Person sitting on a couch using a Windows PC — WAYHOME studio/Shutterstock

Windows can turn your laptop (or desktop) into a wireless hotspot, allowing other devices to connect to it. With Internet Connection Sharing, information technology can share your Internet connection with those connected devices. Hither's how the whole thing works.

Thanks to a hidden virtual Wi-Fi adapter characteristic in Windows, yous tin fifty-fifty create a Wi-Fi hotspot while yous're continued to another Wi-Fi network or wireless router, sharing one Wi-Fi connection over some other one.

Turn Your PC Into a Wi-Fi Hotspot the Easy Way

If y'all can't get the congenital-in Windows Wi-Fi hotspot working, you should try using Connectify Hotspot instead — it's a completely foolproof Wi-Fi hotspot with tons of options and a prissy interface.

Connectify Hotspot is not bad if yous're at a hotel that charges per device, or if y'all're on a aeroplane and yous connect your laptop but don't want to pay more to connect your phone. If you pay for the Pro version you can fifty-fifty use your PC as a Wi-Fi repeater or a wired router, or share a tethered connection off your telephone

It's actually more than of a power user tool, but if you're looking for a proficient solution, Hotspot is free to effort out, and the bones version is gratuitous with some limitations.

Share a Wired or Wireless Internet Connection in Windows x

RELATED: What's New in Windows 10'due south Ceremony Update

If you're running Windows 10 with the Anniversary Update installed, and so you're in luck. With that update, Windows now has a single switch for turning whatever PC with Wi-Fi into a hotspot, and information technology doesn't matter whether the Cyberspace connexion you desire to share is wired or wireless.

Kickoff, fire upward Settings by pressing Windows+I on your keyboard. On the main Settings page, click "Network & Cyberspace."

On the Network & Internet page, on the left-mitt side, click "Mobile hotspot."

On the right-hand side, turn on the "Share my Internet connection with other devices" switch. If yous want something other than the default network proper noun and password, click the "Edit" button.

In the Edit window, type any network name and password you lot want to use so click "OK."

And that's all y'all really have to do in Windows 10. It's one of the best new features of the Windows ten Anniversary Update, even though information technology rolled out with relatively niggling fanfare.

If you experience problems with this feature, here are some potential troubleshooting steps.

Share a Wired Internet Connexion in Windows seven

The power to share your PC's wired Net connexion to wireless devices is integrated into Windows 7's networking interface through something chosen an advertising-hoc network. An ad-hoc network is really simply a simple, direct network connection between devices. In this case, you lot'll be creating an advertising-hoc network between your PC's wireless connexion and any wireless devices you lot want to connect. You lot merely need to make sure that your wired connection is set up and that the PC does have Wi-Fi available.

Annotation that when you lot ready an ad-hoc network using your PC's Wi-Fi, it will disable whatever existing connection that uses that Wi-Fi adapter. That's why this method merely works if your internet is coming from an Ethernet source.

RELATED: Share an Internet Connexion Between Wireless Machines with an Advert Hoc Network in Windows 7

If you've never set upward a network like this, be sure to read our full guide to sharing an Cyberspace connexion through an ad-hoc network. In short, though, y'all'll open up the Manage Wireless Networks window (you lot tin find it by opening start and searching for "wireless"), click the Add together push button, and then click "Create an ad hoc network". Enter a proper name and passphrase for the network and it'll appear in the listing of wireless networks. Select it and your laptop volition disconnect from its current Wi-Fi network and first hosting an ad-hoc network your other devices can connect to.

Be sure to enable the "Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connexion" checkbox and so that your PC volition share its wired Cyberspace connectedness with the devices connected to your PC over the advertizing-hoc network.

Share a Wired Internet Connection in Windows eight

Unfortunately, Windows 8 stripped away the graphical interface for setting up an ad-hoc network, so it'south not quite as easy to gear up equally it is in Windows vii or 10. The underlying feature is notwithstanding present, though. You just take to resort to a little command line trickery.

Kickoff, you'll need to brand sure your existing wireless network is shared with other network users. Printing Windows+R on your keyboard to open the Run dialog box, type "ncpa.cpl", and then striking Enter.

In the network connections window, right-click your Wireless network and select "Properties" from the context menu.

Switch over to the "Sharing" tab and enable the "Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection" checkbox. Go ahead and clear the "Allow other network users to control or disable the shared Internet connection" checkbox while you're at it and and so click the "OK" button.

Next, you'll demand to launch the Control Prompt with administrative privileges. Right-click in the bottom left of your screen (or hitting Windows+10) and and then select "Control Prompt (Admin)" on the Power Users bill of fare that appears.

Note: If you run into PowerShell instead of Control Prompt on the Power Users menu, that'southward a switch that came nearly with the Creators Update for Windows x. Information technology's very piece of cake to switch back to showing the Command Prompt on the Power Users card if you want, or you tin can requite PowerShell a effort. You tin can do pretty much everything in PowerShell that yous can exercise in Command Prompt, plus a lot of other useful things.

RELATED: How to Put the Command Prompt Back on the Windows+X Power Users Menu

With the command prompt open, your next step is to prepare up the wireless network using the netsh similar so:

netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid="<SSID>" key="<PASSWORD>"

Where <SSID> is the name of your network and <Countersign> is the password you want users to connect with. The access point is created with WPA2-PSK (AES) encryption.

Side by side, you'll commencement dissemination our network with the following command:

netsh wlan start hostednetwork

And at whatsoever fourth dimension, y'all can use this last command to show information about the connexion. Information technology lists things like the channel your connectedness uses, ssid name, authentication type, radio type, and the number of clients connected to your network.

netsh wlan show hostednetwork

When you're done, you should be able to connect whatsoever Wi-Fi device to your new ad-hoc network.

Share a Wireless Internet Connectedness in Windows 8 or seven

Note:this software doesn't appear to work anymore. You'll want to employ Connectify Hotspot or ane of the other methods mentioned to a higher place.

If y'all desire to share a wireless Cyberspace connection in Windows 8 or 7 with other wireless devices, you lot'll need employ a 3rd political party app. We recommend Virtual Router because it'southward gratuitous, open up-source, and easy to ready up. You can as well use it to share a wired connectedness if you just want an easier way to exercise it than creating an ad-hoc network.

Start past downloading Virtual Router and starting information technology up. Using it really couldn't be easier. Provide a name for your network, enter a passphrase, and choose the connection y'all want to share with devices that connect to that Wi-Fi network. Click the "First Virtual Router" push, and you lot're done. You can even run across a list of continued devices in this window.

Setting up a mobile hotspot on your Windows PC tin be a bit of a hassle, or it can be pretty easy. It merely depends on what version of Windows you're running and whether you lot're willing to use a tertiary-party app. But the adjacent time you're stuck somewhere with just a wired Internet connection, at least y'all know you can utilise your PC to share that connexion with your other wireless devices.