After a long phone call with Gabelrachet last night we where wondering:

If you have a normal router (not wireless) and hardwire a PC with dongle or wireless card or a wireless laptop into it - does this give you effectively a wireless network access point? You would probably need some form of proxy software running on the PC/Laptop.

Or do the cards/dongles only talk to routers and not to themselves?

Steve

Do you mean something like this.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/expert/bowman_02april08.mspx

Exactly - you learn something new everyday!!!!

Though it does appear that you need a wireless card rather than a dongle?

The Microsoft article is from 2002 (before the days of 'Centrino'!) - even if USB-based wireless adapters existed at that time they were very rare, so the author of the article presumed users would be using a PCI card installed inside the computer.

A USB wireless adapter ('dongle') should work just as well as a card inside a PC

I have a couple of netgear dongles and a wireless laptop so time for a play! Dont think I will be going out this weekend...... (well after seeing LiveWire @ Boardwalk!)