Sharing Mobile Broadband Connection

For Step By Step Try This

I actually explained this on Yahoo Answers! a little while back. The guy's response was "Oh my god, THANK YOU. Worked perfectly." Something about that gave me a hint that others might need this kind of info. So, I revamped it to a bit.

Here's what you'll need:
1. A laptop
2. A broadband card (or internal mobile broadband radio)
3. A little bit of time

The steps are different though depending on if you're using Vista or XP. If you're using a Mac, you're outside my territory. Grab a cup of mocha. You just might need it. Here we go.

Here's the Vista steps:
1. Start Button
2. Control Panel
3. (search for Network) click on Network and Sharing Center
4. Under tasks, click on Manage Network Connections (not to be confused with manage wireless networks)
5. Locate your broadband adapter's connection and right click it
6. Click Properties
7. Click on the Sharing Tab
8. Check the box "Allow other users to connect through this computer's connection"
9. There should be a drop down box that lets you select the Wireless Connection as the way you wish to share. Click ok twice (until boxes are gone)
*phew...breathe if you've come this far. Might not take long but it feels that way typing this.
10. Return to the Network and Sharing Center.
11. In the left hand column under Tasks, select "Set up a connection or network"
12. Click Setup a Wireless Ad Hoc (Computer to Computer) network
13. Give it a name
14. Select form of encryption. Can be anything but for sake of simplicity let's say it's WEP. If you choose it to be so, it must be a 5 character password or 13 characters. Make one up.
15. Back to Network and Sharing Center. Click on "Connect to a network". You should see the network you created. If it says waiting on users to connect...then your friend's laptop should be able to see it. Put in the password and hop on.
If it can't see it, then double click the ad hoc network on your computer to "connect to it" (activating it) then see if she can see it. Also, if it's not working, you may need to disconnect the broadband adapter and reconnect it.

The steps for Windows XP are fundamentally similar.

I've found this to be really helpful if I have a friend come over. I usually have one setup and share the password with them. For them, it's just like looking for a WiFi network. What's great about it is that it's actually a bit safer than WiFi because the area that your laptop can broadcast is much smaller (about the size of a living room aka 30 feet). In other words, snoopers from the street or next door can't sniff out your connection.