Hotspot and Internet access together -- why not?

Question

If I go Settings → Network → Wireless and select Use as Hotspot..., I get the following message:

If you have a connection to the Internet other than wireless, you can use it to share your internet connection with others.

Switching on the wireless hotspot will disconnect you from ABC.

It is not possible to access the internet through your wireless while the hotspot is active.

What are the technical reasons why I can't set up an Hotspot and be connected to the Internet at the same time?

Solution

You're basically after turning your PC into a WiFi repeater.

If you use Ubuntu, you can use create_ap to create a hotspot:

sudo create_ap wlan0 wlan0 SomeNetwork SomePassword

Where the first interface is the device you want to use for the hotspot, and the second interface is the one that has access to the internet. Since you're repeating over the same adapter in your case, use the same interface.

If you use Windows, you can use Connectify Me or any similar software to use the same adapter that connects to the internet to run a hotspot.

Comments

[Kevin Bowen]

Cross-posted on U&L site: unix.stackexchange.com/questions/84440/…

[gertvdijk]

Unless a WiFi adapter has two radios I don't think it can be in two modes at the same time. Are you sure that it is possible what you're describing in Windows?

[OverCoder]

OMG! I have been looking for this days, Thank you

[user16538]

Mh... I asked this on AskUbuntu because I was seeking an Ubuntu-related answer :-)