Figure 1: AdHoc Wireless Network setup

3) Figure 2 shows the Wireless Network Connection properties window after the AdHoc network is connected. Note that your Preferred Networks window might not show any other networks or ones different from what you see in Figure 2. Click OK to close the window.

Figure 2: Wireless Network Connection properties - with AdHoc network

4) Now we need to bridge the wireless and Ethernet connections. Open Network Connections. Hold down the Control key and click on the Wireless Network Connection and Local Area Connection icons that represent the wireless and Ethernet connections to select them. Right click on the selected connections and choose Bridge Connections. Wait for the action to complete. Be patient, it may take a minute or so. There should now be a Network Bridge icon in the Network Connections window as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Network Connections showing Network Bridge

5) Right click on the Network Bridge icon and select Properties. Make sure the Local Area Connection and Wireless Network Connection items in the Network Bridge Properties window are checked as shown in Figure 4 . Click OK to save the settings and close the window. Wait for the action to complete.

Figure 4: Network Bridge Properties

6) Now we need to set up the wireless client so that it can join the bridged AdHoc network that we created above. Since the network is already broadcasting its availability, we can just use the wireless client's utility to join the network. First, make sure your wireless adapter is set to be a DHCP client (Obtain IP address automatically). This will ensure that it picks up the proper IP address settings to connect to your LAN and its shared Internet connection.

7) Assuming the wireless laptop is running WinXP, just right click on the Wireless Network Connection icon in the Network Connections window or System Notification area, and choose View Available Wireless Networks. If you're not running WinXP, use your wireless client's site survey, available networks, etc. feature.

Figure 5: Available Wireless Networks

Figure 5 shows the result for WinXP. Just select the AdHoc network and click Connect. Within a few moments, you should get a pop-up saying you're connected. Congratulations! If your LAN has a shared Internet connection, you should be able to open your browser and surf away! Don't forget to go back and enable WEP to secure your connection!

If things don't work right away, here are a few Troubleshooting tips:

You may need to bring up the Wireless Connection Status window, click the Support tab and Repair the connection if you don't successfully connect. WinXP sometimes doesn't lease an IP address on its first try and doesn't warn you. For OSes that don't have the Repair feature, just force a DHCP release / renew, or simply try rebooting.

Be sure your client is set to AdHoc and not Infrastructure mode

You may need to manually set the SSID and Channel number for your client.