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I'm trying to use an old linksys router I found as an Acess Point. I'm one room away from the actual router so I wondered if my PC (running on win7) could "supply" the access point with Internet. I need to do this because there is a computer in my room without a wireless card, so I would try to connect it via ethernet to the access point.

Could anyone here tell me what I would have to do or link to a tutorial?

Tsumugi Kotobuki
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    Why not just bridge the wireless and wired connections on the PC, and wire it directly to the wifi-less PC? (of course assuming you didn't get a wifi dongle, they're rediculously cheap if you didn't mind a single band one the size of a tiny USB drive0 – Journeyman Geek Sep 07 '14 at 14:00
  • how would I bridge the wire and wireless connection (I would wire it with an ethernet cable to my wifi-less PC?) – Tsumugi Kotobuki Sep 07 '14 at 14:15
  • posted an answer. Its a wee bit late here so I'm going off memory, so it may be a tiny bit different – Journeyman Geek Sep 07 '14 at 14:18

2 Answers2

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http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/using-internet-connection-sharing#1TC=windows-7

Enabling ICS

To enable ICS, on your host computer:

  1. Open Network Connections by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button, and then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, type adapter, and then, under Network and Sharing Center, click View network connections.

  2. Right-click the connection that you want to share, and then click Properties. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

  3. Click the Sharing tab, and then select the Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection check box.

Notes

The Sharing tab won't be available if you have only one network connection.

You can choose whether to select the Allow other network users to control or disable the shared Internet connection check box.

Optionally, to allow other network users to use services running on your network, click Settings, and then select the services you want to allow.

When you enable ICS, your local area network (LAN) connection gets a new static IP address and configuration, so you'll need to reestablish any TCP/IP connections between your host computer and the other network computers.

To test your network and Internet connection, see if you can share files between computers and make sure each computer can reach a website.

This allows you to share the connection from one network with another network. If the connection from the first PC to the Access point is using ethernet, that's all there is.

If you want to create a new wireless network that's hosted by the PC and provides internet access to a wireless access point, you need to host a wireless network from the command line, see: Tethering on Windows 7?

  1. From admin Command Prompt type: 

    netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=mywifinetwork key=mysecretkey

  2. Enable new virtual Wi-Fi adapter from the Network and Sharing Center (the adapter might be disabled upon creation)

  3. From admin command prompt type:

    netsh wlan start hostednetwork

Depending on your network card, this may or may not work. Also, it's entirely possible that the old router doesn't allow you to properly configure it as an access point - ideally you first test that you can connect to the PC's WiFi from your phone, and can use the internet. Sometimes old routers don't allow decent encryption protocols when used as routers. In that case you may want to replace the linksys firmware with something more capable like DD WRT or Tomato. Be advised this is only for advanced users.

If you don't love tinkering, best buy a 5$ USB WiFi card for the old PC.

Community
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Peter
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  • so, I share the wifi connection I want my access point to use. Then I connect my computer via ethernet to the router (which port?), and now I should be able to access this router and have an internet connection? – Tsumugi Kotobuki Sep 07 '14 at 13:42
  • Sorry. To get a wireless connection between the PC and the access point you'll need this (ignore the first answer , the second one is the useful one): http://superuser.com/questions/251509/tethering-on-windows-7 – Peter Sep 07 '14 at 13:47
  • "via ethernet to the router (which port?)" - most routers expect internet to be plugged into the lowest numbered socket (port 1). – Peter Sep 07 '14 at 14:06
  • but there is a port called "Internet" – Tsumugi Kotobuki Sep 07 '14 at 14:08
  • so the second answer allows me to share the internet my PC recievs with the router? – Tsumugi Kotobuki Sep 07 '14 at 14:11
  • I'm not entirely sure of your setup now. When you say router do you mean the one you use to connect the first PC to the internet, or do you mean the one you want to use as access point? What is connected to what, and which connection is by wire and which connection is wireless? – Peter Sep 07 '14 at 14:56
  • I mean the one I want to use as an access point, and I thought that I could, via ethernet, share the internet of my computer with the access point. So the wifi-less pc could connect with ethernet to the AP. – Tsumugi Kotobuki Sep 07 '14 at 15:19
  • If the connection from the first pc to the access point is via ethernet, you only need the first part of the answer, up to the end of the first quote. The ethernet cable from the first PC then goes to the internet port of the linksys router/access point, which is connected via ethernet to the second PC. – Peter Sep 07 '14 at 18:53
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You're overcomplicating it - IIRC you can just bridge the wired and wireless connections (go to Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network Connections), highlight both, rightclick and pick 'bridge'. Then connect the two systems with an ethernet cable.

Journeyman Geek
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