Saturday, September 8, 2012

Tweak to convert your laptop into a virtual router !!


I was thinking of buying a WiFi router to connect my 2 laptops and a smartphone. Luckily found this sweet tweak which made my laptop a virtual router . You dont have to use any software like connectify or virtual router (one is paid version and the other is open source but sucks big time). 

First time , I am proud of Microsoft. Never knew Windows 7's  Native technology could provide an in-built access point or a virtual wifi!  Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter Windows 7 has an excellent in-built utility, Wireless Hosted Network (Virtual Wifi) technology, that makes your computer, a wireless access point and you can connect all your network devices by sharing a single internet connection through your computer or laptop. Here’s how to set it up.

1.   Open command prompt with Administrator privileges. (You can do it by going to start menu/all programs/accessories, right clicking on command prompt and selecting “Run as administrator”).
2.   Enter the following command: 
     netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=Test key=YOUR PASSWORD GOES HERE
     Keep this window open as you will need it later (This will create a wireless access-point with SSID of “Test” Windows-7-Wifi-Setup).
3.   Open the Networks and Sharing Center.
4.   Select your mode of connecting to the internet (ethernet, wi-fi, cable etc.).
5.   Click on properties then  the sharing Tab and check "Allow other network users to connect through this computer's internet connection" . Also select wireless connection 2 (virtual wifi) from the drop down. 
6.   Start it with the following command:  
     netsh wlan start hostednetwork


Enjoy :) 

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Awesome work...

gutscheine zum ausdrucken said...

very good comment

Benjamin said...

Great Work, It helped us today. Written simply.