My Own Wireless Network, through my Wi-Fi laptop

CrazyChemist_2

Hi

I've createed (or tried to) a wireless network from my Inspiron 6000, by going to the wireless set up wizard. However I can't find a way to find if this network is live or not and I can't view it when I look at the list of available networks (also from my laptop).

I was just trying it out and didn't mean to set up a wireless network so could someone be kind and let me know how to disable it or even find out if it is set up at all and beaming??

It's just that I wondered how easy it would be to make my own wireless network using my laptop but now can't find any way to configure or disable/delete it

Cheers,

CC :beer:

espresso

I don't really understand exactly what you have done. I am assuming that you have used the wireless set up wizard but what are you trying to connect to? Do you have a wireless router or wireless access point. Your laptop will be capable of connecting to a wireless node by using the wizard but if you do not have a node to connect to you will not have created anything.

sco0ter

You cant set up a wireless network from the laptop (use it as a router)... It can only connect to a wireless network so dont worry about anyone connecting from thier computer to your computer. It wont be beaming anything anywhere. All it does is search for a network (wireless router/ access point) to connect to.. and it will ask you before it conects to anything anyway.

John_LG

I just bought a wireless router for about £40, and run the cd that came with it, so my wireless laptop can pick it up. only works with broadband though. it's the router that distributes the signal. wireless laptops only pick up that signal. if you need any more help, i'd be happy to advise.
i fear many people are buying wireless laptops with this misconception too.
J

sco0ter

A lot of the adverts can be confusing. My mate bought a new laptop and thought he could use the wireless connection to network his new and old laptop... He was well annoyed when I told him he would have to get a router

Ditto

sco0ter wrote:

A lot of the adverts can be confusing. My mate bought a new laptop and thought he could use the wireless connection to network his new and old laptop... He was well annoyed when I told him he would have to get a router

He can network his old laptop if it has either a built in wireless access, a usb dongle, pcmcia (?) card or a cross over cable utilising the network port.
The only problem is he can only share folders/drivers and not the internet.

sco0ter

He has 2 802.11 b/g enabled wifi laptops.... You cant connect them together using this... He thought he could

CrazyChemist_2

Cheers chaps (or ladies if any posted here, but I very much doubt it! ) the wizard says that I can set up a wireless network so what have I set up then using the wizard??

I'm sure there's an option somewhere to "Allow other computers to use this laptop to access the internet" I'm very confused. I know a fair bit about general computer hardware but I must admit that Wireless has left me very very dizzy.

sco0ter

You have not set up anything. The wizard would check for any wireless networks n the area and try to connect to them.. Allowing computers to use it to access the internet only works when you are connected to the internet and you use a wireless access point (or router) to network the computers but dont have it directly connected to the internet. You have not set up a network... nobody can connect to you... You can only initialise the connection through a router/access point.

zappahey

sco0ter wrote:

He has 2 802.11 b/g enabled wifi laptops.... You cant connect them together using this... He thought he could

Couldn't he do this by setting up an ad-hoc connection on both laptops with the same SSID? I did that with my PDA and laptop while travelling.

John_LG

CrazyChemist wrote:

Cheers chaps (or ladies if any posted here, but I very much doubt it! ) the wizard says that I can set up a wireless network so what have I set up then using the wizard??

I'm sure there's an option somewhere to "Allow other computers to use this laptop to access the internet" I'm very confused. I know a fair bit about general computer hardware but I must admit that Wireless has left me very very dizzy.

Don't let the wireless part put you off. Just imagine what I'd be like if it was wired. If you wanted to surf the net on your laptop, you'd plug your modem cable in to dial up to your Internet Service Provider. So the equivalent with wireless is that you'll wirelessly connect to something (a router) that has the live broadband connection. The wizard only helps to configure this, your laptop is a receiver of signals, not a distributor. If you're not on broadband, and you don't have a router, you can't go wireless to get onto the internet. Routers don't work with dial up. Hope that helps.
Netgear WGR614 54Mbps Router is what I picked up for £45, but there are loads to choose from. This one had an excellent supporting CD and wizard guide.