If you have a single wired Internet
connection – say, in a hotel room – you can create an ad-hoc wireless network
with Ubuntu and share the Internet connection among multiple devices. Ubuntu
includes an easy, graphical setup tool.
Unfortunately, there are some
limitations. Some devices may not support ad-hoc wireless networks and Ubuntu
can only create wireless hotspots with weak WEP encryption, not strong WPA
encryption.
Setup
To get started, click the gear icon
on the panel and select System Settings.
Select the Network control panel in
Ubuntu’s System Settings window. You can also set up a wireless hotspot by
clicking the network menu and selecting Edit Network Connections, but that
setup process is more complicated.
If you want to share an Internet
connection wirelessly, you’ll have to connect to it with a wired connection.
You can’t share a Wi-Fi network – when you create a Wi-Fi hotspot, you’ll be
disconnected from your current wireless network.
To create a hotspot, select the
Wireless network option and click the Use as Hotspot button at the bottom of
the window.
You’ll be disconnected from your
existing network. You can disable the hotspot later by clicking the Stop
Hotspot button in this window or by selecting another wireless network from the
network menu on Ubuntu’s panel.
After you click Create Hotspot,
you’ll see an notification pop up that indicates your laptop’s wireless radio
is now being used as an ad-hoc access point. You should be able to connect from
other devices using the default network name – “ubuntu” – and the security key
displayed in the Network window. However, you can also click the Options button
to customize your wireless hotspot.
From the wireless tab, you can set a
custom name for your wireless network using the SSID field. You can also modify
other wireless settings from here. The Connect Automatically check box should
allow you to use the hotspot as your default wireless network – when you start
your computer, Ubuntu will create the hotspot instead of connecting to an
existing wireless network.
From the Wireless Security tab, you
can change your security key and method. Unfortunately, WPA encryption does not
appear to be an option here, so you’ll have to stick with the weaker WEP
encryption.
The “Shared to other computers”
option on the IPv4 Settings tab tells Ubuntu to share your Internet connection
with other computers connected to the hotspot.
Even if you don’t have a wireless
Internet connection available to share, you can network computers together and
communicate between them – for example, to share files.
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