WiFi has become an integral part of our lives. In fact it is one of the most used modes for connecting to the internet on both desktops and handheld devices. Any device which supports WiFi can connect to WiFi hotspots and access the internet wirelessly.
Generally WiFi Routers are used to create Wifi hotspots, but they are only required only for DSL and ADSL connections wherein a modem is compulsorily required to convert the analogue data transferred from the internet service provider to digital data, that can be understood by the computer.
Today DSL and ADSL technologies have been replaced by Optical fiber connections, that no longer require a modem. You can directly connect the internet connection to the Ethernet port of your PC or laptop and access the internet. In a situation like this, you won’t need a WiFi router until and unless you are planning to access the internet connection via WiFi on multiple devices.
But if you have got a laptop which supports WiFi or a PC with a WiFi dongle connected, then you won’t need a WiFi router in order to share the internet connection via WiFi. Most windows operating systems starting from Windows XP are able to create a WiFi hotspot, provided there is a WiFi hardware installed in the computer.
Unfortunately Microsoft has decided to keep the feature hidden on Windows 10. But on Windows, there’s no such things as hidden settings, as there is always a workaround to find and enable them from the command prompt.
So for those who are using Windows 10 and want to share their PC’s internet connection via a WiFi hotspot, here’s how you can create a Wifi Hotspot in Windows 10 with the help of a hidden setting.
How to Create a Wifi Hotspot in Windows 10
- Step 1: Press the Windows + X key and select Command prompt ( Admin ) from the Windows Quick access menu.
- Step 2: Type in the following code in the command prompt and press enter.
netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=hotspotname key=password
Note: In the above command, you can change the ssid= value into anything of your choice as it will be the name of the WiFi hotspot. Similarly the key= value can be changed to anything that you want to set as the password and it has to be of at least eight letters.
- Step 3: Type in the following code in the command prompt and press enter to start the WiFi hotspot.
netsh wlan start hostednetwork
- Step 4: Go to Network and Sharing center > Change adapter settings.
- Step 5: Right click on the Wifi hotspot that you’ve created and select Properties.
- Step 6: Click on the Sharing tab and check Allow other network users to connect through the computer’s internet connection.
You can now scan for the newly created hotspot on any Wifi enabled devices and connect to it to access the internet connections shared from your Windows 10 PC or laptop.
When you want to stop the WiFi hotspot, enter the following code in the Command prompt and press enter.
netsh wlan stop hostednetwork
