use wlan0 in windows guest

[Smika]

Hello,

I have running Linuxmint 13 with virtualbox. I connect my Linuxmint to the internet with a cable and my wireless device is on. What I want is that I can use my wireless device in Windows guest, that is not in use by linux (only enabled), so I can configure the wlan0 adapter with my own setting (IP, Subnet, gateway etc.) in Windows. Is this possible?

The reason that I need it, is that I can't connect to my comapnies wirelss network, but I can with Windows.

Thanks,

Smika

[mpack]

Choose "bridged adapter" network mode in the VM settings. You can select the host NIC you want to bridge to, which can include wireless NICs.

[Smika]

So I don't need to connect to a network with wlan0 before I startup the VM?

[mpack]

Yes, you do. The guest, being a virtual machine, will see a simulated NIC rather than a wireless network. The only way to get the guest to see a wireless device would be to connect a USB wireless dongle, and then I wouldn't count on it being very reliable.

[Smika]

So without a wireless USB, it is not possible to use the wlan0 from my hosts when it is not connected to a network.


If there is someone who haves an other option?

Smika

[BillG]

You can certainly do what you want to do, but you need to realize that the vm will not see it as wireless NIC. The emulated NIC in the vm is a wired Ethernet NIC and the guest OS will see it as that.

Your wired Ethernet NIC is cable connected and used by the host, so ignore it. From the VirtualBox Manager, go to the Settings of you vm and go to the Network section. Set the NIC to "Bridged Adapter" and select your wireless NIC from the dropdown list. The emulated NIC in the vm is now bridged to the wireless NIC in the host machine. The vm will now behave as if it was directly connected to the physical network through the wireless NIC in the host. You can manually configure it to be part of your network (or is should get its network config directly from DHCP if that is available on the physical network).

[Smika]

Thanks for you reply. But how and where Can I configure the SSID in windows? I mentioned before that my wireless adapter in my host is not connected so it does not have a SSID.

Smika

[mpack]

Evidently the message is not getting through: the guest does not see a wireless network, hence it doesn't have any use for an SSID. You must configure your hosts wlan0 adapter to work on the host, including SSID. Then your VM can bridge to it. The guest, as always, will see a simulated ethernet adapter.

[Martin]

You would need to configure the WLAN access (SSID, WPA key) on the linux host but don't configure IP on the adaptor.
Then you can bridge that adaptor to your windows guest and configure IP there (where it looks like a cabled network interface).