Creating a hotspot on the PC means, as happens on smartphones, sharing the internet connection in order to transform the computer into a wireless router .
This is a very useful function especially if you have a PC connected via ethernet cable, through which you want to connect other PCs or mobile phones to the internet, without the need to use a router and without using other cables.
The case was very common some time ago when only one computer was connected to the internet via cable.
Since the computer is connected by cable, the wireless card, which is not in use, can be used to share the Internet connection that comes from the wired connection in order to surf the web, wirelessly, even with other computers, with mobile phones or with IPad or IPhone.
This could avoid spending money on the purchase of a wireless router or using the PC as a wifi repeater to extend the signal from the router.
In the latter case, however, it is good to keep in mind that there must be two wireless network cards on the PC, one that takes the internet, the other that shares it.
The only inconvenience of this method is that the PC sharing the connection must obviously be turned on.
Creating a wireless hotspot with Windows 10 is something very simple indeed, which does not even require you to install external programs.
The only requirement is that the computer has two network cards, one via cable or wireless that receives the internet connection, the other, wifi, which is free, unused, but obviously active.
In Windows 10 you can activate the hotspot by simply going to Settings (from the Start menu) then to the Network and Internet -> Mobile hotspot section .
Turning on the switch activates the hotspot and you can customize the name of the new wifi network created and the access password.
In the drop-down menu you can choose which connection to share, selecting the one that receives the internet.
At this point the network will be seen as any wifi, which requires the access password.
Note that the internet connection of a Windows 10 PC can also be shared via Bluetooth, without therefore needing an additional network card.
In case of problems with the automatic procedure, you can follow the manual procedure guide to transform the Windows 10 PC into a wireless router, a little laborious but simple.
The programs that we see below are useful both for creating a Hotspot on a Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 PC, and also for having a better management of the hotspot in Windows 10, with more options to activate it and customize the configuration.
1) MyPublicWifi, explained in another post, allows you to create a wireless network from your Windows 7 and Windows 10 PC with Firewall and connection control.
In addition to transforming your PC into a wireless access point, it also allows you to limit users to access only specific Internet services and track all the web pages visited on the virtual hotspot.
2) Hosted Network Starter is the easiest to use and most effective free program that allows you to activate the hotspot function on any Windows 7 PC.
It is a very small program, which does not require installation, which has no advertising and no paid version.
3) Free WiFi Hotspot is a program for Windows 10 and Windows 7 that allows you to create a WiFi hotspot on Windows, acting as a virtual Wi-Fi router
You can set a network name and password, see the devices connected to the hotspot, block unwanted ones, see information on the connected devices.
You can provide an Internet connection to nearby devices by setting up the Wi-Fi hotspot via a 2G / 3G / 4G modem.
In addition, it allows you to share USB tethering connection via Wi-Fi.
4) mHotSpot is a free and portable program, which does not require installation and is very simple.
To use mHotSpot, after downloading it, just start the program, press the button create hotspot, give a name to the network and a password and then press the Start button.
Once the hotspot is activated, go to network connections and share the internet connection by choosing the wifi network created by the program from the drop-down menu.
5) MaryFi is a software router for Windows 7 that has the purpose of transforming the PC into a Wi-Fi hotspot so that you can easily share the Internet connection coming from the cable modem, from a cell phone card, or even from a other Wi-Fi antenna (in this case there must be two).
MaryFi is very similar to MHotSpot, but with many additional options.
For example, unlike MHotSpot, MaryFi allows you to set a personalized username and password for your WiFi hotspot.
To create a wireless hotspot from your computer, access the properties of the wireless connection by right-clicking on the icon in the taskbar, select Status -> Properties -> Sharing, click on "Allow other users on the network to connect via the Internet connection of this computer "and select the wireless internet connection from the list.
Once MaryFi is launched, it provides a default connection name and password ie MaryFi and 12345678, respectively, to be used to connect.
6) Another similar program to create a wifi hotspot with Windows 7 and share the internet connection to other computers, without "ad hoc" network, is Virtual Router .
Virtual Router creates a wifi network with WPA2 key that is absolutely unsurpassed from a security point of view and use is as easy as for Connectify.
7) Wifi HotSpot Creator is another very simple program to create a hotspot from Windows 7 and enable, with two clicks, the routing function to share the wireless connection with other PCs.
8) Another program is Connectify which is able to "easily" transform your PC with Windows 7 or Windows 10 into a wireless hotspot or router with a single click.
That way sharing an Internet connection using the wireless card couldn't be easier!
- Download and install Connectify. (The ConnectifyInstaller.exe installer is a file of only 1.41 MB)
- Open Connectify and select the Internet connection you want to share which is then the one that brings the internet to your computer.
- Choose a name for the new wireless network (any one)
- Choose a password for the wireless connection (at least 8 characters)
- Press the button to activate the wireless network and share the internet.
Now, from other computers equipped with wifi, you can see the wireless network and you can connect by pressing on it and entering the keyword put before.
The wireless hotspot created with Connectify is automatically configured with maximum security and encrypted with WPA2-Personal (AES) by default.
So basically you just have to download and install Connectify, set the password and click on a button, stuff from 5 minutes.
Connectify is a real WiFi Access Point running on the computer and it is not an ad-hoc mode .
Any device (PC, mobile phone, iPhone) that can connect via wireless, is able to connect to a Connectify hotspot, without any special configuration and without any additional software.
Although it is an excellent program, the free version is so limited that it cannot be used.
Connectify is therefore, in all respects, a paid program.
