How to use your PC internet connection from another device

Hi guys !

This will be the first post of my IT-related blog. I have always wanted to avoid blogging about IT subjects as this is too close to my real job (I am an IT guy, even if this is a quite vast definition). I would rather blog about travels, restaurants, and so on. But something get me started is a stupid "bug" that windows have and I really wanted to share how I solved it (I found it difficult to find a proper explanation on the internet).

So, here is the scenario:
- you have a PC (which has support for wifi, most have nowadays)
- your PC is connected to the internet with something else than wifi (generally an ethernet cable to an internet box)
- you want to use this internet connection for your newly bought ipad/iphone/android tablet/android phone or simply another PC (your friend visiting you, your girlfriend stopping by, ...).

The solution is quite easy (except for the nasty bug described in part 2). All you need to do is tell your PC to create a WIFI zone and that this wifi zone will have access to your internet access:

1) Activate your wifi connection on your PC (you generally have to go through device manager if it was previously disabled there) and may have a small button to press on your PC. Don't connect to any wifi zone, this step is just to ensure your wifi is ready to use for your PC.

2) Go to your network settings (on windows 7: Start/"Control Panel"/"Network and Internet"/"Network and Sharing Center") and click on "Set up a new connection or network"

4) Go to the bottom of the list and select "Set up a wireless ad hoc (computer-to-computer) network". If this option does not appear, your wifi is probably not activated, go back to 1). Also, don't think too much about "computer-to-computer"; in this case, your phone/tablet/... will be considered as a computer.

5) Click "Next" several times, choose a wifi zone name (does not really matter, just a reference to know what to connect to from your tablet/iphone/...).

6) For the security type, I have had problems with WPA2-Personal and ipad, so I recommend WEP (no security means anyone can use your connection... may be a bit scary...). For the security key, just use something simple to remember for you, time to set up the connection on your ipad/iphone/... Don't bother saving the network it won't appear anyway (beginning of the lovely windows bug here).

7) Click Next and click on "Turn on Internet connection sharing". If this option does not appear, please have a look at my next post on this site, I explain the main reason it can happen and how to solve it.

8) Your Wifi zone should now be created and sharing your internet connection. On your ipad/iphone/computer, connects to your wifi zone and enjoy your internet connection :)