Sharing PC's Network with Intel Galileo in Windows

Introduction

 

We can connect our Intel Galileo board to a network in many ways. It has an Ethernet port that connects the Galileo to any 10/100 Mb/s LAN. If we flip our Galileo board there is a mini PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) socket. This socket is useful for attaching WiFi cards to provide wireless network access. Another easy way to connect Galileo to a network is by sharing your PC’s network by bridging the connections. I am assuming that you have already set up your Galileo in Windows and tested it with the Blinking LED program. If not go through my article Window IoT with Intel Galileo to set up your Galileo on Windows.

 

Prerequisites

• Intel Galileo gen1 or gen2 board
• Bootable Windows SD card
• Ethernet Cable

The following describes how to do that:

1. Connect your Intel Galileo board to a power supply.
2. Connect one end of a network cable to the Galileo and the other end to your PC.
3. Boot your Galileo with Windows by inserting a bootable Windows image via an SD card.
    
    
   Figure 1: Galileo with Windows
    
4. Go to “Control Panel-> Network and Internet -> Network and Sharing Center “ or simply search for Network and Sharing Center from the Start Screen.
    
    
   Figure 2: Network and Sharing Center
    
5. In the Network and Sharing window select “Change adapter settings” from the left column.
    
    
   Figure 3: Change adapter settings
    
6. It will open a window named “Network Connections”. In this Select Organize, it will open a drop-down menu, select Layout -> Menu bar.
    
    
   Figure 4: Menu Bar
    
7. Now select your Ethernet connection (Galileo) and the PC’s internet connection. Click on the “Advanced” menu, select “Bridge Connection”.
    
    
   Figure 5: Advanced Option
    
8. Wait for some time for the connection to be created. It will take a couple of minutes. You may also notice the device automatically plugs out and plugs in once during this process.
    
    
    Figure 6: Bridge Connection
    
9. Once the bridge has been created a new connection will appear labeled “Network Bridge”.
    
    
   Figure 7: Network Bridge
    
10. Now your network bridge has been set up and you will be able to have internet access on your Intel Galileo board running on Windows.
11. Let us test this. Open a Telnet session with your Galileo.
     
     
    Figure 8: Galileo Watcher
     
12. Provide the credentials:
     
    • User: Administrator
    • Password: admin
       
13. Type “Ping bing.com”. If everything works fine you are now able to see data being received.
     
     
    Figure 9: See data being received

Now you have internet access with your Galileo board and you can implement the “Internet” part of your IoT applications easily.