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How do I create an ad-hoc network on my computer?
*In each of the following instructions WEP network key is optional but strongly recommended. Without it all computers/iPhones nearby could potentially connect to your computer AND your iPhone!
On Windows XP,
- Go to Control Panel->Network Connections, then right click on Wireless Network Connection and select Properties from the menu.
- Select Wireless Networks tab, under Preferred networks, click Add.
- Give a name to your network in the SSID box such as "iPhoneNet".
- Check "This is a computer-to-computer (ad-hoc) network and select "OK" to close the settings.
- Now on your iPhone go to Settings->WiFi and "iPhoneNet" should show up in the list unless your computer is already connected to a router. Tap on it and your computer should go online.
On Mac,
- Click on the Airport icon at the top of the screen.
- Select Create Network, give it a name such as "iPhoneNet".
- Now on your iPhone go to Settings->WiFi and "iPhoneNet" should show up in the list. Tap on it and your computer should go online.
On Vista,
- Right click on the network tray icon at the bottom of the screen.
- Select "Connect to a network", then "Set up a connection or network".
- Select "Set up a wireless ad hoc network and "Next", then enter a Network name such as "iPhoneNet".
Also check "Save this network".
- Now on your iPhone go to Settings->WiFi and "iPhoneNet" should show up in the list. Tap on it and your computer should go online.
Wifi setup troubleshootings:
- If you have created ad-hoc network before between your computer and your iPhone (in order to use other
tether apps or access the phone from the computer), it is very possible that you
have assigned static IP addresses. You need to undo that and go back to "Obtain an IP address automatically"
(aka DHCP) on both ends.
To verify that your computer is connected to your iPhone properly, the IP address of your computer should
equal to your iPhone's IP address plus 1, and the DNS of your computer should
become 68.28.122.93. If it is empty or has a different value, then it means DHCP hasn't done its work and
you need to re-connect.
If the computer and the iPhone fail to establish the Wifi connection, they normally do not show you any errors but will self-assign an address and "appear connected". That is especially true if PdaNet still asks you to establish the Wifi connection even though you think you already did. In this case you need to reconnect.
The best way to reconnect is to select the Wifi connection on your iPhone and tap "Forget this network". Now wait for the computer end to indicate the connection has been dropped. After this connect to the network again on the iPhone.
- If you have a hard time establishing/maintaining a stable ad-hoc WiFi connection between your iPhone and computer even with everything set up properly, it is very
possible that there are interference from other WiFi signal sources. So keep trying and the connection may eventually goes through.
You might also want to change the channel number of your computer's WiFi adapter to use a different value. On Mac you have this option when you create the network name. On Windows you need to open Device Manager (run: devmgmt.msc) and right click on the WiFi adapter and select Properties->Advanced tab and you should see an
option to change the channel.
- If "Acquiring Network Address" takes longer than 10 seconds on the computer, something may be wrong
with the WiFi signal and you should try to
disconnect and reconnect.
- If you are able to connect WiFi but your computer could not open any web pages, try to open the Weather app
on the iPhone and see if the signal icon turns into "3G" on your iPhone. If the Weather app fails to
update eventually then something is wrong with either the WiFi settings or the data signal.
- Having slow data connection? PdaNet connects as fast as your iPhone does and a lot of users have reported at least 1.2Mbps at
some occasions. However "3G" is not always "3G" - there is a time and there is a place :-)
Useful Tips
- The current version supports OS 2.1 and 2.0. Always check this page first before you upgrade the iPhone OS to a higher version.
- After the connection is established and working, bring PdaNet to the foreground and turn the phone off. This will
not drop your connection but will reduce battery usage.
- When you are done with PdaNet, turn the WiFi Router off explicitly.
- The latest version should now supports VPN.
Issues
- Battery won't charge when using PdaNet - this has been identified as a firmware bug in the iPhone OS that seems to be triggered by ad-hoc Wifi usages such as OpenSSH or PdaNet. The battery indicator will still show a charging state even though battery is being discharged. It does not always happen and you can try to reboot the iPhone and see if the issue goes away. In our future builds we will see if there is a way to work around this issue, or hopefully it will be fixed in future OS updates.
- My iPhone requires setting up a proxy server to work, can I still use PdaNet - Yes. You just need to enter the same proxy server address and port number in your browser's proxy settings on the computer end.
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