Use computer as a virtual wired router

Question

My dad's wireless router is on the opposite end of the room than the TV and I brought over my xbox 360 to play this weekend. However, I lack the will to purchase an overpriced wireless adapter and I much rather not have an ethernet cable strewn across the room.

Is it possible to install some sort of driver on my laptop (Windows 7) to have it act as a virtual router/bridge so I can place an ethernet cable in the NIC on my laptop and the other end in the xbox 360? Also, can I do this without the need of a crossover cable, as we only have standard cables at the moment.

Just for the sake an example, I'd love the exact same functionality as http://virtualrouter.codeplex.com/, but connected via ethernet

The NIC is a Realtek RTL8101E Family PCI-E.

Solution

You should be able to do this with a standard ethernet cable if you bridge the connections in network settings. This post on MSDN indicates you should be able to do it with a normal patch cable and has instructions to follow.

Comments

[Thalys]

most modern wired NICs do autonegotiation - all gig-e ones do by default. this makes a crossover cable un-necessary

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

I love how the very first line is "Is your Xbox 360 in a room far, far away from your broadband router, and you just don't have the cash to spend on the Xbox wireless adapter?" ... almost word for word what I had said.. haha