Parallels Internet woes

Discussion in 'Windows Virtual Machine' started by KengK, Aug 24, 2011.

  1. KengK

    KengK Bit poster

    Messages:
    1
    Apple removed Samba support for Lion, as a result, I am unable to connect to my university's network printer and drive (over wifi). So I decided to give Parallels/Windows 7 a try. Alas, after 5 hours of troubleshooting, the result is not quite successful.

    Parallels allows the guest OS to connect to the Internet via 3 ways, Shared Network, Bridge Network, and Host-only network. I'm not just trying to connect to the Internet with my guest OS, but also to my school's wifi network such that I can access the network printer. Thus the only solution is to use the Bridge Network so my guest OS (Windows 7) can be recognised as a separate machine by the server.

    My school's wifi network authenticates be requiring me to key in my student id and password as the WPA2 key. Unfortunately, Windows 7 only sees the bridged network connection as a LAN cable connection and thus I am unable to key in such credentials.

    If I were to check the "Send host's MAC address to DHCP server" option, I would be able to bypass the network authentication and gain access to my school's network printer via the guest OS. This would however mean that my Mac would not be connected to the Internet:

    There is only 1 IP address assigned to my MAC address, and my guest OS sort of removes my host OS's Internet connection.

    My question is:

    Is there a way to can allow my guest OS (Windows 7) to recognise the network connection as a wifi connection, such that I am able to use a separate MAC address, and enter my student credentials into the wifi network?

    If not, is there any other solutions to this problem? (It would be a waste of my $80 if I can only partially solve this problem)
     
  2. RodneyC

    RodneyC Bit poster

    Messages:
    1
    I have exactly the same situation. Shared Networking does not support Windows network sharing etc., and the only solution is bridged. But using an AirPort Extreme (latest version), OS X Lion connects without an issue, but Windows 7 will not connect. The "Send host's MAC address to DHCP server" option selected or not makes no difference.

    If I use a wired connection, problem goes away.

    What is the point of the wifi option in Bridged mode, when the driver driver does not recognise the network as wifi for authentication! Presumably the only solution is to turn of authentication on the wifi, making it completely unsecure.
     
  3. Elric

    Elric Parallels Team

    Messages:
    1,712
    Actually it is not quite so. In the Shared Networking just browsing the networking doesn't work. But it is possible to connect to any server or printer using its name or IP address.
     

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