Arch Linux

peonerovv

Member

Registered: 2021-08-11

Posts: 34

How to use laptop as a wifi adapter for a desktop

Hello

I don't have a working internet connection on my desktop, since it only has ethernet and the wifi adapter is on the way. However I would still like to use it. I have my laptop which I thought about using as a wifi adapter for my desktop. I've found people saying that one would need to set up a bridge between the wifi and the ethernet, but I have no experience in networking and after a few atempts, nothing worked. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

ayekat

Member

Registered: 2011-01-17

Posts: 1,614

Re: How to use laptop as a wifi adapter for a desktop

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Internet_sharing might be a good start.

after a few atempts, nothing worked

If you describe what you tried, what you expected, and what happened instead, we might be able to guide you a bit.

There's probably two approaches that come to mind: Creating a network for your laptop‹-›desktop segment, then using NAT to allow the desktop to connect to the Internet through your laptop (a bit like your average ISP-provided router does); or setting up a bridge to forward everything (though not necessarily the easiest thing to grasp if you're unfamiliar with networking…?).

---

pkgs │ hacks │ cfg │ blag

peonerovv

Member

Registered: 2021-08-11

Posts: 34

Re: How to use laptop as a wifi adapter for a desktop

If you describe what you tried, what you expected, and what happened instead, we might be able to guide you a bit.

I tried to set it up by following instructions for nmcli by following this https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/networ … orkManager and having my desktop connected to my laptop via an ethernet cable.

ayekat

Member

Registered: 2011-01-17

Posts: 1,614

Re: How to use laptop as a wifi adapter for a desktop

With NetworkManager, potentially this might be more useful then: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Networ … r_Ethernet

In case you run into issues still (likely, networking is never easy), it might help for troubleshooting to first check if you can at least communicate between your laptop and the desktop system.

Last edited by ayekat (2022-11-13 18:34:39)

---

pkgs │ hacks │ cfg │ blag