Michael Harper’s Tech & Art Blog

Ever wanted to share your Verizon, AT&T or Sprint mobile boradband card? It is possible, though not practical, to share your broadband with others through a wired or wireless medium.There are many service provider’s who offer these mobile broadband solutions for your laptop, mobile device or even desktop. There are a few things to keep in mind before beginning this project:

1. Doing this may be a violation of your EULA (end-user license agreement), so please check with your service provider before continuing.
2. Most ISPs (Internet Service Providers) have monthly bandwidth caps on their mobile broadband connections. I believe that Verizon’s is currently 5 GB. For the average user who only uses their card occasionally each month, this may not present a problem. However, using these devices continually and deciding to share their broadband with multiple users & computers can quickly lead to you reaching that cap. Be aware of the fees or consequences for your provider.
3. In my opinion, the network speed of most of these devices is painfully slow. Realize that if you share your connection with someone else, the speed starts to mimic the days of glorified dial-up.

With those axioms out of the way, let’s begin!

Sharing Mobile Broadband (Wired Method):

This method is fairly simple. Allow me to paint a picture. Let’s say you have two laptops and one broadband card. Insert your card and verify that you have an internet connection. Next, enable internet connection sharing (ICS). The steps to do so are different for each OS. I’ve included a few below:

• Windows XP
• Windows Vista
• Ubuntu Linux
• Mac OS

Because two computers cannot directly communicate with each other without special modifications, you’ll need either a desktop switch or cross-over cable. I purchased a desktop switch from Fry’s Electronics for about $10. Relatively inexpensive. You can make a cross-over cable or purchase one from Fry’s or Radio Shack for roughly the same price. I preferred the functionality of a desktop switch which allows me to share my connection with multiple computers depending on how many ports the switch has.

After step one is complete, simply connect the two laptops via the desktop switch or cross-over cable and presto! The secondary laptop should instantly recognize the new network. If not, check the network settings on your computer to verify that your LAN (local area network) card is enabled and that your wifi software or settings hasn’t disabled it.

Sharing Mobile Broadband (Wireless Method):

I first attempted this using XP & Vista’s Ad-Hoc method to no avail. I had to resort to using a wireless router and desktop switch. Here’s the arrangement… follow the methods above for enabling your ICS and connect your first computer to the desktop switch or cross-over cable. From the switch or cable, connect directly to the “Internet” port on the back of your wireless router. Depending on your router’s configuration, you may or may not be able to start using the previous wireless network’s settings to jump right in and start surfing the web with your second laptop. Chances are, you’re going to have to reconfigure your router to work with your new network settings. If that is the case, insert the CD that came with your router into your second laptop, follow the on-screen directions that will instruct you to connect your laptop to one of the ports on the back and router and let the software take its course. After configuration, unplug the laptop from the router, find the new wifi network and connect. I tried this arrangement at a friend’s house by connecting his broadband card to his desktop computer, his desktop to switch, his switch to router and I had to plug my laptop in the router and run the CD to configure his new router for the first time. After that, I disconnected my laptop and the sharing began. Have fun! Please post any questions or comments here on my blog as opposed to emailing me. Thanks.