Recommend a wifi dongle for access point setup

[Wrechid]

@f1vefour

hello f1vefour, it was a problem with SD card or cards failing... i have 2 SDcards that was failing, that being the case it made things very confusing... :/ it explained why i was having so many random errors that i couldn't seem to repeat...
i was able to get this AP feature to work on beta2 once i got a new SD card...
still have to edit the interfaces file according to previous post before rebooting...

thanx for your concern f1vefour... i really like the support and this xbmc distro over the others i have used...

[Wrechid]

Hello,
I fixed the script at this how-to
http://raspberry-at-home.com/hotspot-wifi-access-point/#comment-1142916195
to get access point and repeater features to work on XBian...
Here is a link to the script I modified,
http://wrechid.com/ap_setup_beta.sh
if you like it, stop by the how-to and give Jacek and his crew a thumbs up...

[cabalowen]

This is one of those instances when just because you CAN do something, does not mean that you should.

Windows has a “feature” called ICS or Internet Connection Sharing. By confgiuring this you can bridge your wired network adapter and the wifi adapter to create a single network and function as a wireless access point. It sounds like you are using just a modem and no router so you will also need to provide DHCP address to the wifi adapter clients.
In short you are not needing to to turn your PC into a wireless access point but into a router.

This is bad for several reasons.

Your phone/wifi devices is completely dependent on your PC for network connection
While Windows has the ability to do it, it downright sucks performance wise. This feature was made for dial-up and just quick modified for broadband. Your entire PC will slow down and the performance of the network connection will be lousy
USB WiFi adapters will do okish for a single device, but will do a very poor job handling multiple connections to many wifi devices
You should always have a router, even with just one computer. A router provides the very necessary first layer of security for you on the internet. Browsing the internet on a completely unsecured public wifi hotspot is more secure then PC connected direct to modem. Basically I have to do the same while working on react native development agency. Just do yourself a very big favor and get the right tool for the job a cheap router. ASUS RT-N12 or netgear wnr3500 are both decent routers you can find on sale for $20 or less. Then take your incoming line and connect that to the router and then your PC and wifi devices connect to the router.

You can use a WiFi adapter to create an “ad-hoc” network and share internet but there are 2 catches…

You may only connect one WiFi device to it. Meaning, it doesn’t become a true “hot-spot” for several devices… just one.
The WiFi adapter cannot be used for any other purpose while in “ad-hoc” mode. If your computer is fed internet through that WiFi adapter already then it is pointless to set up an ad-hoc with it because you will have to disable your internet connection. So you must have 2 WiFi adapters OR an ethernet connection as well for it to be useful.
To set it up in Windows is rather simple, just go into your network settings and right-click on the adapter and enable sharing, simple instructions are provided once your in the menu.

I used to ad-hoc a lot when the technology first came out, it’s rather old school now but still useful in certain situations.

Know that the speed will be lower than the lowest speed device. If you have 150 mbps dongle on your laptop connecting to 1300mbps router, the speed will be lower than 150 mbps in real life.

Label 802.11 (plus a letter) tells you a lot. If it ends with a/b/g/n it is too old. Get “ac”.

If you get 2.4GHz adapter/dongle, you will reach further, but not faster than 450 mbps.

If you get 5GHz adapter, it will throw short but you can get either 867 mbps or 1300 mbps, you will read the speed on the dongle. They write total speed so ac1200 is actually 867 mbps on 5ghz and 300 mbps on 2.4GHz.

Know that your router has to support the same speeds, but it is good to buy something that will be supported when you upgrade your router also, so get one that can handle 1300 mbps on 5GHz.

Now if you think that you have internet connection of, say, 50mbps and you may not need 1300 mbps, it is still useful for your local networking.

Know also that cable is always better than any WiFi.

Hope this will help you properly.