Using a Clear USB dongle? How to use ICS to use a regular wireless router

[Clearman]

I see this subject is a little off topic, so I hope the moderator will let this one through since this can be very handy for users of Clear's USB devises.

I had been trying to figure out how to have wireless internet for other devises in my house given that I am just using the USB dongle system from Clear. ( with antennas from RFWel, thank-you )

One reliable software based product ( a free product) is Wlan Controller. Find here: http://wlancontroller.com/ It's a pretty easy to use product. You set up a few basic things and it then automatically sets your windows 7 computer so that you then have a virtual router with secure wireless available to your other devises coming from your laptop that is connected to Clear via the USB devise.

Similarly, I just found out today that it is possible to do something similar and end up using any wireless router for any other computer or devise you may have.

First, I'll put a link here to a youtube vid that shows this process . It's a well done video that shows the steps as he does them on his computer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifDyMaWC0Mk

What he sets up, using Internet Connection Sharing, is a way to share his wireless by linking his wireless connection ( or card) to his ethernet card using the Internet connection sharing in Windows 7. It appears to be easier in Windows 7 but I understand this is also possible in earlier windows versions. He then uses a crossover ethernet cable to connect this primary internet connected computer to another laptop.

I thought, hey, if this can be done by attaching computer to computer, maybe it can work to attach the ethernet on my laptop to the ethernet in- port on my wireless router.

Guess what, it worked. I now have my regular, unmodified wireless router delivering wireless internet to the rest of my house- no longer stuck with just my USB-Clear internet linked laptop.

And in this set up, I just used a regular ethernet cable- not crossover.

So,

Use that Youtube vid to learn how to link the Clear network adapter ( virtually inside your computer) to your Ethernet port, connect a regular ethernet cable to your laptop ethernet port and your in-port on your wireless router and turn everything on. There is no need to do anything particularly complex and it's free if you already have a router.

One down side is that ,in my case, McAfee firewall had to be disabled in my primary internet connected laptop. I'll have to install more ICS friendly firewall software to deal with that problem. The same happens with the Wlan Controller software.

Hope this helps someone. It's working great for me.

Neil

[ClearSpot]

Clear iSpot to Cisco Router connection

Clearman, Thankyou for your suggestion. I did try out what you suggested on XP. oNLY Difference is I had a Clear Wireless Router(iSpot). Here what I did -
1. My Cisco Wireless Routers 'Internet' port is connected to my primary laptops ethernet port using an Ethernet Cable.
2. My Clear ispot is connected to my primary laptop (and runs the internet).
3. I've added ICS from my Clear ispot to my Cisco Wireless Router.

I still am not able to access the internet through my router , what am I doing wrong?. Thanks!.

[Clearman]

Clearman, Thankyou for your suggestion. I did try out what you suggested on XP. oNLY Difference is I had a Clear Wireless Router(iSpot). Here what I did -
1. My Cisco Wireless Routers 'Internet' port is connected to my primary laptops ethernet port using an Ethernet Cable.
2. My Clear ispot is connected to my primary laptop (and runs the internet).
3. I've added ICS from my Clear ispot to my Cisco Wireless Router.

I still am not able to access the internet through my router , what am I doing wrong?. Thanks!.

Well, sorry to hear it's not working for you.

Not being an expert at this, I'll at least try to point out a couple differences I see between what I did and what you set up.

I'm not fully aware of the differences in ICS, but from what I read, it works best and sometimes will only work when running a newer computer with Windows 7. As I recall, they did have ICS for the earlier windows versions, but they have done something that makes it more functional with 7.

Also, you hopefully took a look at that youtube vid, ( in it he is using Windows 7 BTW ) I think the menu systems are different in 7 compared to XP. But what works is to make sure that the internet source adapter is linked ( internally using ICS ) to your Ethernet port. That's the way I have it.

Anyway, my guess is probably if you were running Windows 7 on a newer computer, this would be working for you .

BTW- I believe part of the thing is there is something on the hardware end of this that needs to be there also. Sorry I'm not able to articulate that, but just remember that there may be more to it than having ICS on a computer. In my case, i have a pretty new laptop, so that wasn't a problem.

I now have set up a shortcut on my desktop that opens up the menu to turn this on and off . Unfortunately it has to be turned off and then back on after booting up the computer since it doesn't work otherwise. Or simply deactivated before turning off the computer and then activated after booting up.

But the path to that in windows 7 is : Control Panel , Network and Internet, Network and Sharing Center, then click Change Adapter Settings on the left . A window opens that has all the network adapters in it. So, in that window is my Ethernet port and the Clear Wimax port ( among other things like the wireless adapter and bluetooth adapter.) In my case that's called local Area Connection - Wimax Adapter.

So, my shortcut above just shortcuts to this wimax adapter in that menu. Then to activate or deactivate it I just open the shortcut, then click properties at the bottom, then open the sharing tab , then check or uncheck ( depending on whether you are turning it on or off) the " allow other network users to connect through this computer's internet connection" Then tell it what to connect to. In my case my ethernet adapter.

That's all I do every day to get it to work and have internet going from my laptop into my router. It's very simple.

Neil