A continuity from Cheap “Poor-man’s” Networking, if both computers have wireless capabilities, then a connection can be setup to connect them through the air. The
downside to this method is that wireless security such as WAP2, WAP, or WEP cannot be enabled as they are not supported under computer-to-computer direct networking. This type of wireless networking is also known as “Adhoc connection” (From wordweb.info, “ad hoc” means “for or concerned with one specific purpose”).
An assumption is made that you have already installed the wireless adapters or cards on the computers and they are working well. For the sake of simplicity, the two computers will be called DAD and MOM respectively.
ON “DAD“
1. Right-click “My Computer”, click “Properties”
2. Click “Computer Name” Tab
3. Click “Change”
4. A window should pop-up. Specify a name for the computer.
5. Click “Workgroup” and specify a name. (We will call the computer DAD and the workgroup HOME)
6. Click OK
7. Click OK in the computer properties windows.
(You may have to restart the computer. If you are prompted to, do so)
Configuring Wireless Adaptor
1. Go to Start > Control Panel > Network Connections > Network Connections Right-click on your wireless adaptor, click “Properties”
2. Click “Configurations”
3. The options available in the configurations will widely vary between wireless adaptors, but the main things that that you want to make sure are:
- The type of connection is set to Adhoc and not Infrastructure
- The security settings are off (It may be called “B/G Protection”, nevertheless, set this to “none” or “off”
- On some occasions, you may come across something that says “SSID” with a textbox corresponding to it. In this entry, you can specify a name for your network. Let’s just call it “Home” for now
4. After altering the configuration settings, click “OK” to save the changes, and click “OK” again in the wireless adaptor window to exit
5. Right-click again on your wireless adaptor, click “Properties”
6. Click the tab “Wireless Network”(The “Wireless Network” tab is not visible on my computer!?)
It simply means that your wireless adaptor is currently being controlled by a third party software, and as such Windows is unable to take control of it. Here are some resolutions:
- Do the equivalent changes in the third-party software. Although the interface will be slightly different, the fundamental is still the same OR
- Disable third-party software, and let Windows regain control. Right-click on the icon of your wireless adaptor in the system tray (where your computer digital clock is located), click “Use Windows Zero Configuration”. In addition, just to make sure that Windows has really activated its control, go to Start > Run > type in “services.msc” (without quotation marks) and press “Enter” In the new Window, scroll down until you can see the entry “Windows Zero Configuration”. Double-click on it and make sure “Startup type” is set to “Automatic”.
7. Click “Add” under “Preferred Network”
8. In the new window, type in the same SSID key that you may have specified in step 3. Otherwise, let’s call it “Home” for now. Under “Network Authentication”, select the option “Open” in the dropdown menu. Having done that, select “Disabled” under “Data encryption”. Lastly, place a tick for the option “This is a computer-to-computer (ad hoc) network, wireless access points are not used”. The end result should look something like this. Click “OK” to save.
9. Click “OK” to exit the wireless adaptor window
Configuring IP
1. Go to Start > Control Panel > Network Connections > Network Connections
2. Right-click on your wireless adaptor and click “Properties”
3. Under the heading “This connection uses the following items”, click “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
4. Click “Properties”
5. A new window should pop up, click “Alternate Configuration”
6. Click “User configured” radio button
7. Here, you can specify the address. For computer DAD, specify the IP as 192.168.0.2, subnet mask as 255.255.255.0, Default gateway as 192.168.0.1. Under “Preferred DNS Server”, enter the value “208.67.222.222″. As for “Alternate DNS Server”, enter the value “208.67.220.220″. These values are sourced from OpenDNS, which will enable the computer to understand the numerical address details of a website
