W98SE..to..W98SE via wireless

[catgate]

I have just has a skrintle through the archives and can not seem to find anyone who has had resounding success with what I am trying to do, which is set up a wireless connection between a laptop and a PC both running W98SE. I have seen recipes for XP to W98SE in various places and in trying to follow them have very successfully screwed up my entire system, to the point of loosing all 'net connection and having to do a total reinstall of OS and net programmes.

Has anyone out there cracked this business?

I am using a PCI wireless card in the PC and a PCMCIA card in the laptop (correction...I am trying to use etc.) and am aiming to set up what is most aptly referred to as an "Ad Hoc" network.

[homecomputeraid]

Catgate,

For the general Windows 98 networking part, you can just repeat the steps for Windows 98 twice. The ad-hoc piece depends on the particular Network Interface Card's (NIC's) you're using. What model NIC's do you have?

I assume the desktop has 2 NIC's, one for the Internet, and one wireless?

Are you using Windows 98 Second Edition on both computers?

On the computer with 2 NIC's, you'll want to set up Internet Connection Sharing (ICS). You must be using Windows 98 Second Edition or newer OS. There's an article about it here.

[catgate]

Thanks for the reply,homecomputeraid.

For the general Windows 98 networking part, you can just repeat the steps for Windows 98 twice. The ad-hoc piece depends on the particular Network Interface Card's (NIC's) you're using. What model NIC's do you have? I assume the desktop has 2 NIC's, one for the Internet, and one wireless?

I only have one NIC in the PC, because my internet connection is on a USB through a BB modem supplied by my ISP. The NIC I am using is a TP-LINK TL-WN550G

Are you using Windows 98 Second Edition on both computers?

Yes

On the Laptop I am using a CardBus CB54G2 (11g) PCMCIA card

Thanks for the link. I shall now go and see how much of it my poor lump of putty will absorb. :unsure:

[homecomputeraid]

You're welcome catgate.

I only have one NIC in the PC, because my internet connection is on a USB through a BB modem supplied by my ISP.

For our purposes, the USB Connection is considered your other NIC. On that PC, you'll be configuring Internet Connection Sharing.

What progress have you made in the past with the ad-hoc wireless part of the network configuration, or should we just start from scratch?

[catgate]

What progress have you made in the past with the ad-hoc wireless part of the network configuration, or should we just start from scratch?

Well, homecomputeraid, as I said above I progressed to the point of screwing everything up and having to reload W98SE and reconfigure my BB set up :rolleyes: .

I had a look at your link but it seemed to be for ethernet more than wireless, although I presume there will be some similarities.

Any help you can offer will be very gratefully received. Starting from scratch may be a good idea.

[homecomputeraid]

Ok. Please, no more re-builds due to network problems! If something goes awry, we'll figure it out. :)

We'll first configure the wireless NIC on the comptuer that gets you to the Internet. Then we'll set up Internet Connection Sharing on that computer, then we'll enable the wireless on the second computer.

The User Guide for the TP-Link Wireless is available here. Click User Guide under More Information on the right.

It looks like Ad-hoc networking is on page 10 of the manual (page 15 if you're looking at the index at the bottom of the screen in Acrobat Reader). Are you able to install the NIC and follow the instructions on that page? I believe under you just select a radio button under Advanced, Network Type, Ad-hoc.

[catgate]

Ok. Please, no more re-builds due to network problems! If something goes awry, we'll figure it out. :)

We'll first configure the wireless NIC on the comptuer that gets you to the Internet. Then we'll set up Internet Connection Sharing on that computer, then we'll enable the wireless on the second computer.

The User Guide for the TP-Link Wireless is available here. Click User Guide under More Information on the right.

It looks like Ad-hoc networking is on page 10 of the manual (page 15 if you're looking at the index at the bottom of the screen in Acrobat Reader). Are you able to install the NIC and follow the instructions on that page? I believe under you just select a radio button under Advanced, Network Type, Ad-hoc.

I started again and followed the instructions for the TL-WN550G from the link you gave (they were the same as those on the CD that came with the NIC). I did not get to the end of the procedure before the damned thing got its knickers in a twist again. The entire shemozzle just hung and the only way out was the reset button.

I am going to have a complete restart with a low level reformat of both the drives and a reinstall of W98SE on my other machine before I try again.

In the words of Capt. Oats, "I may be gone for some time".

[homecomputeraid]

See you when you're all re-built.

[catgate]

See you when you're all re-built.

Well, it has taken a little while, and I am far from being "home and dry" yet, but progress has been made. I have managed to get radio waves to drift from PC to Laptop.

What I have not yet managed, and still seem a long way off, is getting the radio waves to carry any information. I am bedeviled by a confusion of terminology. Just exactly what are:-

Profile name

Network Name (SSID)

Client Name

User Name

In as much as I shall be the user it is obvious that I can not just put ""Bert" in for both machines.

Further more for my purpose I assume that, living 2 miles from the nearest village, "Security" can be set at None.

Another incomprehensible (to me) is "Authentication Type ...... MD5-Challenge".

On both machines in Control panel> Network\Configuration I have got IPX/SPX, NetBEUI, and TCP/IP set along with File Sharing for Microsoft Networks.

Where abouts should I prod and poke next, please?

[homecomputeraid]

SSID is Service Set Identifier. The others depend on context. Do you know how to find out what SSID is set on your Router? The SSID on your router has to match the one set on your wirless laptop or computer.

[catgate]

SSID is Service Set Identifier. The others depend on context. Do you know how to find out what SSID is set on your Router? The SSID on your router has to match the one set on your wirless laptop or computer.

I am not using a router, hc. I have a PCI card with an aerial on it in the PC, and a CardBus CB54G2 (11g) PCMCIA card in the lap top.

I have the SSID assigned to the same name on both machines, and that name is the network name and the workgroup name (for which I have used the name of the house)

It seems as though most of the setup is somewhere near because both machines seem to acknowledge they are connected to the network name and are both reporting adequate signal strength. Additionally both are displaying their C: drives with the 'hand' symbol indicating "shared".

On boot up both machines ask me to sign in with a user name and a password. I have never set any user name for this or any other purpose. I have noticed, however, that Windows seems to conjure up names from somewhere to put into little boxes and from somewhere it has found "pre installed" for the laptop user name and "g" for the PC user name. Where would I go to find and change these?

[homecomputeraid]

Sorry Catgate, I didn't re-read to see that you're doing an ad-hoc network!

In Windows XP, there should be a Users icon in Control Panel where you set user information. There's a button called Users in the Windows 98 Control Panel too if I remember right, but I don't have a 98 machine to look at. I recommend setting up a common username and password on both PC's and logging on using that when you want to access resources between them.

Do you have a common workgroup name set between the two computers?

[catgate]

Sorry Catgate, I didn't re-read to see that you're doing an ad-hoc network!

In Windows XP, there should be a Users icon in Control Panel where you set user information. There's a button called Users in the Windows 98 Control Panel too if I remember right, but I don't have a 98 machine to look at. I recommend setting up a common username and password on both PC's and logging on using that when you want to access resources between them.

Do you have a common workgroup name set between the two computers?

I have the SSID assigned to the same name on both machines, and that name is the network name and the workgroup name (for which I have used the name of the house)

I have never set any user name for this or any other purpose. I have noticed, however, that Windows seems to conjure up names from somewhere to put into little boxes and from somewhere it has found "pre installed" for the laptop user name and "g" for the PC user name. Where would I go to find and change these?

[homecomputeraid]

Ok. Let me know if you're able to set a common username and password on both PC's.