adhoc laptop-desktop wireless internet sharing

I'm trying to get my laptop online but I can't get it to work. I tried google and a lot of howto's but can't get it working.
The wirelessnetwork itself seems to work fine (both sides report a good connection) but I can't share the internet or enter shares on both. The desktop has a usb dsl modem.

The adhoc wireless network was configured like SMC told me to:

The desktop pc:

IP: 192.168.2.30
subnet: 255.255.255.0
Gateway:

The Laptop:

IP 192.168.2.31
subnet: 255.255.255.0
Gateway

The SMC software:
SSID was created
Wireless mode: Adhoc
WEP: disabled
Transmit: auto

After this I have a working connection but no internet on the laptop. Using the network wizard and setting up a home network on both doesn't help either.
Are these settings correct and why can't I share the internet? In some howto's I read that I have to change some settings in the network section of the configuration screen. Right clicking on the wireless adapter on the desktop should give me 3 tabs one of which should be 'wireless' I only have 2 tabs so perhaps here's my problem.
Any clues?

Regards

 

If you are using ICS (the Microsoft Internet Connection Sharing thing) then you need to make a couple of changes to have the laptop properly share the internet connection via the desktop.

- Desktop IP address will need to be 192.168.0.1 (maybe others will work but this is sort of the standard one, required by Win9X and preferred by 2K/XP). It's gateway address should remain blank as it is now.

- Laptop IP can be anything from 192.168.0.2 - 192.168.0.254 but it will have to use the desktop (ICS host) IP address as it's gateway address.

If you are using something other than ICS to try to share the cable modem, say what.

For the file sharing between your PCs, we need to know what operating system(s) you are using and if XP, if it's the home or the pro version.

 

Thanx for helping me out. I'll try these settings this evening after work and let you know what happend.
I completely forgot to name my OS, sorry for that. Both the laptop and desktop use XP pro (Sp1 installed, SP2 hasn't come out in my language yet)

I'll configure your mentioned settings manually and leave the SMC software for what it is. Perphaps using these settings the file sharing problem will go away aswell (well, I can hope anyway )

Should the wireless card on the desktop be brigde with the adsl modem btw?

Regards

 

weird, out of clues I tried reinstalling the SMC software and used your settings.....now I can browse from the laptop in the shares on the desktop. Other way around won't work. INternet is still not working though...It seems more like a software problem every minute...

 

We should at least be able to get your internal network working both ways. Lets see about getting a fresh start (and no, you probably don't want a bridge in the mix here).

One not-so-cheerful note though. USB networking is great when it works but there are times when it just won't and I've had almost no success figuring out a fix in those situations. If you have any option to go with an ethernet connection from modem to desktop, your chances of success are better.

For now, the OS information did help and you should not need SP2 to get this going. But also please say specifically what wireless equipment (including the 802.11 version) you are using and if you have enabled WEP or similar.

 

Thanx, I'll start from the beginning:

The desktop is using a SMC EZ Connect g SMC2802W PCI card which is based on the IEEE 802.11g standard. The laptop is using a SMC EZ Connect g SMC2835W.
The documentation on both cards was limited. I guess SMC prefers selling routers instead of explaining adhoc setups for those with only two pc's (the desktop is about always on, so no need for a router). SMC support provided me with some settings for adhoc after calling them. The told me to use the following settings:

Desktop:

IP address 192.168.2.30
subnet mask 255.255.255.0
Gateway:

Laptop:

IP address 192.168.2.31
subnet mask 255.255.255.0
Gateway:

I had to 'fill in a SSID', I wasn't sure what to use so just filled it with my cats name (all for security right ) luna. The wireless mode had to be changed to adhoc and a channel had to be selected (I picked 1) WEP encription had to be set to disabled (isn't that possible in adhoc mode?) Transmit rate: auto.

I did the same on the laptop and SMC was right: a nice and stable connection between the cards came up. From there I tried to get the network going with all the problems mentioned above. I changed to your settings and at first it didn't make a difference. Strangely reinstalling the cards software on both pc's gave me access to the desktop from the laptop (using the SMC settings aswell as with your settings) I'll stick with your settings from now on, btw. I guess reinstalling just reset some settings since the software is nothing more then some network monitoring app and drivers for the card. Setting the IP manually should do the trick right?

The usb adsl modem is on it's way out by the way. I've switched provider and asked for a normal modem and a network card. USB just doesn't seem right for a modem. It will be a few months before I get the new connection so until then it's usb trouble. But as you said: at least the local network should work. It seems that I'm halfway there and hope you can help me out with the final steps.

Regards

 

If you are sharing internet connection from the desktop PC then the laptop's PC needs to be:

IP address 192.168.2.31
subnet mask 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 192.168.2.30

However, I am note sure whether ICS will require you to use a 192.168.0.0 subnet - in which case you'll need:

Desktop:

IP address 192.168.0.30
subnet mask 255.255.255.0
Gateway:

Laptop:

IP address 192.168.0.31
subnet mask 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 192.168.0.30