The manual guide to using your computer as a wireless router in Windows 7 is in another article and requires the use of DOS commands.
This is a very useful function especially if you have a PC connected via ethernet cable, through which you want to connect other PCs or mobile phones to the internet, without the need to use a router and without using other cables.
The case was very common some time ago when only one computer was connected to the internet via cable.
Since the computer is connected by cable, the wireless card, which is not in use, can be used to share the Internet connection that comes from the wired connection in order to surf the web, wirelessly, even with other computers, with mobile phones or with IPad or IPhone.
This could avoid spending money on the purchase of a wireless router or using the PC as a wifi repeater to extend the signal from the router.
In the latter case, however, it is good to keep in mind that there must be two wireless network cards on the PC, one that takes the internet, the other that shares it.
The only inconvenience of this method is that the PC sharing the connection must obviously be turned on.
Creating a wireless hotspot with Windows 10 is something very simple indeed, which does not even require you to install external programs.
The only requirement is that the computer has two network cards, one via cable or wireless that receives the internet connection, the other, wifi, which is free, unused, but obviously active.
In Windows 10 you can activate the hotspot by simply going to Settings (from the Start menu) then to the Network and Internet -> Mobile hotspot section .
Turning on the switch activates the hotspot and you can customize the name of the new wifi network created and the access password.
In the drop-down menu you can choose which connection to share, selecting the one that receives the internet.
At this point the network will be seen as any wifi, which requires the access password.
Note that the internet connection of a Windows 10 PC can also be shared via Bluetooth, without therefore needing an additional network card.
In case of problems with the automatic procedure, you can follow the manual procedure guide to transform the Windows 10 PC into a wireless router, a little laborious but simple.
The programs that we see below are useful both for creating a Hotspot on a Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 PC, and also for having a better management of the hotspot in Windows 10, with more options to activate it and customize the configuration.
1) MyPublicWifi, explained in another post, allows you to create a wireless network from your Windows 7 and Windows 10 PC with Firewall and connection control.
In addition to transforming your PC into a wireless access point, it also allows you to limit users to access only specific Internet services and track all the web pages visited on the virtual hotspot.
2) Hosted Network Starter is the easiest to use and most effective free program that allows you to activate the hotspot function on any Windows 7 PC.
It is a very small program, which does not require installation, which has no advertising and no paid version.
3) Free WiFi Hotspot is a program for Windows 10 and Windows 7 that allows you to create a WiFi hotspot on Windows, acting as a virtual Wi-Fi router
You can set a network name and password, see the devices connected to the hotspot, block unwanted ones, see information on the connected devices.
You can provide an Internet connection to nearby devices by setting up the Wi-Fi hotspot via a 2G / 3G / 4G modem.
In addition, it allows you to share USB tethering connection via Wi-Fi.
4) mHotSpot is a free and portable program, which does not require installation and is very simple.
To use mHotSpot, after downloading it, just start the program, press the button create hotspot, give a name to the network and a password and then press the Start button.
Once the hotspot is activated, go to network connections and share the internet connection by choosing the wifi network created by the program from the drop-down menu.
5) MaryFi is a software router for Windows 7 that has the purpose of transforming the PC into a Wi-Fi hotspot so that you can easily share the Internet connection coming from the cable modem, from a cell phone card, or even from a other Wi-Fi antenna (in this case there must be two).
MaryFi is very similar to MHotSpot, but with many additional options.
For example, unlike MHotSpot, MaryFi allows you to set a personalized username and password for your WiFi hotspot.
To create a wireless hotspot from your computer, access the properties of the wireless connection by right-clicking on the icon in the taskbar, select Status -> Properties -> Sharing, click on "Allow other users on the network to connect via the Internet connection of this computer "and select the wireless internet connection from the list.
Once MaryFi is launched, it provides a default connection name and password ie MaryFi and 12345678, respectively, to be used to connect.
6) Another similar program to create a wifi hotspot with Windows 7 and share the internet connection to other computers, without "ad hoc" network, is Virtual Router .
Virtual Router creates a wifi network with WPA2 key that is absolutely unsurpassed from a security point of view and use is as easy as for Connectify.
7) Wifi HotSpot Creator is another very simple program to create a hotspot from Windows 7 and enable, with two clicks, the routing function to share the wireless connection with other PCs.
8) Another program is Connectify which is able to "easily" transform your PC with Windows 7 or Windows 10 into a wireless hotspot or router with a single click.
That way sharing an Internet connection using the wireless card couldn't be easier!
- Download and install Connectify. (The ConnectifyInstaller.exe installer is a file of only 1.41 MB)
- Open Connectify and select the Internet connection you want to share which is then the one that brings the internet to your computer.
- Choose a name for the new wireless network (any one)
- Choose a password for the wireless connection (at least 8 characters)
- Press the button to activate the wireless network and share the internet.
Now, from other computers equipped with wifi, you can see the wireless network and you can connect by pressing on it and entering the keyword put before.
The wireless hotspot created with Connectify is automatically configured with maximum security and encrypted with WPA2-Personal (AES) by default.
So basically you just have to download and install Connectify, set the password and click on a button, stuff from 5 minutes.
Connectify is a real WiFi Access Point running on the computer and it is not an ad-hoc mode .
Any device (PC, mobile phone, iPhone) that can connect via wireless, is able to connect to a Connectify hotspot, without any special configuration and without any additional software.
Although it is an excellent program, the free version is so limited that it cannot be used.
Connectify is therefore, in all respects, a paid program.
The manual guide to using your computer as a wireless router in Windows 7 is in another article and requires the use of DOS commands.
