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I wonder if it's possible to turn my normal windows PC to a wireless access point.

I've got a USB Wi-Fi adapter plugged on my PC but I don't have a wireless access point to connect to. What I want to achieve is to connect my phone (mobile) to the Wi-Fi adapter I've got and use the internet from my PC... is that achievable?

Please say yes :)

Thanks

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  • What kind of phone do you have? What model is the wifi adapter? Your question can't be answered without this information. Jul 19, 2010 at 14:10
  • I'm not sure how that is related, but my Wi-Fi adapter is 802.11b/g, my phone is Windows Mobile 6.0 with Wi-Fi 802.11b/g and I can test that using iPhone with Wi-Fi 802.11b/g and an Android with Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n.
    – TheBlueSky
    Jul 20, 2010 at 4:48

3 Answers 3

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Operating in Access Point mode requires a compatible driver and adapter at least, and I have no idea if this is even possible under windows.

You could however, if your phone supports it, operate in Ad-Hoc mode, which does not require an AP. It should be enough to set your WiFi adapter to Ad-Hoc, and enable Internet Connection Sharing for it.

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  1. Bridge your LAN and WIRELESS card.
  2. Connect your wireless card and your phone using adhoc. The bridge created should give the phone access to the same internet on the LAN.
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The first step in the process is called "tethering" (meaning you connect your computer to the Internet via your phone's Internet connection), and some phones and carriers support it. I don't know of a comprehensive list of carriers and devices; you'll have to check with your carrier to see if they provide the service, check your plan to make sure you're allowed to do it (otherwise you'll incur massive data charges), check to make sure your device can do it, and make sure the software is available for your OS (although sometimes you can use either the built-in Windows dial-up utility or connect via Bluetooth, depending on your hardware).

Now, if you can tether your device, it only takes a little more effort to turn your computer into a wireless access point. Follow the steps in these (or similar) articles:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306126

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp_ics/

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    I think there is a misunderstanding here. What I'm trying to do is to connect my phone to the Internet using the Internet connection available on my PC, not connecting my PC to the Internet using the phone.
    – TheBlueSky
    Jul 20, 2010 at 4:52
  • Ah, I'm sorry, I misunderstood. Well, then I suppose that it depends on what kinds of options you have for connecting your phone to your computer. If it's a smartphone that does WiFi, you shouldn't have any trouble at all. You can still follow the articles above about connection sharing, and then just connect your phone to the WiFi network. On the other hand, if you don't have WiFi capabilities with your phone, you MIGHT be able to do it via Bluetooth or something, but I'm not really sure how to help you there...
    – jrc03c
    Jul 20, 2010 at 13:08

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