Researchers at Microsoft have created the prototype for new Wi-Fi software that allows a user on a PC with a single network card to connect to LANs concurrently via “virtual mirrors.”
“VirtualWiFi is a virtualization architecture for wireless LAN cards,” lead researcher Ranveer Chandra said. “It abstracts a single WLAN card to appear as multiple virtual WLAN cards to the user. The user can then configure each virtual card to connect to a different wireless network.”
This development would open new options for employees within an enterprise who need to do work outside the company network, Chandra said.
A person using VirtualWiFi and connected to two or more networks at the same time becomes, in effect, a “router” for those networks—obtaining, strengthening and passing on the bandwidth to others in the immediate area, Chandra said.