8. Click “OK”
9. Click “OK” under the LAN connection properties.
10. You are done for computer DAD
ON “MOM“
1. Right-click “My Computer”, click “Properties”
2. Click “Computer Name” Tab
3. Click “Change”
4. A window should pop-up. Specify a name for the computer.
5. Click “Workgroup” and specify a name. (We will call the computer MOM and the workgroup HOME)
6. Click OK
7. Click OK in the computer properties windows.
(You may have to restart the computer. If you are prompted to, do so)
Configuring Wireless Adaptor
1. Go to Start > Control Panel > Network Connections > Network Connections Right-click on your wireless adaptor, click “Properties”
2. Click “Configurations”
3. The options available in the configurations will widely vary between wireless adaptors, but the main things that that you want to make sure are:
- The type of connection is set to Adhoc and not Infrastructure
- The security settings are off (It may be called “B/G Protection”, nevertheless, set this to “none” or “off”
- On some occasions, you may come across something that says “SSID” with a textbox corresponding to it. In this entry, you can specify a name for your network. Let’s just call it “Home” for now
4. After altering the configuration settings, click “OK” to save the changes, and click “OK” again in the wireless adaptor window to exit
5. Right-click again on your wireless adaptor, click “Properties”
6. Click the tab “Wireless Network”(The “Wireless Network” tab is not visible on my computer!?)
It simply means that your wireless adaptor is currently being controlled by a third party software, and as such Windows is unable to take control of it. Here are some resolutions:
- Do the equivalent changes in the third-party software. Although the interface will be slightly different, the fundamental is still the same OR
- Disable third-party software, and let Windows regain control. Right-click on the icon of your wireless adaptor in the system tray (where your computer digital clock is located), click “Use Windows Zero Configuration”. In addition, just to make sure that Windows has really activated its control, go to Start > Run > type in “services.msc” (without quotation marks) and press “Enter” In the new Window, scroll down until you can see the entry “Windows Zero Configuration”. Double-click on it and make sure “Startup type” is set to “Automatic”.
7. Click “Add” under “Preferred Network”
8. In the new window, type in the same SSID key that you may have specified in step 3. Otherwise, let’s call it “Home” for now. Under “Network Authentication”, select the option “Open” in the dropdown menu. Having done that, select “Disabled” under “Data encryption”. Lastly, place a tick for the option “This is a computer-to-computer (ad hoc) network, wireless access points are not used”. The end result should look something like this. Click “OK” to save.
9. Click “OK” to exit the wireless adaptor window
Configuring IP
1. Go to Start > Control Panel > Network Connections > Network Connections
2. Right-click on your wireless adaptor and click “Properties”
3. Under the heading “This connection uses the following items”, click “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
4. Click “Properties”
5. A new window should pop up, click “Alternate Configuration”
6. Click “User configured” radio button
7. Here, you can specify the address. For computer MOM, specify the IP as 192.168.0.1, subnet mask as 255.255.255.0, Default gateway as 192.168.0.2. Under “Preferred DNS Server”, enter the value “208.67.222.222″. As for “Alternate DNS Server”, enter the value “208.67.220.220″. These values are sourced from OpenDNS, which will enable the computer to understand the numerical address details of a website
8. Click “OK”
9. Click “OK” under the LAN connection properties.
10. You are done for computer MOM
Connecting the computers together
1. On either DAD or MOM, right-click the wireless adaptor icon displayed in the system tray (circled blue)
2. Click “View Available Wireless Network”
3. Double-click on the wireless computer-to-computer network “HOME” in the screen displayed
4. After both computers have acquired an IP address, you are done!
Internet Connection Sharing
1. Go to Start > Control Panel > Network Connections > Network Connections
2. Right-click on your LAN connection and click “Properties”
3. A new window should pop up, click the “Sharing” tab
4. Tick the checkbox that lies next to the statement “Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection”
5. Select the crossover network in the network selections (this option may or may not appear on your computer)
6. Click “OK”Checking IP configuration
1. Go to Start > Control Panel > Network Connections > Network Connections
2. Right-click on your wireless adaptor and click “Properties”
3. Under the heading “This connection uses the following items”, click “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
4. Click “Properties”
5. A new window should pop up, click the radio button ” Obtain an IP address automatically”
6. Click “OK” to save
Printer Sharing
1. Go to Start > Printers and Faxes
2. Right-click on the desired printer, click “Sharing…”
3. Click the radio button “Share this printer” and specify a name in the textbox
4. Click “OK” to save
Keywords: Adhoc, Ad Hoc, Wireless Networking, Windows XP, Crossover Ethernet, Computer-to-computer networking, Direct networking, Easy networking, Mobile Ad-hoc connection, Wireless networking, WiFi networking, Mum and Dad networking, Home networking, Cheap networking.
