Building very small WiFi LAN 1

[JJ1]

Hi All,

A friend asked me recently how to cheaply connect 2 laptops via Wifi (one laptop currently has an adsl modem to be used with ICS).

I said he'd got 2 options:

1. Wireless Linksys router.
2. AP in the ethernet NIC of one laptop with a Wifi card in the other.

My first question is, was that second option decent? Can anyone recommend an AP?

The second question is this: Can you simply buy two PCMCIA Wifi cards and connect between the two devices? (a bit like using a cross-over ethernet cable).

Many thanks in advance,

James.

 

[bcastner]

You can connect using AdHoc mode without router or access point.

 

[vipergg]

As Bcastner said you can use adhoc mode and just use two wifi cards in the laptops . If there is any chance you are going to want to share a common internet connection in the future then you would be better off getting a wifi router/switch such as Linksys or Netgear . Both are very cheap now so it's probably a $50 layout to get a 802.11B router and a wireless nic .

 

[JJ1]

Thanks for replying guys.

I completely realise the best way is to get the combo unit - Router/AccessPoint.

Out of pure interest though, does the Adhoc mode work with Internet Connection sharing? Is it supported by all WiFi cards?

Thanks in advance,

James.

 

[bcastner]

1. It works with ICS;
2. It is part of the 802.11x standard