Windows: If you have a Windows computer with a wired internet connection, you may want to share that with other devices. You can do this with a little command line trickery to turn your desktop into a Wi-Fi hotspot.
While technically this has been possible for a while, the process has changed over the years. You can check out the new steps for Windows 10 in the video above from tech blog Techniqued, or follow the steps here:
- Press Win+X to open the power user settings menu and choose “Command Prompt (Admin)“.
- Enter the following command, replacing the values for SSID and key with the network name and password you want:
netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=AdHoc key=password - Run the following command to start the network:
netsh wlan start hostednetwork - Search in the Start menu for “View network connections.”
- Right-click your main ethernet connection and choose “Properties.”
- Under the “Sharing” tab, click the box labeled “Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s internet connection.”
- In the drop down below the above box, choose the network connection that currently has internet access. Click OK.
At this point, you’ll have a brand new Wi-Fi network that’s connected to your home internet. Keep in mind that this will only work as long as the Windows machine that’s running the network is active. This also isn’t a total replacement for a proper router, but it can get you by in a pinch.