Hey there, please post all comments here
i have been able to connect the two laptops by wireless adhoc network. But how do i transfer the data now?
Quite simply, you need to share some folders first before transferring data from one computer to another.
To do so, right-click on a folder on one of the computers, click “Properties”. Click the “Sharing” tab in the new window and click “Share this folder”. When this has been done correctly, the shared folder would be visible on the other computer.
hi, i currently have 2 laptops communicating via wireless with automatic IP addresses, and they share files perfectly and sometimes when i need, they share internet too. however, i now have another laptop which i have tried to link to the network, it says it’s connected, but i am unable to view the files it is sharing and it does not show up in the workgroup computers. any ideas?
many thanks
mark
Hi there Mark….what operating system are the 3 laptops running?
If the third laptop does not show in Network and also runs Vista, make sure than in the network and sharing centre file sharing and network discovery are enabled.
Also disable any firewalls that may be blocking the connection.
Re-enable and re-configure once you find the problem.
Hello
I have Vista 64bit and a Notebook with XP. The Connection between the two Computers are OK and the public files are visible, but only the Internetconnection don’t want to go.
Tanks for Help
Greez Bloody
What’s your Internet connection? Dial-up or Broadband?
Broadband
Have you checked the the shared connection is assigned to the ad hoc WiFi network rather than anything else?
To do so, go to the Internet host computer, right-click on the wireless adaptor, click Properties. Under the tab “Sharing”, check for yourself on the sharing configuration.
Aloha my friend
Now I’ve got it!
And to made the network a little bit safety, i’ve also made a WEP Key and it works very fine 
To Share the internet connection on Windows Vista, you must made the Standart gateway on the IP of your Hostcomputer in the Lan- Network. Then you can share it in the tab Sharing and thats the little thiny trick
Greez from Switzerland
a Little explain to my upper Post.
My Computer has the IP 192.168.1.36 in the Lan and in the Ad hoc Network it has 192.168.0.1 / My Laptop is only in Ad hoc Network and has the IP 192.168.0.2
So i only changed the Standart Gateway IP from 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.1.36 also on my Computer i changed the Standart Gateway from 192.168.0.2 to 192.168.1.36
Now it works great and fast.
The rest of the settings i’ve made how its explain in the manual on this page.
Have fun guys
Interesting post on all angle
The above manual was originally made for computers running Windows XP. I will update it when time permits.
Thanks for the wonderful post
This works with XP-to-XP, but not XP-to-Vista. Also it seems I can’t be on Ad Hoc and internet at the same time. What i’d like to do is share the big HD and printer on the desktop with the laptop.
Woodrat
Indeed, the guide is written for XP-to-XP only. Windows Vista provides a more user-friendly interface to set up an ad hoc network.
What error message did you get when you try to establish an ad hoc and an Internet connection concurrently?
I just tried this with my XP laptop using Windows configuration and my internet-connected XP64 desktop using 3rd-party software. Both computers can see the network, but not each other. They won’t ping each other, and DHCP (using tftpd32) doesn’t work. When I type in the other’s share name, the desktop reports “No network provider accepted the given path” and the laptop says “the network path was not found.” A lot of possible culprits there, but maybe you could narrow it down?
Try disabling the firewall first?
hey cud u plz help me out with implementing a mobile adhoc network……..
Hi, what sort of help do you need?
Jamus
Hey, do you know what the difference between ad hoc and mesh networks is?
