I noticed I have a WiFi direct network adapter in Device Manager. Did a bit of research and it provides peer-to-peer communication between two devices using WiFi.
I searched on how to treansfer files between two windows 8 laptops but no results. Everything I see is programmer or developer talk?
This article at Microsoft TechNet was the closest thing I could find. Yet it doesn't totally explain how to send a file from computer A to computer B using WiFi Direct.
Why can't I find anything about file transfers, etc. about it? How can I use WiFi Direct?
Do I need third party software to send files using WiFi Direct?
Answer
You probably just want to transfer data or files between the two PC's, right?
Believe it or not, the sad truth is that the most fool-proof way is to use a flash disc, removable harddrive, or a service such as Skype, Dropbox or email - for which you don't need any connection other than an internet conneciton.
The benefits to a direct "Wi-Fi" connection is, of course, that it won't eat your bandwidth. (But that's different from the "Wi-Fi Direct" protocol!)
So for a way to copy files between your computers without using any internet bandwidth, first you need to get them connected to each other somehow:
Option 1
The simplest way is to run a Wireless Hotspot (Personal Hotspot) on an Android, Blackberry or iPhone, and connect both your computers to that same Wireless network.
Option 2
Another way is to simply run a network cable between the two. (No need for a cross-over cable on modern computers.)
Option 3
Ad-Hoc mode - which is simple to set up on Windows XP or Windows 7 but no other operating systems.
Now the "fun" part.
Once they're on the same network, you can use any one of several applications or protocols to copy files. Generally, there is no universal or fool-proof way. Here are your options:
- Windows File Sharing. Right click on a folder and choose "Share". There are lots of things that can break this, from version mismatches to password settings.
- FTP Server and client
- Skype (If you're on the same LAN it won't use your internet bandwidth if you both have LAN IP addresses - see below)
- Web server program on the host PC. (Eg. http://www.rejetto.com/hfs/ Simply run it in the folder you want to copy files from)
How?
Each computer on a network has it's own "internet phone number" called an IP address. From Windows you can usually find other computers without knowing these addresses by simply browsing the "Network Neighborhood" or "Homegroup" - but sometimes this freezes up or doesn't work - so, on Windows, plan B is generally to click the start menu, and run and then \\IP-address-of-other-pc for example \\192.168.1.100. This will either open up the shared folders on that PC or it will prompt you for a username and password for an account on that PC. Google for "Find my LAN IP address". (LAN is important here, as it is your local address, not your internet address which the internet sees! Think of an internal extension vs. your "direct (inward) dial" (or DID) Phone number - so technically you have two IP addresses - your LAN IP address and your internet IP address.)
If you're using FTP or a web server, you generally enter the IP address of the host (server) PC in your FTP client or web browser, to access the files hosted there.
If your "internet address" is 169.254.something.something, then it means that there is no router or gateway on your network to assign addresses to your computers and they just randomly guessed addresses for themselves. This usually only happens after 2 minutes though, so be patient!
Wi-fi direct is still in it's infancy
Wi-Fi direct is a special protocol which probably won't see PC support due to innumerable technicalities. You'll be lucky if you get it to work between two devices from different vendors. And yes, it will take special software and some more years to mature. Microsoft obviously included it to compete with Samsung on mobile devices. But it really is a pointless protocol IMHO.
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