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Home / How to Make Laptop as Wifi Hotspot Windows 7

How to Make Laptop as Wifi Hotspot Windows 7

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This wikiHow teaches you how to broadcast your Windows computer's Internet as a wireless hotspot using the Command Prompt application. To do this, you must be using an administrator account on your computer.

  1. 1

    Open Start . It's in the bottom-left corner of the screen. You can also press the ⊞ Win key to open Start.

    • On Windows 8, place your mouse in the upper-right corner of the screen, then click the magnifying glass icon.

  2. 2

    Type command prompt into Start. Doing so will bring up the Command Prompt icon.

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  3. 3

    Right-click Command Prompt. It's at the top of the page.

    • If you're using a laptop with a trackpad and no mouse buttons, tap the trackpad with two fingers instead of right-clicking.

  4. 4

    Click Run as administrator . This option is in the right-click drop-down menu.

    • If you don't have the Run as administrator option, you can't create a Wi-Fi hotspot.

  5. 5

    Click Yes when prompted. Doing so will open Command Prompt.

  6. 6

    Type NETSH WLAN show drivers and press ↵ Enter . This command will display information to help you confirm that your computer can create a hotspot with Command Prompt.

  7. 7

    Look for "Yes" next to "Hosted network supported". If you see "Yes" here, your computer supports the Hosted Network feature, which is what allows you to create a Wi-Fi hotspot.

    • If you don't see "Yes" here, your computer can't create a wireless hotspot through Command Prompt.

  8. 8

    Type the following code into Command Prompt: 

                              netsh wlan ''set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=NETWORKNAME key=PASSWORD
    • Then press ↵ Enter . Make sure you replace the "NETWORKNAME" and "PASSWORD" text with what you want your hotspot's name and password to be.

  9. 9

    Type NETSH WLAN start hostednetwork and press ↵ Enter . This will turn on your Wi-Fi hotspot.

  10. 10

    Exit Command Prompt. Now that your hotspot is live, you'll need to share its availability in order to connect to it.

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  1. 1

    Open Start and type in control panel. Doing so will search your computer for the Control Panel app.

  2. 2

    Click Control Panel . It will appear at the top of the Start window.

  3. 3

    Click Network and Internet . It's in the middle of the page.

  4. 4

    Click Network & Sharing Center . You'll find this option near the top of the page.

  5. 5

    Click Change adapter settings . It's a link in the upper-left side of the window.

  6. 6

    Right-click your current connection's name. You'll find it near the top of the "Change adapter settings" window.

  7. 7

    Click Properties . It's at the bottom of the drop-down menu.

  8. 8

    Click the Sharing tab. This option is at the top of the window.

  9. 9

    Check the "Allow other network users to connect..." box. It's at the top of the window.

  10. 10

    Click the box below the "Home networking connection" heading. This option is in the middle of the page.

  11. 11

    Click your hotspot's name. It will be something like "Local Area Connection * #".

  12. 12

    Click OK . Your wireless hotspot should now be accessible by any nearby devices.

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Add New Question

  • Question

    Where is the password for the set hotspot network?

    Community Answer

    It's at key=YourPasswordHere. Of course, you should replace YourPasswordHere with your own password.

  • Question

    How do I join the network from another computer?

    Community Answer

    Turn on the WiFi on the computer you wish to add and find the hotspot, which would be under the name you typed after SSID= , then click on it and it will ask you for the password. The password is what you typed after KEY=.

  • Question

    How do I find the password to join the hotspot I've created?

    Community Answer

    Run the command prompt as the administrator and type ' netsh wlan show hostednetwork security' and then press enter key. You will get your saved password.

  • Question

    My command prompt is showing an error saying that the parameter isn't correct. What can I do about it?

    Community Answer

    Reset your setting. Open cmd and type netsh winsock reset Repeat Step 1 again.

  • Question

    Can I download anything using this WiFi network?

    Community Answer

    You can download files from the hosted computer if file sharing is turned on (with the right credentials), or from the internet if internet sharing is turned on.

  • Question

    How can I set the hosted network to be started automatically every time I start my computer?

    Community Answer

    Create a batch file (.bat) with the command `netsh wlan start hostednetwork` and save it. Open Task Scheduler and create a basic task with an option to **Run it at startup** and link with the batch file you just created. Save and exit.

  • Question

    I was following the steps and got an error message: "hosted network could not be started." What can I do to fix this?

    Community Answer

    First verify that your wireless adapter supports hosted network, as shown in step 3. Try reinstalling the driver. Right click This PC go to Device Manager. Under Network Adapters, identify your adapter, right click on it and click on Uninstall then click OK on confirmation. Restart your computer and Windows will automatically detect your adapter and install required drivers. Verify again and if it is yes, then create and start hosted network.

  • Question

    What if I don't want to put a passcode on my Hotspot?

    Community Answer

    Skip the "key=password" part in the command line. Stop at "ssid=yourname." This is not recommended as it makes your WiFi/internet connection vulnerable to attack, as a non password protected WiFi is visible and accessible to anyone within range. Your connection can be used by these troublemakers to download malicious stuff even onto your laptop, and can severely slow down your internet speed as they use up the data.

  • Question

    Do you have any troubleshooting tips? Whenever I do this, I get an error message that says the hotspot couldn't be activated and my resource is not in a correct state to perform the requisite action. My driver does support creating a hotspot.

    Community Answer

    Go to Network Adapter and open LAN Properties. In the Sharing tab, enable Sharing and save. Then try this -- it will work. In case if your LAN goes limited, then just troubleshoot it.

  • Question

    Can a Hotspot work for more than one mobile device?

    Community Answer

    Yes, as long as there is enough broadband-capacity to serve more than one mobile device with fast internet speed. Keep in mind that the more devices there are connected to the Hotspot, the slower the internet will become.

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Video

  • Type netsh wlan stop hostednetwork into Command Prompt to stop the hotspot.

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  • Creating a hotspot opens your connection up to the public. Be careful about doing this in densely populated areas like airports or coffee shops.

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About This Article

Article SummaryX

1. Type netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=NETWORKNAME key=PASSWORD and press ↵ Enter .
2. Type NETSH WLAN start hostednetwork and press ↵ Enter .
3. Open the Windows Settings.
4. Click Network & Internet.
5. Click Change adapter options.
6. Right-click the connection and click Properties.
7. Check the first box on the Sharing tab.
8. Name the hotspot and click OK.

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How to Make Laptop as Wifi Hotspot Windows 7

Source: https://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-WiFi-Hotspot-Using-the-Command-Prompt