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18 November 2006 12 Comments

Mac Tip Series: Parallels Internet Access at Paid Access Points

One of the dirty little secrets (not really a secret since it makes sense if you think about it) is that Starbucks and other paid wireless access points only provide a single IP address. You pay for internet access, they give you an IP address. No problem in most situations, but what if you’re using Parallels and need internet access in your Windows XP virtual machine?

There are a couple options. One is simpler than the other, but the second makes more sense in a pure VM sense.

Use Shared Networking

Before loading the XP Virtual Machine, configure your Network Adapter to used Shared Networking. This is faux-networking as essentially, all traffic is passed from Parallels through the Mac network connection. It works, but sometimes you need real networking.

Use Host Only Networking
Host Only networking allows Windows to not seek an external network access point. Instead, combined with the Mac internet connection sharing, you can achieve the desired result.

  1. From the Finder, choose System Preferences from the Apple menu.
  2. Under the Internet & Network sub-heading, click on Sharing.
  3. Under the Firewall sub-tab, either disable the firewall altogether or allow “Personal Web Sharing”.
  4. Under the Internet sub-tab, choose AirPort from the Share Your Connections From dropdown.
  5. Check only Ethernet Adapter (en2) in the selection box. This will allow only your Virtual Machine to connect via (virtual) ethernet to the Mac subsytem. The click Start.

You should now have a pure networking environment inside the Windows XP Virtual Machine.

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Written by Aaron Brazell on November 18, 2006

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12 Responses to “Mac Tip Series: Parallels Internet Access at Paid Access Points”

  1. Jose Luis 16 January 2007 at 1:27 pm #

    Hi,

    Thanks a lot.
    After spending one day fiddling about trying to find some CLEAR info of connecting to the internet using parallels, I’ve just seen your page and now I’m runnig Ok.
    Thank you very much for your help.

    Best regards from a new switcher…
    Jose Luis
    Bilbao (Spain).

  2. Jose Luis 16 January 2007 at 2:27 pm #

    Hi,

    Thanks a lot.
    After spending one day fiddling about trying to find some CLEAR info of connecting to the internet using parallels, I’ve just seen your page and now I’m runnig Ok.
    Thank you very much for your help.

    Best regards from a new switcher…
    Jose Luis
    Bilbao (Spain).

  3. Jose Luis 16 January 2007 at 1:27 pm #

    Hi,

    Thanks a lot.
    After spending one day fiddling about trying to find some CLEAR info of connecting to the internet using parallels, I’ve just seen your page and now I’m runnig Ok.
    Thank you very much for your help.

    Best regards from a new switcher…
    Jose Luis
    Bilbao (Spain).

  4. Jose Luis 16 January 2007 at 1:27 pm #

    Hi,

    Thanks a lot.
    After spending one day fiddling about trying to find some CLEAR info of connecting to the internet using parallels, I’ve just seen your page and now I’m runnig Ok.
    Thank you very much for your help.

    Best regards from a new switcher…
    Jose Luis
    Bilbao (Spain).

  5. The Dud Man 28 January 2007 at 6:52 pm #

    I’ve been wondering how to get this to work for months. It was always a little annoying that I couldn’t always get an internet connection in Parallels. But thankfully I found your page and your instructions helped!

    Thanks again!

  6. The Dud Man 28 January 2007 at 7:52 pm #

    I’ve been wondering how to get this to work for months. It was always a little annoying that I couldn’t always get an internet connection in Parallels. But thankfully I found your page and your instructions helped!

    Thanks again!

  7. The Dud Man 28 January 2007 at 6:52 pm #

    I’ve been wondering how to get this to work for months. It was always a little annoying that I couldn’t always get an internet connection in Parallels. But thankfully I found your page and your instructions helped!

    Thanks again!

  8. The Dud Man 28 January 2007 at 6:52 pm #

    I’ve been wondering how to get this to work for months. It was always a little annoying that I couldn’t always get an internet connection in Parallels. But thankfully I found your page and your instructions helped!

    Thanks again!

  9. benlong 24 February 2007 at 2:29 pm #

    Do you know if this will work with OpenVPN running within the Parallels VM?

    Thanks.

  10. benlong 24 February 2007 at 2:29 pm #

    Do you know if this will work with OpenVPN running within the Parallels VM?

    Thanks.

  11. benlong 24 February 2007 at 2:29 pm #

    Do you know if this will work with OpenVPN running within the Parallels VM?

    Thanks.

  12. benlong 24 February 2007 at 2:29 pm #

    Do you know if this will work with OpenVPN running within the Parallels VM?

    Thanks.