Network Config for University

[MartiniDelini]

Sup

 

So next year I will go to university and stay in a new apartment room every year. I own a very capable desktop gaming pc and I will buy a cheap gaming laptop for on the go and class usage. 

 

The thing is that I want to be able to switch to my more powerful desktop when I am in my room to work on projects etc. The room I'll stay in won't have a good internet connection though... It only comes with a slow-ish WiFi connection with no ethernet support. My PC doesn't have a wireless card. I want a network setup which allows fast communication between my desktop and laptop and give my desktop internet connection. 

 

Any recommendations for a simple, reliable and fast network that will suit my needs?

[lukesterboy]

Are you talking about using your laptop as a tether to give your Desktop PC internet connection?

[ProjectBox153]

Are you wanting to use your laptop's wireless connection for your desktop?

[lieder1987]

wouldnt it just be easier to buy a cheap USB wifi card?

[dmaes]

share laptop's internet:

connect laptop to desktop with cable.

On laptop: bridge wifi to ethernet

 

direct desktop - wifi connection:

buy USB or PCIe wifi card

connect laptop to desktop with cable for fast connection between those (you will have to manually set ip's, Linus does this in one of his video's)

 

I suppose you run windows on both, so I can't give you exact instructions.

If you run Linux on at least one, It would be easier, and I can give you step by step instructions

[kerradeph]

The easiest method would be to get a wifi card for your computer. 

Bridging can be problematic, I tried to do that for a while and it's annoying to deal with. 

Something that's more expensive but does what you're looking to do is get an access point (make sure it's capable of doing this before buying) that you can put into wireless bridge mode, Many access points will have a few ports out allowing you to plug in your computer and your laptop to make networking them fairly easy. If you have the budget for it, get a Ubiquiti AC access point and a decent gigabit switch. This is a little more setup but it's stable and allows for a full wired connection between your laptop and desktop.

[paddy-stone]

I would go with a cheap-ish router to act as an AP for the dorm's wifi, and then you'll also have your gigabit connection from laptop to PC etc. Unless the dorm's have some way of blocking an AP?

[luigi90210]

2 hours ago, paddy-stone said:

I would go with a cheap-ish router to act as an AP for the dorm's wifi, and then you'll also have your gigabit connection from laptop to PC etc. Unless the dorm's have some way of blocking an AP?

contact your university IT team and see if they can setup something that will allow you to use your own router for your LAN
i have heard of other universities doing that so i dont see why your university would be any different

[MartiniDelini]

7 hours ago, 101dmrs said:

share laptop's internet:

connect laptop to desktop with cable.

On laptop: bridge wifi to ethernet

 

direct desktop - wifi connection:

buy USB or PCIe wifi card

connect laptop to desktop with cable for fast connection between those (you will have to manually set ip's, Linus does this in one of his video's)

 

I suppose you run windows on both, so I can't give you exact instructions.

If you run Linux on at least one, It would be easier, and I can give you step by step instructions

Yeah I initially had the same idea with a cable directly between the two. I think I also might have one of those usb wifi receivers someware in a drawer. But I have bad experience with it in the past.

I've heard somewhere that if you connect 2 pcs with a direct cable the rj45's connections should be mirrored and not standard. I have a lan hub to solve this (rumored) issue, but is this really neccesary?

[luigi90210]

5 hours ago, MartiniDelini said:

Yeah I initially had the same idea with a cable directly between the two. I think I also might have one of those usb wifi receivers someware in a drawer. But I have bad experience with it in the past.

I've heard somewhere that if you connect 2 pcs with a direct cable the rj45's connections should be mirrored and not standard. I have a lan hub to solve this (rumored) issue, but is this really neccesary?

i have connected 2 computers before with an ethernet cable without issue, unless something has changed in the last 6 years i dont see why it would be now

[dmaes]

On 11/6/2017 at 10:34 PM, MartiniDelini said:

Yeah I initially had the same idea with a cable directly between the two. I think I also might have one of those usb wifi receivers someware in a drawer. But I have bad experience with it in the past.

I've heard somewhere that if you connect 2 pcs with a direct cable the rj45's connections should be mirrored and not standard. I have a lan hub to solve this (rumored) issue, but is this really neccesary?

I think you are talking about crossover cables, those were needed for old cables/connections. If you have a gigabit port/cable, you can just use a normal cable