How to turn your Windows 10 in to a wireless hotspot

How to turn your Windows 10 in to a wireless hotspot

Whether you’re connecting to the internet using a wireless or wired adaptor, similar to previous versions,   Windows 10 allows you to share an internet connection with other devices with a feature called “Hosted Network”. Here’s the way to turn your Windows 10 in to a wireless hotspot.

Through the combination of these two elements, your PC can take its internet connection (be it an Ethernet connection or hookup through a cellular adaptor) and share it with other wireless devices – essentially acting as a wireless hotspot.

To follow this guide, you’ll need to open the Command Prompt with administrator rights. To do this, use the Windows key + X keyboard shortcut, and select Command Prompt (Admin).

How to check if your wireless adaptor supports Hosted Networks in Windows 10

While some adaptors include support for Hosted Network, you will first need to verify your computer’s physical wireless adaptor supports this feature by using the following command:

NETSH WLAN show drivers

If the generated output shows Hosted network supported: Yes, then you can continue with the guide. If your wireless adaptor isn’t supported, you could try using a USB wireless adaptor that supports the feature.

How to create a wireless Hosted Network in Windows 10

Simply follow the steps below to configure a wireless Hosted Network:

1. While in Command Prompt (Admin) enter the following command:NETSH WLAN set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=Your_SSID key=Your_PassphraseWhere the SSID would be the name you want to identify your wireless network when trying to connect a new device, and the passphrase is the network security key you want users to use to connect to your network. (Remember that the passphrase has to be at least 8 characters in length.)
2. Once you created a Hosted Network, enter the following command to activate it:

NETSH WLAN start hostednetwork

How to share your internet connection with a Hosted Network in Windows 10

Up to here, you created and started a Hosted Network in your Windows 10 PC. However, any wireless capable device won’t be able to access the internet just yet. The last thing you need to do is to share an internet connection using the “Internet Connection Sharing” feature from a physical network adaptor.

1. Use the Windows key + X keyboard shortcut to open the Power User menu, and select Network Connections.
2. Next, right-click the network adaptor with an internet connection – this could be a traditional Ethernet or wireless network adaptor then select Properties.Note: In Network Connections, you should now see a new our new Microsoft Hosted Virtual Adaptor which is labelled Local Area Connection* X, and with the SSID name.
3. Click the Sharing tab.
4. Check the Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection option.
5. Next, from the Home networking connection drop-down menu select the Microsoft Hosted Virtual Adaptor.
6. Click OK to finish.

At this point, you should be able to see and connect any wireless capable device to the newly created software access point, and with access to the internet.