In mesh networks nodes work as routers and also in ad hoc. Is ad hoc a subset of mesh networks?
I have just brought up an adhoc network using Vista with a USB Verizon modem and a USB Wifi adaptor on a workstation, to turn it into the network server. It has a USB printer plugged in and all files and printer settings set to share.
It has two Dell laptops and two HP laptops accessing it using WEP set at “share” mode. The network with 5 cells uses the workstation set @ 192.168.0.1 for wireless network and gateway. It uses public DNS servers. All laptop cells are using static 192.168.0.X addresses. The network is bleeding coverage over the neighbors property lines but is secured from access.
I am using both Vista and XP pro workstations in the network.
Hey Fereshteh, have you tried googling up? I’m not familiar with the term “mesh network”, sorry.
Hey jack, what seems to be the problem? Apologies for the late reply
Hi Jamus. I found out the difference. ad hoc is usually used for mobile and wireless networks. Therefore energy and mobility are two critical factors. But Mesh network is used for non-mobile regular network and usually is connected to AC power. However their topology looks like.
btw, thank you very much for your helpful post and quick responses.
halo ..
i need your help in establishing good wifi network in our campus…
current secerio….. total area= 4 blocks having 36 rooms in every block..
total access points = 18
ssid = comman ,,, channel used =1, 6 , 11 and no adjacent channels ,,,,, no security
…………..now problems………….
1. access points reset automatically to factory default…. linksys wirless-g WAP54G
2. IMPROPER SPEED EVEN GOOD CONNECTIVITY ON MANY LOCATIONS..PING REQUEST RTO
EVEN GOOD LINK.
3. TELL ME WHAT I DO TO MAKE IT VERY GOOD …
THANK U
What I have described in this article is how to establish a direct wireless connection between two computers.
What you have requested is beyond my capability. I am not even studying computer science!
hi sir
i have a problem
In Ad Hoc network during the link break,
Is this is possible that data send(for AODVABR routing protocol) through alternative path from intermediate node and the intermediate node parallely start the new route discovery for searching shortest path?
Sorry, but that’s entirely out of my field.
Jamus
hey Jamus thanks for posting this up.I have successfully established an adhoc between my desktop Xp prof and vista laptop.My desktop is connected to broadband via adsl modem.However im unable to share the broadband thru adhoc. My broadband works by just plugin in the modem ethernet cable with ip and dns set to automatic.So theres no internet connection as such and im unable to share ICS.If i try and do the ics for LAN it messes up the automatic setting for my broadband.Any help is greatly appreciated..Thanks in advance..
Hey Dave
Ah, herein lies the problem. You have to specify the adhoc IP addresses under Alternate Settings.
With regards to the situation, what happens is whenever you enable ICS, the IP addresses automatically reset to “Automatic Configuration”. Re-specify the alternate IP addresses.
I hope I manage to make myself clear
I want my client to be able to use the Internet Connection on the host. Will having a Static IP on the host prevent me from setting up an Ad-hoc Network? Thanks.
Yes, a static IP will prevent you from doing so as the computer can sometimes interpret it as static IP for the Internet.
Hence my suggestion for Alternate Configuration. Somehow the computers seem to know that as the LAN IP addresses.
Hi Jamus,
Thanks for your tutorial. I have configured my Dell Laptop to share 3G connection over wifi and connect another Laptop. I’d like to know if it’s possible to share internet trough multiple interfaces, for example: share PPP internet connection trough Ethernet adapter and Wireless adapter at the same time (both interfaces built in the same PC).
Best regards and happy new year!
Boy, did you have this figured out. I been trying to set up a network for about a month with no luck until I read this. Way to go, thankyou. Now how about more computer on a Ad Hoc network?
I going to keep updates of your work because you know what you are doing.. Thank for the help. Dave…
Alexander:
Nope, the Internet connection cannot be shared through more than one adaptor. If you check out the “Internet Connection Sharing” window, you would have realised that you can only select one of the adaptors.
