How to turn your Windows 10 PC into a

wireless hotspot
Windows 10 includes a feature called "Hosted Network" that allows you to turn your
computer into a wireless hotspot, and this guide we'll show you how to do it.
Mauro Huculak
3 Feb 2016

Whether you're connecting to the internet using a wireless or wired adapter, similar to
previous versions, Windows 10 allows you to share an internet connection with other
devices with a feature called "Hosted Network".

Hosted Network is a feature that comes included with the Netsh (Network Shell)
command-line utility. It's was previously introduced in Windows 7, and it allows you to
use the operating system to create a virtual wireless adapter – something that Microsoft
refers to "Virtual Wi-Fi" — and create a SoftAP, which is a software-based wireless
access point.

Through the combination of these two elements, your PC can take its internet
connection (be it an ethernet connection or hookup through a cellular adapter) and share
it with other wireless devices — essentially acting as a wireless hotspot.
In this Windows 10 guide, we'll walk you through the steps to verify if your network
adapter supports the feature, how to configure and enable a wireless Hosted Network,
and how to stop and remove the settings from your computer when you no longer need
the feature.

To follow this guide, you'll need to open the Command Prompt with administrator
rights. To do this, use the Windows key + X keyboard shortcut, and select Command
Prompt (Admin).

How to check if your wireless adapter supports Hosted

Networks in Windows 10
While some adapters include support for Hosted Network, you will first need to verify
your computer's physical wireless adapter supports this feature using the following
command:

NETSH WLAN show drivers

If the generated output shows Hosted network supported: Yes, then you can continue
with the guide. If your wireless adapter isn't supported, you could try using a USB
wireless adapter that supports the feature.
How to create a wireless Hosted Network in Windows
10
Creating a wireless hotspot in Windows 10 is relatively straightforward — don't let the
command line scare you. Simply follow the steps below to configure a wireless Hosted
Network:

1. While in Command Prompt (Admin) enter the following command:

NETSH WLAN set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=Your_SSID

key=Your_Passphrase

Where the SSID would be the name you want to identify your wireless network
when trying to connect a new device, and the passphrase is the network security
key you want users to use to connect to your network. (Remember that the
passphrase has to be at least 8 characters in length.)

2. Once you created a Hosted Network, enter the following command to activate it:

NETSH WLAN start hostednetwork

How to share your internet connection with a Hosted
Network in Windows 10
Up to here, you created and started a Hosted Network in your Windows 10 PC.
However, any wireless capable device won't be able to access the internet just yet. The
last thing you need to do is to share an internet connection using the "Internet
Connection Sharing" feature from a physical network adapter.

1. Use the Windows key + X keyboard shortcut to open the Power User menu, and
select Network Connections.
2. Next, right-click the network adapter with an internet connection – this could be
a traditional Ethernet or wireless network adapter — select Properties.
 Note: In Network Connections, you should now see a new our new Microsoft
Hosted Virtual Adapter which is labeled Local Area Connection* X, and
with the SSID name.

3. Click the Sharing tab.

4. Check the Allow other network users to connect through this computer's
Internet connection option.
5. Next, from the Home networking connection drop-down menu select the
Microsoft Hosted Virtual Adapter.
 6. Click OK to finish.

At this point, you should be able to see and connect any wireless capable device to the
newly created software access point, and with access to the internet.

How to stop sharing an internet connection with other

devices in Windows 10
If you want to temporary stop allowing other devices to connect wirelessly through your
computer, you can type the following command in the Command Prompt and hit Enter:

NETSH WLAN stop hostednetwork

At any time, you can just use the start variant of the command to allow other devices to
connect to the internet using your computer as an access point without extra
configuration:

NETSH WLAN start hostednetwork

Similarly, you can also use the following command to enable or disable a wireless
Hosted Network:

NETSH WLAN set hostednetwork mode=allow

NETSH WLAN set hostednetwork mode= disallow

How to change a Hosted Network settings in Windows

10
In the case you want to change some of the current settings, such as SSID or network
security you can use the following commands:

NETSH WLAN set hostednetwork ssid=Your_New_SSID

NETSH WLAN set hostednetwork key=Your_New_Passphrase

How to view the current Hosted Network settings

There are two commands to view the Hosted Network settings on your computer:

The following command shows the mode and SSID name in use, max number of clients
that can connect, type of authentication, and cipher:

NETSH WLAN show hostednetwork

And the following command will also reveal the current network security key among
other settings, similar to the previous command:

NETSH WLAN show hostednetwork setting=security

How to disable a wireless Hosted Network in Windows
10
While the setup of a wireless Hosted Network in Windows 10 is not very complicated,
Microsoft doesn't make very straightforward to remove the configurations when you no
longer need the feature.

Although you can use the stop or disallow commands, these actions won't eliminate the
settings from your computer. If you want completely delete the Hosted Network settings
in Windows 10, you'll need to modify the Registry.

Important: Before you change anything settings on your computer, it's worth noting
that editing the Windows Registry can be a dangerous game that can cause irreversible
damages to your system if you don't know what you are doing. As such, it's
recommended for you to make a full backup of your system or at least System Restore
Point before proceeding with this guide. You have been warned!
1. Open the Start menu, do a search for regedit, hit Enter, and click OK to open
the Registry with admin rights.
2. Scroll down the following path in the Registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\system\currentcontrolset\services\wlansvc\par
ameters\hostednetworksettings

Right-click the HostedNetworkSettings DWORD key, select Delete, and click

Yes to confirm deletion.

3. Restart your computer

4. Open to the Command Prompt and use the following command:

NETSH WLAN show hostednetwork

You will know that you have successfully deleted the settings when the Settings
field reads Not configured.
5. Make sure you turn off "Internet Connection Sharing" in the physical network
adapter that was sharing the internet with other devices. Use the Windows key +
X keyboard shortcut to open the Power User menu, and select Network
Connections.
6. Right-click the network adapter, and select Properties.
7. Click the Sharing tab.
8. Uncheck the Allow other network users to connect through this computer's
Internet connection option.
 9. Click OK to complete the process.

Things you need to know

Although the wireless Hosted Network feature in Windows 10 allows you to implement
an access point solution to share an internet connection with other devices, it's not
meant to be a solution to replace a physical wireless access point.

Also, there are a few things you want to consider. For example, wireless speeds will
dramatically be reduced compared to the rates provided from a physical access point.
Perhaps it would not be a big deal for internet browsing, but downloading or
transferring big files could be an issue for some users.

You also need to consider that your computer needs to be always turned on to act as a
wireless access point. If the computer enters into sleep, hibernate, or restarts, your
wireless hotspot will stop working, and you will need to start manually the feature using
the NETSH WLAN start hostednetwork command.

You cannot run a SorftAP and ad hoc at the same time on Windows. If you need to
create a temporary network connection between two computers, setting up ad hoc will
turn off SoftAP — you can run one or the other, not both at the same time.

Wrapping things up
Wireless Hosted Network is a nifty feature in Windows can be a great tool to have for
when you need to create a wireless access point on the go. It won't match the
performance of a physical wireless access point, but it can be useful for many
unexpected scenarios — like having one wired ethernet connection and several devices
you want to get online. It's not a replacement for the real thing, but in a sticky situation,
it can be just the fix you need.