Before you can share your network connection wirelessly, you must be connected to the network. For this example, I’m going to assume you have a wired Internet connection (such as a cable or DSL modem). You must first connect your Fedora system to your network by using a wired network card (see Chapter 9).
Normally when you install Fedora it automatically detects your network card, and, if you’re connected to a network, it also detects the network settings. Sometimes, however, you need to manually tweak things to make the card work on your network. Here’s a summary of the steps from Chapter 9 that are required to do that:
From the GUI desktop, choose SystemAdministrationNetwork. This starts the Network configuration tool. If you’re not logged in as the root user, it asks you for the root user password to continue. When the Network configuration tool appears, it shows a listing of detected network cards. Note the device name of the network card (usually it’s called eth0). You’ll need that information later on in the process.
Double-click the network card entry. The Ethernet Device dialog box (shown in Figure 19-2) appears, showing the current configuration of the network card.
Figure 19-2. The Ethernet Device dialog box in the Network configuration ...