ICS w/Cingular LaptopConnect card, XP & Vista

[Cliffh]

First, the apologies:

Not sure that this is the correct area for this question, if not, please move to the correct area.

Way too busy right now to try to search out the answer for myself, hopefully this hasn't been discussed to death already.

The wife & I are going to be full-timing in our RV soon. We purchased the LaptopConnect card from Cingular so we can have an Internet connection while traveling. The thing is, we've got two laptops & only one card - too cheap to buy 2 cards and pay for 2 accounts. The Cingular card comes with it's own "Connection Manager" - start the Manager and click the "Connect" button to start the connection, it then dials out & connects to the nearest cell tower.

The laptops are currently setup as a network (along with a couple of desktops) using Windows networking and a wireless router to access our cable Internet connection.

One laptop is running WinXP Home SP2 & IE7, the other is running WinVista Basic & IE7.

I'd like to setup the wireless router in the RV and use it to network the two laptops, that won't be a big deal. Setting up ICS between the two systems shouldn't be very hard either. The problem is the Connection Manager. Not sure how I'm going to get either XP or Vista (whichever one has the card installed at that time) to actually dial out when the other system wants to go online. Cingular said that ICS won't work with their card - I'm betting it can somehow be made to work.

Any hints or tips would be appreciated.

TIA,

Cliff

[Train]

That be one expensive route.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=free+wireless+access
And a little digging and I found lots of places I can use in cross country travels.

Found this in a library in fact.

Will I need a login and password to connect?

When you connect to the wireless network, you will be asked for a login name and password.
The login name is always trlguest.
Simply ask staff at the information desk for the "password of the day". It changes daily.
There is no charge and it is not necessary to schedule your time.


You might want to check this link out.
http://www.wififreespot.com/

[Cliffh]

Thanks Train. I've bookmarked both of the links in your reply & will check them out if/when I have a couple of minutes.

Yep, it's going to be expensive - $60 + taxes/fees/etc per month, plus we may have to get a booster and external antenna. Your links can help lower the expenses. For the first 13 months of the contract we can choose different plans - i.e. go to a lesser plan for less money - without having to renew the contract. All it takes is a phone call to Cingular and the change is almost immediate. So, if we're in a free area, we can change our plan and save a couple of bucks.

Unfortunately, the Boss Lady says we have to have it.

So now, in my position as IT expert, I am expected to get ICS setup.

Forgot to mention earlier, the Connecton Manager does not require a username or password to connect, so at least I don't have to worry about that being a problem.

[Train]

With ICS and a cross over cable. But both lappers need a wired nic.

Maybe this link will out.
http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/

[Cliffh]

Thanks again Train

If I can't find one of my x-over cables, I at least know where the stuff is to make one.

I've bookmarked all of the links you provided. They'll definitely come in handy when I get the time to start working on this.

For now, let's call this one resolved - which it may not have been without your help.

FWIW, I used to have about a dozen support boards bookmarked, this is the only one that's still on the list.