auto switching LAN cards in my LT's, none that I know of. The whole point of the ICS, is that is mimic a regular DHCP server. So, OUT of my Ethernet jack, I am sending 192.xxx addresses. The Receiving computer just sees this as a router.

boberonicus

If that's true, then it WOULDN'T work with a crossover cable. Which is unlikely. What model of laptops (source and destination machine) were you using?