White Knight: Technically it is not possible to do so, but I have done it in the past and it is possible (oddly enough).
Configure ad hoc mode on the third computer, assign the IP address 192.168.0.3 to it, and link it up to the existing netwok.
Hello
I want the complete information about how to develop and implement the wireless ad hoc Network.
Hi there
Have you tried the tutorial yet?
hi there.
the information provided above is great, but i am lill bit confused about how far the computers in the ad hoc network can be.what if they are couple of miles away from each other.
could you plz suggest me what type of wireless networking should i use for two different computer networks which are miles away from each other.
appreciate your help, thanks in advance.
Are we talking about rural settings?
Actually i need to connect two stores inventory,their updates so that whatever be the changes made at one store should show similar at the other store and the stores are located at diff locations approx.15 miles away from each other.
Thanks Jamus
Appreciate ur reply
Have you considered wired Internet via Virtual Private Networking (if you are paranoid about the security)?
The problem with wireless ad hoc networking is that security features such as WPA2 cannot be configured, and therefore this poses a threat towards the privacy of any data transferred between the two computers.
[Edit] Connectify has integrated security features into it (works only for Windows 7): http://www.connectify.me/
abrevation for ad hoc network? and how to estimate the bandwith?
Abbreviation? There is no abbreviation for the term “ad hoc network”.
Bandwidth estimation can be done using the tool Tautology Bandwidth Meter (google up for link)
Jamus,
Am trying to set up an ad-hoc network between a laptop (XP-Pro SP3) and a wireless device made by National Instruments (a data acquistion device that comms via ethernet AND wireless).
I have a software enviroment that allows me to “program” the device with specific attributes (check out this website for a better understanding http://decibel.ni.com/content/docs/DOC-5916)
What I have trouble comprehending is why specific attributes are used. DHCP…I know what it stands for, but what does it MEAN…or Link-Local, IP address, Subnet Mask…and so on.
Is there a document or primer that is short/sweet that can help those of us that know enough to be dangerous…that can educate me on the nuances of Peer to Peer/Ad-Hoc communcation…
Should the IP addresses be different, subnet mask should be the same…what is special about the range 192.168……what is the Gateway or DNS Server when it is not used in an AD Hoc??
HELP!!
Thanks, Brad
Hi,
And thank you for the great tut. But i think something in the internet connection sharing section isn’t clear (well to me anyway:). So the questions: Do the automatic obtaining of the ip address is set on the machine without the internet connection?; Do the dns servers for the machine without internet connection stay the same?; and Do the default gateway on the machine with internet connection stays the same? Thank you in advance.
Cheers,
Veli
Hi Veli. Apologies for the late reply.
For the computer without an Internet connection:
“Automatic obtaining of the IP address” – which window pop up are you referring to?
Primary DNS address: 208.67.222.222
Secondary DNS address: 208.67.220.220
Default gateway would be the IP address of the computer which has an Internet connection
Hope this has helped
Brad: The link made in your post is not working (404)
I clarify a few terms that you have asked in the post:
DHCP: In the perfect world where the computers are connnected to a proper router etc., DHCP takes care of the job of assigning IP addresses to each of the computers. However, we are connecting two computers directly to each other in an ad hoc network, therefore there isn’t a DHCP available (well, Windows does have such a feature integrated into it, but we shall not go into details for the sake of simplicity), hence the need to individually specify the IP addresses on each of the computers.
IP Address: A numeric address which identifies each and every of your computers connected to a network.
DNS Server: Changes a domain name (e.g. http://www.google.com) into the numeric counterpart (74.125.155.103). Computers understand numbers but not alphabets, hence when you type in google.com, DNS server has a role in changing the alphabets into the corresponding numbers so that the computer knows where to retrieve the website content. Try typing in 74.125.155.103 into the address bar and see what comes up
Thanks for the reply. Well I managed to build an ad-hoc connection suitable for my needs anyway. So thanks again.
Cheers,
Veli
uh, hello? what if you don’t use windows? let’s step up to the plate.