How do I create a wireless access point with WPA encryption?

[Robert S]

I have tried to create a wireless access point to allow client machines to
connect to our network and the internet. I have a small office network with
IP addresses 192.168.2.1-192.168.2.40. The network is connected to the
internet with a cable modem and a router. I have created a new ad-hoc
wireless network using the wizard and I have bridged it to my Local Area
Connection. When I try to connect I get "Link down" messages on my client
machine. The client machine gets no answer from the DHCP broadcast. This
occurs even if I disable all security on the access point PC.

I've tried doing this by using internet connection sharing (instead of
bridging), but that changes the IP address of my PC to 192.168.0.1, and I
can't access the rest of my network - or any wireless clients.

Is there a good article out there on how to do this? There is an MS
technical note but their suggestions don't seem to work for me.

--

 

[Malke]

I have tried to create a wireless access point to allow client machines to
connect to our network and the internet. I have a small office network
with
IP addresses 192.168.2.1-192.168.2.40. The network is connected to the
internet with a cable modem and a router. I have created a new ad-hoc
wireless network using the wizard and I have bridged it to my Local Area
Connection. When I try to connect I get "Link down" messages on my client
machine. The client machine gets no answer from the DHCP broadcast. This
occurs even if I disable all security on the access point PC.

I've tried doing this by using internet connection sharing (instead of
bridging), but that changes the IP address of my PC to 192.168.0.1, and I
can't access the rest of my network - or any wireless clients.

Is there a good article out there on how to do this? There is an MS
technical note but their suggestions don't seem to work for me.

Is there a reason you don't just buy a real access point or another router
and set it up as an access point? You can get a basic Linksys or Netgear
router for around $40. Then just set it up as an access point instead of a
router. No need to fool around with ad-hoc, different subnets, etc.

Malke