Connect PCs Wirelessly Without a Router

My Friend and I both have wireless laptops, but we're traveling and nowhere near a wireless router. Can we connect to each other anyway?

Yes you can, using something called an ad-hoc wireless network, a little-known feature specifically designed to connect two PCs to one another wirelessly.

On one of the PCs, open the Network Connections control panel, right-click your wireless connection, and select Properties. Choose the Wireless Networks tab, and click the Add button to display the Wireless Network Properties dialog box as shown in Figure.


Type a name for your ad-hoc network in the "Network name (SSID)" field. From the Network Authentication drop-down list, choose Open, and from the Data encryption list, choose WEP.

Next, remove the checkmark next to the "The key is provided for me automatically" option, and then make up a key to type into both the "Network key" and "Confirm network key" fields. The key can be any combination of numbers and letters from AF; for the sake of simplicity, use a 10-character (64-bit) key.

Finally, place a checkmark next to the "This is a computer-to-computer (ad hoc) network; wireless access points are not used" option at the bottom of the window, and then click OK. The new network should show up in the "Preferred networks" list, along with the word "(Automatic)," signifying that Windows will connect to this network automatically when it is in range.

Now, repeat these steps on the other PC, and then open the "Choose a wireless network" dialog box on both PCs. With any luck, and a few clicks of the "Refresh network list" link, the two PCs should connect and form a private workgroup.