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My aim is to make my Ubuntu machine be a wireless accesspoint using wifi. Of course I found two AskUbuntu questions already treating that; this one and that one.

Nevertheless, as far as I am concerned I would like to set up such a network in the Graphical User Interface (GUI) way. Please avoid solutions with the command line. So a solution suggesting to use Network Manager would be really welcomed.

Please name and describe very precisely each step, so I can easily find the equivalent in my own language.

Thank you for your answers!


If useful for any, here is the output of sudo lshw -c network:

  *-network               
       description: Wireless interface
       product: WiFi Link 5100
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:07:00.0
       logical name: wlan0
       version: 00
       serial: XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=iwlwifi driverversion=3.2.0-24-generic firmware=8.83.5.1 build 33692 ip=192.168.1.127 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11abgn
       resources: irq:45 memory:c0800000-c0801fff
  *-network
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: AR8131 Gigabit Ethernet
       vendor: Atheros Communications Inc.
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:09:00.0
       logical name: eth0
       version: c0
       serial: XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX
       capacity: 1Gbit/s
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress vpd bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=atl1c driverversion=1.0.1.0-NAPI firmware=N/A latency=0 link=no multicast=yes port=twisted pair
       resources: irq:47 memory:c0300000-c033ffff ioport:2000(size=128)
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2 Answers 2

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You can very easily create an ad-hoc WiFi network using NetworkManager, so if the other system you want to connect to it supports that, it's most likely the easiest solution:

Click the NetworkManager icon in the menu, and look for the equivalent of Create New Wireless Network...;

menu item

Choose New... from the drop-down list (if there is one) and enter the information: the name you want for the Ad-Hoc network, its security, and password if you choose a security type. Note that WPA/WPA2 seems to not work so well, I've had much better luck with WEP or no security.

new adhoc network settings

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  • 1
    You are right with the WEP/WPA issue you mention. But your solution, even if I use it, is not really the equivalent of a wireless accesspoint in the common sense.
    – Agmenor
    Jul 24, 2011 at 5:47
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So, want to create an access point using Ubuntu. In windows you can use connectify to do that and it works perfectly well but with Ubuntu you may have certain problems, depending on whether your wifi-card supports access point mode (master mode) or not. Now, even if your wifi-card supports access point mode, the next problem is whether the driver of your wifi-card supports AP mode or not, if it does then the problem is solved and if does not then you have three options:

1- Wait till the driver recieves an update for AP mode. (many wifi-card drivers are still in staging stage)

2- Buy a wifi-dongle and make sure it supports AP mode on ubuntu.

3- Use windows, where connectify will do the job for you.

If you are interested you can post the name of your wifi-card driver so that i can help you further. command: lshw -c network

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