Trying to set up a mobile laptop-based "hotspot"..

[mrchips_rsm]

I am trying to set my laptop up as a "mobile hotspot" for my mobile business. Essentially I have several laptops that I move from place to place and they all communicate wirelessly with one-another in an ad-hoc WiFi network.

I would like to use Wingate to set up one of these machines as a totally wireless gateway. The "WAN" side of the connection would be provided by a Verizon Wireless pc-card in that laptop that provides internet access via a Verizon wireless-broadband subscription. The LAN side would be provided by the WiFi capabilities of the laptops (built-in 802.11G).

If I install WinGate on that one laptop, can WinGate provide the "software-gateway/dhcp-server/firewall/proxy" functionality so that all of my other laptops can now connect up to that laptop and use if as a "mobile gateway" to the internet? I would also like to be able to secure that connection so that only "my" machines can access the internet via that gateway (WEP/WPA/MAC-Filtering, Etc). Can WinGate provide that service too?

If WinGate can do this, it's a slam-dunk sale. Any help in this matter would be most appreciated. Thanks ahead of time!!!

Sincerely,
Richard Larson
mrchips_rsm@yahoo.com

[genie]

Wingate does not have special handling for WiFi things, like WEP, for example. It should be handled by the WiFi environment. However, Wingate does have quite flexible set of policies that you can apply to your traffic. Try installing the trial version of Wingate and see if it fits your requirements.