How do I share 1 ethernet jack with all my gadgets in college?

J

J.C.

New member
I am going to college and I get 1 ethernet jack in my dorm. From my understanding student installed routers/switches are not permitted because of network security reasons. How am I suppose to share my 1 ethernet jack with all my gadgets? They do have WiFi access in the dorm, but it is secured with WPA Enterprise with Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol and I don't know if all my devices support that protocol. The devices I have are as followed:
Windows 7 Desktop
MacBook Pro
Xbox 360 Slim
PS3 Slim
Wii
HTC Inspire 4G
Motorola XOOM tablet

I know I can connect with my Desktop and Laptop, but I'm worried about the other devices listed. So, can the devices listed connect to my school's wifi and if not how can I get them all connected with only one ethernet jack?
Thanks!
After further reading of the network policies I have found out that Ad-Hoc networks are also not allowed.
here is the link to the full policy: http://www.etsu.edu/oit/policies/wirelessnetworking.aspx
 
I have had the exact same problem as you before! And it was surprisingly easy to solve using a piece of software called "connectify". Note: This fix requires you desktop to have a wireless card/wireless usb.

Connectify is basically a piece of software that can produce a wireless hotspot from your computer. So it uses the internet connection from the ethernet jack and broadcasts it just like any other wireless hotspot. Any other wireless device can't actually tell the difference.

What you need to do is install connectify on your windows 7 desktop, connect your windows 7 desktop to the internet via the 1 ethernet jack. Run the software and start the hotspot (the software is very easy to use and work out). You can choose if the hotspot is passworded or not and then all your other wireless devices will connect it to it just like any other hotspot. Read the website info, it will probably explain it better than me. (link in source box)

However, this does require your desktop to have wireless capabilities and also requires you computer to be left on for the hotspot to work, but for a normal day at college that shouldn't be unusual so it should work perfectly for you.
 
The easiest way would be to connect your desktop to their network via ethernet and get a wireless pci card for your desktop and use it as a proxy server for your other devices to connect to. Obviously since you are not Allowed to have a Router Or Switch, (the others failed to read that) then you need to use 1 of your devices as a Proxy. Since you carry the others with you... the desktop is the only real choice for this. Their system will see your desktop but nothing else.
 
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