Use PC as wireless Ethernet bridge?

Since you already have a wireless router, just plug the ethernet cable into the router. Why go computer to computer?

Reply to
Peter Pan
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Are you trying to go wireless with the second PC without the use of an adapter card in it? Thinking you can connect to the WRT54G through the first PC.

BILL P.

Reply to
William. Boyd

If the second computer is near the WRT54G, then plug it in directly. I'm guessing it is not.

You do NOT need to use ICS for this. Much too complicated.

Just bring up network properties. Select both the Wired and Wireless connections and right click.

Choose Bridge connections.

Plug a crossover cable between the two machines.

That's it.

Tom

Reply to
Tom Scales

At home I have a wireless network, the basis of which is a Linksys WRT54G router. I then have my PC (running Windows XP) with a wireless PCI card accessing the router. The PC also has an unused wired 10/100 Ethernet port. Is there any easy way to set things up so that the Ethernet port on my PC can be used by another wired computer for acessing the wireless router (and the rest of the network)? I assume I would link the computers via a crossover cable, but then what?

Thx

Reply to
Joe Jax

"Joe Jax" wrote in news:p3yLd.6330$ snipped-for-privacy@fe2.columbus.rr.com:

That's what a NAT router does that you have wired or wireless.

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The NAT router is the gateway device for the WAN (Wide Area Network) Internet and LAN (Local Area Network) your home network part. Since the NAT router is the gateway device for all machines connected to it, it provides the ICS automatically between machines wired or wireless on the LAN. You can extend the network by plugging a standalone hub or switch and connecting more computers to it and connecting another hub to that hub and connecting more computers to it so on and so on. And they will all be able to access the WAN and see each other and share resources on the LAN, because the router is the gateway for the WAN and LAN. All you have to do is plug the wired computer into one of the router's LAN ports or into a port of a hub or switch that's connected into one of the router's LAN ports and that's all that's needed as far as a connection physically is concerned. Of course you don't need wires for another wireless computer and you just set the channel and some other stuff to make the coputer join the router on the air waves.

Of course, you'll have to configure the O/S on each machine to share resources on the LAN.

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Duane :)

Reply to
Duane Arnold

Yes. internet-local_net-Wireless-PC_one-"ICS"-wired-PC_two. On the "properties" page of PC_one's wireless card, go to the Advanced tab. check "Allow other network"...

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PC_two needs a crossed crossover cable to PC_one, and it will be able to access the internet through your wireless connection.

PC_two is going to get a DHCP address of 192.168.0.something. For going to the internet you'll be fine as long as your local network isn't already

192.168.0.something. You have no control over the ICS address.

Other PCs on the local_net will see accesses coming from PC_one and PC_two as coming from the same IP address, that of PC_one. You might be able to share files if you open the window from PC_two, but not from other PCs toward PC_two.

Reply to
dold

That would likely be much better in this case, if there are other computers on the existing network. Is bridging going to allow a flat network across the wired-wireless PC, so that all the addresses are in the same subnet?

Uh-oh. You can't run WinXP firewall on either one of the interfaces in the bridging PC. I always want to run Firewall on any PC on a wireless LAN.

Reply to
dold

You can run a firewall, including the SP2 firewall, on the wireless connection. The second machine sits 'behind' it, so it is OK.

The second machine can be any OS, even Win95. It doesn't know any different. Only the bridge machine has to be XP. It IS possible to do this in 2000, although more complicated, and it has been too long for me to remember the steps.

Tom

Reply to
Tom Scales

You Sir, are a genius! Thanks... and thanks to all the other responders.

Reply to
Joe Jax

That was introduced with WinXP, and isn't available for Win2000 or earlier, it would appear. If you are all WinXP, then the only remaining problem is the statement that you can't run a firewall on the interfaces involved.

After you get it working, I think you should try adding the WinXP firewall. It might require some setup, depending on what you want going through it, but I don't like a wireless PC running with no firewall.

I was thinking of setting this up at work, between my desktop and laptop, but I don't like running wihtout a firewall at work. Too many snooping systems, all, I'm sure, part of our proactive IT group checking for unpatched systems, but the probes certainly look malicious.

I was running ICS between the Win2000 laptop and WinXP desktop. Now my laptop is WinXP, so I could do the bridge, but I want the firewall.

If WinXP firewall doesn't work, try ZoneAlarm. Any PC on the wired or wireless network in a wireless subnet should have a software firewall, because any wireless intruder is on your side of the router firewall. You should also elect trusted servers very carefully in the configuration, and not allow the entire subnet, which is the default for WinXP firewall.

Reply to
dold

Ah, SP2 is better:

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"With Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), the Windows Firewall has been updated so that you can enable it on network bridge connections."

Some other online instructions hadn't been updated for SP2.

Reply to
dold

That was really bad pizza on my network at work. Using a small switch, or using ICS, my network port only sees one MAC in my office. Using a Bridge connection, I suspect that the Cisco Router could see both the desktop and the laptop MACs. It didn't like that at all, and shut down my port.

Reply to
dold

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