A method and apparatus for setting up a wireless ad-hoc network, the method including: interchanging, at a terminal, a terminal identifier and Wi-Fi protected setup (WPS) capability information with another terminal of the wireless ad-hoc network; selecting, at the terminal, a role of the terminal as a registrar or an enrollee based on the interchanged terminal identifier and the interchanged WPS capability information of the wireless ad-hoc network; and optionally registering in the registrar based on the selected role.