[networking] How to connect wireless network adapter to VMWare workstation?

How can I connect wireless network adapter to wmvare workstation ?(My Host OS is Win Seven Ultimate, my Guest OS is Fedora 13 & my VMWare version is 6.5.0) I'm running win seven on my Dell Vostro A860 laptop & my wireless network adapter is Atheros.

Use a Linux Live cd/usb and boot an that to be able to directly connect to your wifi hardware or use linux as the main OS with direct access to the wifi card and then use windows as a guest os, I know that this maybe not the ideal way but it will work.

Change your network adapter to a bridged connection, this will directly connect to your computers physical network.

Since there is only one WiFi hardware on the computer its not possible to connect one WiFi hardware to multiple WiFi networks, if you want to that I think you have to map WiFi hardware to guest OS and how host you'll have to use some other hardware (may be Ethernet) but I'm sure that it will work in that way as no VM software allow us to allocate Hardware to Guest except for USB, you can also get USB WiFI and allocate that to VM only.

Here is a simple way to connect with your WIFI -

1. Click on Edit from the menu section
2. Virtual Network Editor
3. Change Settings
4. Add Network
5. Select a network name
6. Select Bridged option in VMnet Information -> Bridge to : Automatic
7. Apply

That's it. You might be asked password to connect. Add it and you would be able to connect to the network.

Kind Regards,

Rahul Tilloo

1. Add a local loop network in your normal PC (search google how to)
2. Click start -> type "ncpa.cpl" hit enter to open network connections.
3. While pressing Ctrl key, select both your wireless and recently created local loop network. right click on it and create the bridge.
4. Now in virtual network editor in vmware, select the network with type "Bridged" and change Bridged to option to the recently created bridge.

You will then have access to network via wifi card.

I also encountered a similar problem. I run Ubuntu 11.04 on VMware on a Windows 7 host OS. Virtual machines can't expose the physical wireless cards. All of that is using a virtualization layer.