Sharing a wireless broadband connection

Lim Yeh Ern
New Straits Times
06-26-2003
Sharing a wireless broadband connection
Byline: Lim Yeh Ern
Edition: Computimes; 2*
Section: Outlook Resources
Column: Page fault

THE days of free wireless Internet bliss is finally coming to an end. That, of course, is the bad news. The good news is that almost everywhere you go, there's bound to be a wireless hotspot nearby. Judging by the rate wireless broadband is sprouting around Kuala Lumpur, we would soon be as wirelessly-wired as Tokyo.

And how much for all this wireless bliss? RM200 a year is the asking price for the cheapest wireless broadband provider in town, Airzed, and it even comes with a bundled wireless card.
If you think that's grossly expensive, then you might want to consider sharing out an account. A little simple mathematics and trust is required. One person will register the account and the registration fee is divided among two or more people. The person who needs the wireless card might have to fork out a little more.

While sharing an account may seem unacceptable in the eyes of the provider, truth is, how often does one even use it in a month, let alone a year? Many sign up not because they need the wireless connection, but the feeling of being connected.

A little co-ordination is required as most service providers won't allow two simultaneous logins on the network. If two are in the same location and wish to surf at the same time, a simple remedy is to use Windows' built-in Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) and an additional cross-link cable or a home-made cross-link cable adapter, which easily converts a straight-through CAT5 network cable to a cross- link.

This article assumes that both notebook computers are fairly recent units, with built-in network jack and running a version of Windows with ICS enabled. Alternatively, a notebook with a PC Card network adapter works equally the same.

The home-made cross-link cable adapter has a male RJ45 plug at one end and a female RJ45 jack at the other. Sourcing for the female RJ45 jack is easy, just look for used RJ45 wall socket adapters, cross pins 1, 2, 3 and 6 with 3, 6, 1 and 2 respectively.

If sourcing for the female RJ45 jack proves problematic, you could just cross the pins on a regular cable or purchase a cross-over cable.

Once the cross-link cable is plugged in at the back of the RJ45 jack, enable ICS by checking the "Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection" check box on your Wireless Network Connection Properties page under the "Advanced" tab and voila! ICS automatically assigns an internal IP (Internet protocol) address, (in this case it's 192.168.0.124) and you can start surfing the Web with your peers.

What if there's more than one person sharing the connection, you ask? Well, get a hub. If you have two wireless cards plugged in, you could even assign one in ad hoc mode and allow ICS wirelessly.

In fact, if you have enough dough, you could even splurge on a wireless access point and become a "mini" wireless broadband provider. The rest, I'll leave it up to your imagination.

Illustrations/Photos:
Wirelessly wired?: Sharing the broadband connection helps save cost.

(Copyright 2003)