[SOLVED] How do you connect to WiFi within VirtualBox?

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mintyfreshuser

[SOLVED] How do you connect to WiFi within VirtualBox?

Post by mintyfreshuser »

Hi.

I don't know how to connect to WiFi within VirtualBox. Specifically, I would like to connect to the Internet using my phone's WiFi.

I'm not sure which settings to change and right now it's only giving me the option to connect to an Ethernet connection.

Does anyone know how to connect to WiFi within VirtualBox?

Thank you.

P.S. I'm using VirtualBox Graphical User Interface Version 5.1.32 r120294 (Qt5.5.1) by Oracle and the distro of Linux Mint that I'm using is Linux 18.3 Sylvia and the desktop environment is Cinnamon 3.6.6.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 3 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
JeremyB
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Re: How do you connect to WiFi within VirtualBox?

Post by JeremyB »

Unless you are using a USB wifi dongle, you will need to control the wifi from the host OS
Cosmo.
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Re: How do you connect to WiFi within VirtualBox?

Post by Cosmo. »

The Ethernet connection is a virtual connection between the host and the VM. If the host uses a WiFi connection, the VM will use it also and without doing anything. Stay with the default network settings for the VM, it is the quickest and the safest.
WharfRat

Re: How do you connect to WiFi within VirtualBox?

Post by WharfRat »

mintyfreshuser,

All these settings are the defaults - I didn't touch anything
Screenshot at 2018-02-10 15-15-45.png
phd21
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Re: How do you connect to WiFi within VirtualBox?

Post by phd21 »

Hi mintyfreshuser,

I just read your post and the good replies to it. Here are my thoughts on this as well.

It would help to know more about your system setup. If you run "inxi -Fxzd" and "lsusb" from the console terminal prompt, highlight the results, copy and paste them back here, that should provide enough information.

Last time I used Virtualbox (VB) with my WiFi adapter in Linux Mint (Host), the virtual machine guest operating system (os) was MS Windows which VB automatically created a virtual ethernet adapter to use and it worked well. If you have two USB adapters, then you could probably tell the VB Guest OS to use the second one.

If your phone has "hotspot" WiFi ability, then your Linux Mint system with a WiFi adapter should be able to connect to it like any other WiFi connection and your VB will automatically create a virtual ethernet adapter for your Guest OS to connect to the Internet. Otherwise, you would have to have a cable for your phone to use "Tethering", assuming your phone and service permits that.


Hope this helps ...
Phd21: Mint 20 Cinnamon & xKDE (Mint Xfce + Kubuntu KDE) & KDE Neon 64-bit (new based on Ubuntu 20.04) Awesome OS's, Dell Inspiron I5 7000 (7573) 2 in 1 touch screen, Dell OptiPlex 780 Core2Duo E8400 3GHz,4gb Ram, Intel 4 Graphics.
mintyfreshuser

Re: How do you connect to WiFi within VirtualBox?

Post by mintyfreshuser »

phd21 wrote: Sat Feb 10, 2018 4:31 pm Hi mintyfreshuser,

I just read your post and the good replies to it. Here are my thoughts on this as well.

It would help to know more about your system setup. If you run "inxi -Fxzd" and "lsusb" from the console terminal prompt, highlight the results, copy and paste them back here, that should provide enough information.
Hi. Here are the results you asked for:

Code: Select all

mintyfresh@MintyFresh ~ $ inxi -Fxzd
System:    Host: MintyFresh Kernel: 4.10.0-38-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.4.0)
           Desktop: Cinnamon 3.6.6 (Gtk 3.18.9-1ubuntu3.3)
           Distro: Linux Mint 18.3 Sylvia
Machine:   System: HP (portable) product: HP Notebook v: Type1ProductConfigId
           Mobo: HP model: 8305 v: KBC Version 73.16
           Bios: Insyde v: F.25 date: 01/19/2017
CPU:       Quad core AMD E2-7110 APU with AMD Radeon R2 Graphics (-MCP-) cache: 8192 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm) bmips: 14373
           clock speeds: max: 1800 MHz 1: 1350 MHz 2: 1500 MHz 3: 1500 MHz
           4: 1200 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Mullins [Radeon R3 Graphics]
           bus-ID: 00:01.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: ati,radeon (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1366x768@60.00hz
           GLX Renderer: AMD MULLINS (DRM 2.49.0 / 4.10.0-38-generic, LLVM 5.0.0)
           GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 17.2.4 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card-1 Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH Azalia Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:14.2
           Card-2 Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Kabini HDMI/DP Audio
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:01.1
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.10.0-38-generic
Network:   Card-1: Realtek RTL8101/2/6E PCI Express Fast/Gigabit Ethernet controller
           driver: r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI port: 3000 bus-ID: 02:00.0
           IF: enp2s0 state: down mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Realtek RTL8188EE Wireless Network Adapter
           driver: rtl8188ee port: 2000 bus-ID: 03:00.0
           IF: wlo1 state: up mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 1628.2GB (29.1% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: SanDisk_SDSSDH35 size: 500.1GB
           ID-2: USB /dev/sdb model: SD/MMC/MS_PRO size: 127.9GB
           ID-3: USB /dev/sdc model: BUP_Slim_BK size: 1000.2GB
           Optical: No optical drives detected.
Partition: ID-1: / size: 444G used: 30G (8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2
           ID-2: swap-1 size: 16.07GB used: 1.69GB (10%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda3
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 56.0C mobo: 0.0C gpu: 59.0
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 277 Uptime: 3 days Memory: 8117.1/15005.4MB
           Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 5.4.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.481) inxi: 2.2.35 
mintyfresh@MintyFresh ~ $ lsusb
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0438:7900 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. 
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 04f2:b56c Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd 
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0bda:0177 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. 
Bus 001 Device 008: ID 0bc2:ab24 Seagate RSS LLC 
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0438:7900 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. 
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 046d:c534 Logitech, Inc. Unifying Receiver
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
mintyfresh@MintyFresh ~ $
Last edited by mintyfreshuser on Sun Feb 11, 2018 11:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Added code tag
mintyfreshuser

Re: How do you connect to WiFi within VirtualBox?

Post by mintyfreshuser »

WharfRat wrote: Sat Feb 10, 2018 4:17 pm mintyfreshuser,

All these settings are the defaults - I didn't touch anything

Screenshot at 2018-02-10 15-15-45.png
Thank you. I had changed some settings before making this post so knowing what the defaults are supposed to be is helpful.
phd21
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Re: How do you connect to WiFi within VirtualBox?

Post by phd21 »

Hi mintyfreshuser,

I just read your post and the good replies to it. Here are my thoughts on this as well.

I do not see anything wrong with the results of the "inxi -Fxzd" console terminal command, so that is a good thing. You do have a USB Wifi adapter.

So, is your VB with MS Windows working now, can you access the Internet?
Phd21: Mint 20 Cinnamon & xKDE (Mint Xfce + Kubuntu KDE) & KDE Neon 64-bit (new based on Ubuntu 20.04) Awesome OS's, Dell Inspiron I5 7000 (7573) 2 in 1 touch screen, Dell OptiPlex 780 Core2Duo E8400 3GHz,4gb Ram, Intel 4 Graphics.
mintyfreshuser

Re: How do you connect to WiFi within VirtualBox?

Post by mintyfreshuser »

phd21 wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2018 1:15 pm Hi mintyfreshuser,

I just read your post and the good replies to it. Here are my thoughts on this as well.

I do not see anything wrong with the results of the "inxi -Fxzd" console terminal command, so that is a good thing. You do have a USB Wifi adapter.
Thank you. About the USB Wifi adapter, my computer has a built-in Wifi adapter. I do have a separate USB Wifi adapter in the event that the built-in Wifi adapter stopped working, but this USB adapter wasn't plugged in at the time that I ran those commands in the terminal so I wonder why the results would indicate that I had a USB Wifi adapter.
phd21 wrote: Sun Feb 11, 2018 1:15 pm So, is your VB with MS Windows working now, can you access the Internet?
I just tested my VB with my phone's Internet and it looks as though my VB is working now with my phone's Internet which is what I was after.
mintyfreshuser

Re: [SOLVED] How do you connect to WiFi within VirtualBox?

Post by mintyfreshuser »

Thank you to everyone who replied. It looks as though everything is working now.
mintyfreshuser

Re: How do you connect to WiFi within VirtualBox?

Post by mintyfreshuser »

JeremyB wrote: Sat Feb 10, 2018 12:44 pm Unless you are using a USB wifi dongle, you will need to control the wifi from the host OS
Thanks. You are right.
mintyfreshuser

Re: How do you connect to WiFi within VirtualBox?

Post by mintyfreshuser »

Cosmo. wrote: Sat Feb 10, 2018 3:56 pm The Ethernet connection is a virtual connection between the host and the VM. If the host uses a WiFi connection, the VM will use it also and without doing anything. Stay with the default network settings for the VM, it is the quickest and the safest.
Thanks for your reply. I think you're right. Now I'm just using the default VB settings and controlling the WiFi within the Linux Mint operating system and things are working fine now.
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