Wireless Ad Hoc Networking

A continuity from Cheap Poor-mans 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 Rightclick 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. Lets 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, lets 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 Rightclick 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. Lets 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, lets 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!
If the guide above did not work out for you, please please please let me know on
the forum so that I can help to resolve the problem and therefore enabling me to
further improve this article. I will answer your queries within half a day or so
Keywords: Adhoc, Ad Hoc, Wireless Networking, Windows XP, Crossover Ethernet,
Computer-to-computer networking, Direct networking, Easy networking, Mobile Adhoc connection, Wireless networking, WiFi networking, Mum and Dad networking,
Home networking, Cheap networking.