For years now I have been able to share my Verizon wireless connection with friends and family using my Apple running OSX. Linux can do this too.
It has not been possible with Windows until now. Microsoft has added some features to 7 that allow a wireless card to be put into promiscuous mode and turned into a true wireless AP.
From my testing I can see that it does not work for all wireless cards. I would imagine the driver and hardware needs to support it. You will have to experiment and see if it works for you.
There are two ways to do this. First, you can go the easy route and use a free tool called Connectify. It makes this process very simple.
Just visit http://www.connectify.me/ and download the latest version of their software.
Once you install it, you can pick the wireless card you are going to use, the SSID, and the password:
Hit the “Start hotspot” button and you are ready to go. Best of all this software is free….this is right from their website:
The alternative to using Connectify is to make some calls to netsh from the command line. Open a command line as an administrator (Right click and pick ‘run as administrator’).
Type this:
netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=[ssid] key=[key]
Replace the [ssid] with the ssid of your choice, and [key] with the WPA2 key that you want to use.
Next you will need to turn on internet connection sharing. You will need to go to the properties of the network card that is providing internet access. This is kind of buried in Windows 7, so I will walk you through.
First go to the control panel, and click on “Network and Internet”:
When the next window shows, click on “Network and Sharing Center”:
A new window will show. Look to the left, and click on the text that says “Change Adapter Settings”:
Now you can simply right click and go to the properties of the network card that provides internet access:
Go to the sharing tab and enable internet connecting sharing:
Click OK, and now you are set. You can start using your Windows 7 machine as an access point
Just one detail for both methods – you are forced to use WPA2 encryption for the connection, so you may have trouble with older devices, and operating systems that do not support it.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I really liked your instructions. I have a Acer Windows 7 and also have a Dell desktop. I’ve been getting wifi by useing Ccrane Super SUB Antenna 11. It works great but they shut me off after a certain amount of time. They say my computer is limited on time. I brought the Antenna into the room I have the desktop and the wifi that it connected to says I have to have a Key and other things. So if I download this connectivity will I be able to access wifi on both computers? Will I be able to use my laptop once its a wifi hotspot or will it just be there as a hotspot only? We live out in a country settlement of about 450 people. All I can affoard is dialup service on my desktop. {Earthlink} If my laptop is a hotspot will I still be limited on the time I can be on the internet? Thank you for being interested in helping others. I really do appreciate it.
~NJ~
Many thanks for this; saved me replacing my trusty (but wired-only) router just for my new Android phone’s wifi needs.