How to share wired Internet connection in hotel using two wireless PCs

Hi Adair Witner,

Yes, that would work. What is simpler is to spoof the MAC address. Both would work.

The problem with the travel router approach is that I'm thousands of miles from home sans the travel router; the problem with the second approach is that the cable is too short to move about the room. Both, of course, can be rectified with a shopping trip to the local electronics emporium.

But, I'm a stubborn gal in that I would really like to obtain the elegance of tying a second wireless PC to the first wired PC without benefit of a wireless router. According to Microsoft, it _should_ be possible (they even say it's easy).

Do you have another source for setting this supposedly easy network up other than:

I don't think that manipulating MAC address of the PC2 will give you something - only PC1 is connected to the hotel network, and only its MAC address should be used to send information to the hotel's switch.

I'm afraid I can't really help troubleshooting the issue in the offline - intercontinental mode. Make sure that PC2 receives 192.168.0.x IP address from DHCP server on PC1 (this is how ICS works); and that Windows Firewall is disabled for the wireless adapter on PC1. Sharing must work thereafter. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't - hotel cannot realistically prevent this.

Cindy,

You need a wireless bridge with NAT - you canuse either one of your PCs, or an appliance for that purpose.

However, NAT (hiding two or more PCs behind same IP address and MAC) can break IPsec VPN, including Nortel - depending on the configuration. Lately they are fine.

You are in Singapore! That's probably the best and cheapest place in the whole world to buy computer equipment.

By the time your get it to work, you'd be checking out of the hotel room :-)

The basic idea is to use your 1st PC to connect to the internet thru hotel's wired internet connection. At the same time you'd turn the 1st PC into a wireless router so the 2nd PC can connect to it wirelessly and share internet connection (with WinXP Internet Connection Sharing). All internet traffic will have to go thru the 1st PC before it goes out to the internet (of course PC1 must be left online). MAC address shouldn't have anything to do with it.

What's the IP address on PC1 wired NIC? What's the IP on PC1 wireless NIC? What's the IP address on PC2 wireless NIC? Also, turn off firewall of any sort on both PCs. You can turn it back on once you got the connection working.

It's Her perogative!

Hi S. Pidgorny, Actually, the MAC address switching did work fine.

Here, in Singapore, I bought a longer wire so I could use my second computer on the bed. A three meter cat6 cable cost five Singapore dollars (the taxi to go get it cost more).

However, only one computer at a time can be connected because not only do they both have the same MAC address now, but, there is only one wire and I don't have a router or hub or switch.

Still, it would have been nice to get the one wired computer to wirelessly serve the second wireless computer without a router ... so when I get back home in a few weeks (I'm heading for Shanghai and then Shin-Yokohama before heading home in a week) I'll try it on my home network by unplugging my wireless router.

Thank you very much for your help and advice, Cindy Fischer

Hi Axel Hammerschmidt, I heard that Singapore, besides not allowing you to buy chewing gum, has the best prices on computer equipment ... but I didn't see any in the malls I visited (Raffles Hotel Shopping Arcade, City Link Mall, The Concourse Mall, etc.).

I did find a CAT 6 cable of fifteen-foot length for about five Singapore dollars (1 USD ~= 1.5 SD) so that got me by for the short stay here in Singapore.

I'll see if I have the same problem in Shanghai as I'm staying at the Shangrila Hotel (I haven't checked if it has wireless or wired in the rooms yet).

Certainly, when I get home (I have a few more stops though), I'll remove my wireless router and see if I can get by with just cable hooked to the modem to the computer with the second computer connected to the first computer wirelessly without the router or hub or switch involved.

Thanks for your advice, Cindy Fischer

Yep. I ended up using the fifteen foot CAT6 cable and spoofing the MAC address allowing me to use one computer at a time (which is, I believe, within the letter of the agreement) which is all I wanted to do (I have a work and personal computer with me).

I'm checking out tonight for Shanghai where I hope the Shangri-la Hotel has wireless in the rooms (it better given the rates I'm paying) ... if not ... I'll be in the same boat again. :)

Thank you all for the wonderful advice, Cindy Fischer

Actually, we don't give the network the MAC address, the network 'grabs' the MAC address on its own.

So, I presume as long as the router is in between the hotel cat5 cable and the PC, that the hotel network will only "see" the MAC address of the NAT router.

Cindy Fischer

"Cindy" hath wroth:

Indecision is the key to flexibility.

For 802.11-1999, the working group showed: 77 men, 0 women I'm too lazy to count the 1997 members, but I did find 2 women listed.

For 802.11b-1999, the working group showed: 91 men, 0 women

For 802.11G-2003, the working group showed: 322 men, 3 women

I'm not sure about some of the foreign names and listed them as male when in doubt.

Therefore, one might suggest that the gods that gave unto us the blessing of wireless were male, not female.

I have never been able to get this to work in a hotel. I've been told that it can work but the addresses have to be manipulated. I don't have problems at home.

Have you actually done this in a hotel?

I have done it several times in hotels and at home, it is a very common thing for people to do.