Is this possible?

[Looney]

Lets say i have wireless 802.11b PCI cards. Can i use these, and set one of the computers as a router, and bypass the need for a true router? If so, do i need any special software?

 

[Drakkon]

I would say yes its possible but its not adviseable since u really are loossing speed by going that route...
I use my main comp wiht a PCI wirless nic and laptop to go to it and then the dialup on mail comp to access the net on the laptop...so it can be done all in windows XP i know but the speeds are less than 5mbps when it comes to doing any file transfers....

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: Drakkon
I would say yes its possible but its not adviseable since u really are loossing speed by going that route...
I use my main comp wiht a PCI wirless nic and laptop to go to it and then the dialup on mail comp to access the net on the laptop...so it can be done all in windows XP i know but the speeds are less than 5mbps when it comes to doing any file transfers....

What exactly causes the slowdown?

Also, how does the wireless NICs communicate with the others? I thought it needed a wireless base. Can you assign IPs or something to these wireless NICs?

 

[Drakkon]

For some reason doing card to card and not going through a router causes the slow down...dunno why...

the nics setup I belive whats called an ad-hoc network....windows network does all the work...will assign 192.168....ip's to each comp....

 

[JackMDS]

Two Wireless Clients can communicate one with the other if they are configured in Ad-Hoc mode.

The issue with such a settings it not necessarily slow down.

To share the Internet without a hardware Router you need software NAT. Windows ICS (comes with windows) is quirky in general, and seem not to be able to support well NAT through Wireless. Some people had better results using AnalogX proxie NAT.

If you already have cards, give it a try. If you are going to buy to new cards it does not make any sense since Entry Level 802.11b Wireless Cable/DSL Router cost as much as a Wireless Client or few $$$ more.

Link to: AnandTech - FAQ. What do I need for wireless Networking?

Link to: Wireless Cable/DSL Router or Access Point - What should I get?

Link to: Wireless Network - Configuration Modes.

Link to: AnalogX Proxy.

 

[buleyb]

JackMDS is giving good info...

Ad-Hoc mode between the 2 WLAN cards, then (if you are running XP) you can bridge your WLAN card with your wired NIC and everything should work good. Config without WEP to get running, just don't forget to enable!