3G Internet Connection Sharing Over WiFi On Windows XP

I am going to share with you today a step by step procedure on how to share your 3G internet connection over WiFi using the Internet Connection Sharing feature on Windows XP SP2.

Hardware Requirements:

• Laptop or Desktop with WiFi card. Most laptops and netbooks already have WiFi built-in. This PC will act as the host PC that will share its 3G internet connection.
• 3G modem connected on your PC's USB port. For this article, I used Huawei E220 on Sun Broadband Wireless.
• Another laptop, WiFi-enabled desktop, or any other wifi-enabled device such as the iPhone, PSP, or iPod touch. In my previous experiments, my MacBook was able to successfully connect to my honey's ad hoc network.

Now that you have the hardware ready, it's time to get your hands dirty (well, not really. It is as easy as 1-2-3):

1. Enable Internet Connection Sharing. To do that, go to Network Connections and locate your 3G internet connection's dialer. Right click and select properties. From the properties window, select the Advanced tab. Tick the check box for to enable Internet Connection Sharing. Select Wireless Network Connection to enable sharing via WiFi.
2. Create a wireless computer-to-computer network (also known as ad-hoc network). At the taskbar, right click on your the Wireless Network Connection icon. A window opens to let you choose a wireless network. On the left side of the window, click on the "Change advanced settings" link. You will be directed to the Wireless Network Connection Properties window. On this window, click the Wireless Network tab. Click the Add button to create a new wireless network. Make sure you tick the check box at the lower left side of the window to make your new wireless network an ad hoc (computer-to-computer) network. Adding network security protocols are optional but recommended.
3. And that's it! Now go get another PC, Mac, PSP, iPhone, iPod touch, or whatever, and connect to the new ad hoc network you just created. On Windows XP, you'll know you have successfully connected when you see something like this: [screenshot to follow]

There you have it. Everytime you connect to your Smart Bro, Globe Broadband Tattoo (formerly Globe Visibility), or Sun Broadband Wireless, any device that accesses your ad hoc network will have access to the internet as well. Happy Internet Sharing! :)