How to Create a WiFi Hotspot From Your PC (No Downloads)

Purpose:

To create a WiFi hotspot with your laptop. If your laptop or computer is connected to the internet via WiFi or Ethernet, you can use this method to create a hotspot so your phone and other devices can access the internet If you don’t have the WiFi password. I used this method to gain internet access on my phone at work, where I did not know the password, but I had a PC connected to the internet.

Difficulty: Moderate (Difficult for those not familiar with command prompt)

Materials Needed:

• Computer with Windows
• Computer with wireless network card
• Administration access to computer

Start up your computer. Place half of these instructions on one side of the screen, while having the other side open.

Start by opening up command prompt. Go to the bottom left of your computer, click the search bar, and search for ‘cmd prompt’. The command prompt is a simple tool we can use to command the computer to modify its background settings that we typically can not access within the settings application. To use the command prompt, we will simply enter commands.

Let's start with the first command, this will create the network.

Type the following command into the command prompt:

netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=NAME key=PASSWORD

Replace NAME with the WiFi name you would like, and PASSWORD with the password you would like.

Press ENTER.

You should then see:

The hosted network mode has been set to allow.
The SSID of the hosted network has been successfully changed.
The user key passphrase of the hosted network has been successfully changed.

Now we must start up the network we just created.

Type this command in the command prompt:

netsh wlan start hostednetwork

Then press ENTER.

You should then see:

The hosted network started.

The next step is to allow the hotspot to connect to your existing internet connection.

To do this first you must go to the control panel. Go to the windows search bar and search "Control Panel" and open the control panel. Next, click on Network and Internet, and then Network and Sharing center. Your window should look similar to the given screenshot.

The next step is allowing the hotspot internet access:

1. Click on the Connection: Wi-Fi (Villanova Fans) link. This link will appear different depending on your existing Wi-Fi connection. A new window should pop up; click Properties on this new window.
   
   Notice: "Villanova Fans" is my current Wi-Fi connection, NOT the hotspot I just created.
   
2. On the next window, Click on the Sharing tab, and check the "Allow other network users to connect through this internet connection" box.
   
3. On the drop down menu under the box you just selected, Find the "Local Area Connection" that matches your newly created hotspot. In the picture, you can see that MyWi-Fi is connected to Local Area Connection 4, so we must select that option. Then hit OK.

That is it! Your hotspot should be working now. Take out your phone and try to connect to the hotspot with the name and password you assigned. If you are having trouble try to go through the steps again and figure out where you went wrong.

TIP: One common issue I found is that when connecting to the hotspot it shows that you are connected, but internet does not work. The solution is simple, you either skipped step 6, or did the step incorrectly. Try to go back and redo step 6.

To take down the hotspot simply enter this command into the cmd prompt that we mentioned earlier:

netsh wlan stop hostednetwork

This will stop the hotspot.

The next time you want to use the hotspot again simply use the command:

netsh wlan start hostednetwork

NOTICE: There is no need to go through all the steps again once you have configured the network!

Now that we are done, it is important to understand what we have created after following these steps. We have used a series of commands to create a hotspot with your computer. These commands also allowed the hotspot access to your already existing internet connection. The result is a WiFi hotspot created from your computer, that you have control over. These set of instructions are useful as you do not need to download third party software to create this hotspot.

Bookmark these set of instructions if you ever need to remember these commands, or instructions on how to use the commands.