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You are here: MacNN Forums > Enthusiast Zone > Networking > Sharing internet via PB's airport to Windows PC

Sharing internet via PB's airport to Windows PC
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B Gallagher
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: New Zealand
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Mar 1, 2007, 05:00 PM
 
Hello all,

I've just moved into my new flat with one of my friends, and we've got out internet account set up. Unfortunately, we don't have a router (and are cheap students).

Currently, I've got the broadbad connected to my PowerBook, through the ethernet port. Both my laptop (PowerBook) and my friend's laptop (Windows) have got wireless cards on them, so I'm trying to share my internet connection with her over the Airport.

I've got it all set up in the 'Sharing' preferences - "Share your connection from 'Built-in Ethernet' to computers using 'AirPort.'" That's fine. That works - but only if I don't specify a WEP password.

If I don't specify a password, she can connect to the internet wirelessly via my PB fine. Problem is, so can anyone else that's within range.

So, I'll set it up to either have a 5 character password (with a 40-bit WEP key) or a 13 character password (with a 128-bit WEP key). Her PC can find my wireless network no problem, when I click on 'connect' am prompted for a password, which I put in, and then it says 'connecting' for a while, but doesn't actually connect! My network on her PC shows up as 'automatic', and it's remembered the password. But it won't actually connect to the network.

Does anyone have any idea of what I need to do either on her end or my end to fix this? I'm really not too comfortable about sharing out my wireless network with anyone, for obvious reasons....

Thank you!
MBP 15" C2D 2.2GHz 4.0GB 500GB@5400
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ghporter
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Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: San Antonio TX USA
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Mar 1, 2007, 08:57 PM
 
On your Mac, precede the hex key your flatmate uses on the PC with a '$' character-this tells the AirPort card to see the WEP key as hexadecimal, not plain text (the AirPort default). All should be well.

But you SHOULD move up to WPA encryption and a separate wireless router for security and convenience. You can get a decent wireless router here in the States for about $50US, and I think the convenience is worthwhile.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
B Gallagher  (op)
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Mar 3, 2007, 02:23 PM
 
Thank you very much for the reply, GHPorter! Such a simple thing - I'll give it a try and let you know how i get on.
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B Gallagher  (op)
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Mar 8, 2007, 05:58 AM
 
I just got a chance to give it a try, and re-read through your post - I'm trying to set up their computer to connect to my Wireless. Does that change things? I've tried putting in the $ in front of the password on my Mac, but it doesn't seem to like that... :s
MBP 15" C2D 2.2GHz 4.0GB 500GB@5400
iPhone 4 32GB Black
     
milf
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Washington, DC 20009
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Jun 18, 2007, 12:44 PM
 
I'm having the exact same problem. The Windows machine is able to connect to me through wireless w/ no encryption, but as soon as I turn on 40/128-bit encryption, it hangs. I've not yet tried the "$" trick, but as mentioned that doesn't seem to work. I'd be more than appreciative of any further information on this.
Just my $.02 :-)
Ti Powerbook 1Ghz w/ Superdrive ......and lovin' it! :)
     
ghporter
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Location: San Antonio TX USA
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Jun 18, 2007, 03:27 PM
 
milf, first off, if at all possible, dump WEP and use WPA security. WEP is poo-it's not at all secure and can be almost trivially broken. WPA on the other hand is truly secure-and since the passphrase translation is part of the standard, that eliminates any problems that might be from how the different kinds of computer deal with keys and passwords.

Second, can I assume you're working with the TiBook mentioned in your signature? Are you using an AirPort card, or a third party card with that computer?

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
   
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