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Microsoft Virtually Duplicates Your Wireless Card

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the engineers-having-fun dept.

akhomerun writes "Microsoft has released version 1.0 of its experimental new VirtualWiFi Software. The free software enables Windows users to use a single wireless card to connect to multiple wireless networks simultaneously. The current build is a very primitive release, with no support for WEP or WPA encryption."

9 of 222 comments (clear)

  1. Not free software by frp001 · · Score: 4, Informative

    This is Shared Source NOT free software.

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    1. Re:Not free software by DeadMeat+(TM) · · Score: 3, Informative

      You don't need the code. The author has written multiple papers on its inner workings. He even gave a talk to our CS department that gave more than enough information for someone to duplicate his work, were they so inclined.

  2. Original Page... by perlionex · · Score: 5, Informative

    ... found using Google, at: http://www.cs.cornell.edu/people/ranveer/multinet/ software.htm And the author's page, which follows quite naturally: http://www.cs.cornell.edu/people/ranveer/ ...which, if you look at it, will explain the origins of this "Microsoft" project :) His papers on "MultiNet" date back to June 2003.

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  3. Re:What the crap? by Jugalator · · Score: 5, Informative

    I see it's from their research division... They sometimes seem uncorrupted by their marketing machine. ;-) They have other projects going on too, like ConferenceXP (yes indeed, source here too), and Netscan. Kind of interesting projects actually.

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  4. Re:Linux equivalent by tomstdenis · · Score: 3, Informative

    While I'm a linux fan, if the summary is accurate, you're comment is off-base.

    Layer 3 aliasing is not the same thing as multiple physical/radio connections. If anything it's more like channel bonding than aliasing.

    That said, I don't know how useful this would be. I mean for a windows box it is. I could see the usefulness of this for a repeater but in such cases I'd just use linux and save the license fees.

    Tom

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  5. Re:I wonder... by svanstrom · · Score: 4, Informative

    You could use it to share a WLAN with a second computer/PDA/whatever, which can't connect directly... either because it's too far away, or isn't allowed (hasn't paid, not part of the company or simply blocked because some idiot login-requirements forcing people to use IE).

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  6. Re:Network Bridge? by Fortress · · Score: 4, Informative
    Does this mean we can connect to an AP and then connect using ad-hoc using the same card to another computer? This would result in a relay

    Only if there is routing between the two connections, which I suspect will be optional.

  7. Re:What the crap? by FST777 · · Score: 3, Informative

    The Microsoft Research Shared Source license agreement (MSR-SSLA) is actually a license, made by Microsoft, which permit free use of the software and the source (if any) for non-commercial use, provided that any modification are subject to the license (in which Microsoft may make full use of the software).

    As such, it is nearly Open Source... but if you make modifications, you are volutarely working for Microsoft.

    not too bad though...

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  8. Re:Network Bridge? by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 4, Informative
    Does this mean we can connect to an AP and then connect using ad-hoc using the same card to another computer? This would result in a relay
    Only if there is routing between the two connections, which I suspect will be optional.
    Or bridging. Windows XP has built-in bridging. Bridging is different than routing in that it occurs on Layer 2, while routing occurs on Layer 3.

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