Turn Computer into Wi-Fi Hotspot

Internet Connection Sharing is an awesome feature in windows operating system. Using this feature, you can turn your computer which has wireless network card integrated into Wi-Fi hotspot and share your internet connection with your friends or family members. Generally, each laptop has a wireless network card integrated by default. So, if you are a laptop user, you can turn your laptop into Wi-Fi hotspot so easily. If you are a Desktop user, you can also turn your desktop as a Wi-Fi hotspot if you integrate a wireless network adapter in your desktop. Wi-Fi hotspot in windows operating system can be created with windows command or third party software tool. If you wish to turn your computer into Wi-Fi hotspot, keep reading this article and learn how to turn your computer into a Wi-Fi router with windows command or using third party software tool.

Windows Wifi Hotspot
Windows Wifi Hotspot

Wi-Fi Hotspot with Windows Command

If you have a laptop or a desktop which has wireless network card integrated and windows operating system installed, you can turn your computer into a Wi-Fi hotspot by applying some windows command and you can share your internet connection with your friends or family members. To turn your computer into Wi-Fi hotspot with windows command, follow below simple steps carefully.

  1. First, you have to open Command Prompt with admin privilege. If you don’t open Command Prompt with admin privilege, you will not be able to apply commands which will turn your computer into Wi-Fi hotspot. To open Command Prompt with admin privilege, type cmd in your windows search box and find cmd.exe program. Now click mouse right button on it and click on Run as Administrator menu item. Your administrator command prompt will appear now.
  2. Type below command in it and hit enter key.
    netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=MyWifi key=Passkey@10
    where ssid is your Wi-Fi access point name which will be shown in wireless network connection list of any other network device and key is the password of your access point which must enter to connect to this network. You can change ssid and key as you like in this command but key must be at least 8 characters.
  3. Open Network and Sharing Center from control panel and click on Change adapter settings link from left panel. A new Microsoft Virtual Wifi Miniport Adapter named as Wireless Network Connection with any numeric value will be created here.
  4. Now click mouse right button on your active network adapter (Ethernet Adapter) by which you are connected to internet and choose Properties option.
  5. Click on Sharing tab and check Allow other network users to connect this computer’s internet connection checkbox and then choose your newly created network adapter from drop-down menu and click OK button.
  6. Now type below command in Command Prompt and hit enter key. Every time you restart your computer, you must enter this command.
    netsh wlan start hostednetwork
  7. Connect to your ssid (here MyWifi) from another laptop or smartphone with the key which you have put in your previous command and browse internet. If everything is OK, you are now able to browse internet successfully.

Troubleshooting

  1. If any connection error is occurred to client PC, stop and restart your Wi-Fi with below two commands.
    netsh wlan stop hostednetwork 
    netsh wlan start hostednetwork
  2. Always open command prompt with admin privilege. Otherwise command will not be completed successfully.

Wi-Fi Hotspot with Third Party Software Tool

If you face difficulties to turn your computer into Wi-Fi hotspot with windows commands, you can use third party software which can turn your computer into a Wi-Fi hotspot. There are a lot of third party software by which you can turn your computer into Wi-Fi hotspot. Among these, I will show you how to turn your computer into Wi-Fi hotspot with My WIFI Router software.

My WIFI Router Graphical Interface
My WIFI Router Graphical Interface

Wi-Fi Hotspot with My WIFI Router

My WIFI Router is a free software tool which can turn your computer into Wi-Fi hotspot. But you have to download, install and do first time configuration before using this software. Follow below steps to download, install and configure My WIFI Router software tool.

  1. Download My WIFI Router from this link. After completing download, double click on the setup [.exe] file and follow the instructions to complete the installation process.
  2. Now run the software from the start menu or from the shortcut icon in desktop for configuring first time. In the first time interface, type Hotspot Name which will be your Wi-Fi access point name and Password which is necessary to connect to this hotspot and then click Start button. Wi-Fi hotspot will be created within a few second. Now connect the other network devices with your given password. I hope, you will now be able to access internet. If you need to stop the hotspot, just click the Stop button. Your hotspot will be stopped.

Internet Connection Sharing with turning computer into Wi-Fi hotspot has been explained in this article with windows command and third party software. If you face any problem to create your Wi-Fi hotspot with the above two methods, feel free to discuss in comment or contact with me from Contact page. I will try my best to stay with you.

Why not a Cup of COFFEE if the solution?

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ABU SAYEED

I am a system administrator and like to share knowledge that I am learning from my daily experience. I usually work on MikroTik, Redhat/CentOS Linux, Windows Server, physical server and storage, virtual technology and other system related topics. Follow Me: Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin.

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