Networking: Setting up Wireless Ad-Hoc Network

Did you know two or more Wi-Fi enable computers can talk to each other over a wireless ad-hoc network without a Wireless Access Point (WAP)? You can share resources, like :printers, files, and even an Internet connection.

The great news is most computers and devices, already support the peer-to-peer wireless ad-hoc networking. This means that no extra software is required to be installed on your computer.

To setup a wireless ad-hoc network, you need a computer that has a 802.11B or 802.11G wireless card. Most modern laptops come with this hardware by default. On the computer that has the resources you want to share, you need to setup ad-hoc networking, then the clients only need to connect to it.

• Double-click the Wireless Network Connection icon in the notification area (bottom right of your screen).
• Press the Properties button, then click the 'Wireless Networks' tab.
• Press the Add button, you should now be on the Association tab.
• Type a name for your network in the SSID box (like: Bob's computer).
• Check 'This is a computer-to-computer (ad hoc) network; wireless access points are not used.' checkbox (look at the bottom of the screen).
• If you're not going using data encryption to protect the traffic on your network, choose Disabled from the 'Data encryption' drop-down menu.
• Press the OK buttons, and your done.