How to connect FP to LAN-Internet on Laptop/Desktop (via USB cable)

Hi there,

I have the following problem: I would like to connect my FP to local Internet on a laptop/desktop (LAN-connection) in area where no WLAN is available, but I didn’t managed to do so.

What I have tried out: Choosing Settinges -> Wireless & Networks -> More… -> USB internet -> Select PC system version (“Windows 7”) -> Next. Then it says: Open network connect on your windows PC, right click the connection that you want to share, and there click properties…

On my Windows7-computer, I opened the network connecting center, but when right-clicking on the LAN-connection nothing happens. I cannot find any way to “allow other network users to connect through this computer’s internet connection”.

So what to do? Thanks for any help!
Tabea

I do not think USB Tethering is possible from your PC to the FP. (I think you can only share your FP’s internet connection to your PC).

There are programs for your Windows computer though, which open up a hotspot and share the LAN internet through the WiFi adapter. These programs often are shareware though and not fully functionable. The easiest would be to buy a WiFi access point, which you connect to your LAN. Then you could even enter the internet with your laptop wirelessly.

This might work if you are owner of the internet LAN-connection. But in case you are in a company, the internet will mostly connected via proxy. Yes, there are apps to set account data for a proxy but nevertheless I didn’t manage to get a connection to the internet. I think, there are further restrictions.
Additionally I managaged to get WLAN-Acces to my laptop (without internet) but after installing proxydroid to solve the proxy-issue, even this won’t work.

If it’s a company I would talk to the administrator anyway.

If you aren’t able to find software for Windows that does this, as a last resort you can still boot up an up-to-date Linux distribution like Fedora 21 from a USB stick as it offers this functionality out of the box (“Wi-Fi Settings → Use as Hotspot…”).
This is of course only suitable if you need internet access once for a specific reason and not all the time.

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Hello,

There is a good program for this: http://www.connectify.me/

It turns your PC into a hotspot. The basic features are free.

I tried connectify once and was not very convinced. The features are very limited. @Tabea You might try it yourself though, as it seems save to use.

OK, I will try that out. Thanks to you all for your great help!

Hello Tabea,

this thread is kind of old already, but a direct solution hasn’t been presented, so I’d like to add a possibility.

Besides the wizard in the Fairphone for establishing an IP connection via USB is a little complicated at use, it works!

Note: I’m on a German Windows here, so the UI elements I’m mentioning may not fit 100 % by their name (translation to English by myself).

  1. In Windows, open the Network Connections window (not the “Network and Sharing Center”) which shows all available connections on your PC (like Ethernet Connection, WiFi, and/or others). A short way to open this window: Open the Windows Start menu and enter “ncpa.cpl”.
  2. On your Fairphone, go through the points of the “USB Internet” wizard and press “Finish”.
    A new network connection appears in the Network Connections window on your PC. (I don’t know the default name of it, because I already renamed it - recommended!)
    At this state, there’s already an IP connection between the Fairphone and the PC.
  3. In the Network Connections of your PC, right-click on the (ethernet) connection that has access to the internet, select “Properties”, and then the “Share” tab. Enable the first option for sharing and select the Fairphone USB connection from the dropdown list.

Done.

Greetings
Mark

2 Likes

or google on
microsoft virtual wifi miniport adapter
it’s the same as conectify for >=Win7 but you have to do all by yourself, what is btw not that much ;).

A post was merged into an existing topic: Problem connecting Fairphone 2 to PC