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How to Quickly Share Wi-Fi From Laptop With Virtual Access Point

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I love to play games on my Android smartphone and I use my 3G connection to download them. But some games require you to connect using Wi-Fi before you can download them. Previously, I didnt have a Wi-Fi router in my house, and neither did my smartphone support Ad-Hoc network (until you root it and apply a patch), and that was the reason I was looking for a way to create a virtual access point using my laptop that could then share the internet wirelessly. There are some tools like Connectify and Virtual Router that claim to provide a solution to the above problem but to me they created additional problems rather than solving the one I have. Soon after I installed Connectify, I started having random crashes with the infamous Blue Screen Of Death. Luckily I came across a web service called Virtual Access Point (found on Raymonds blog) that offers an easy solution using the built-in Virtual Wi-Fi technology in Windows 7. So lets see how we can create a virtual access point and share the internet connection without breaking a sweat.
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How to Quickly Share Wi-Fi From Laptop With Virtual Access Point

To begin, visit Virtual Access Point and type in a SSID (any name) and a password (minimum eight characters) and click on the button Turn On Soft AP. Also make sure you have the latest version of Java Runtime Environment installed on your system because it needs Java to work.

When the Virtual Access Point page asks you whether you want to run the Java Runtime Environment on the page, check the always trust option and click on the Run Button. The tool will now create a virtual wireless network connection using the Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter.

Once the access point is up and running its now time to share the internet connection. To share the internet connection to the newly created access point open Control Panel>Network and Internet>Network Connections. You can also open it directly using the link present on the Virtual Access Point home page right after you create a new access point.

Now right-click on the newly created virtual adapter and click Properties.

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Under the Sharing tab check the option Allow other network users to connect through this computers Internet connection and select the connection you want to share. Now click on the OK button and confirm your actions.

Your internet connection will be shared instantly. I tested the newly created access point on my smartphone and I could connect to the internet without any problem.

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Once you are done, click on Turn Off Soft AP button on the Virtual Access Point page. From now on, whenever you create the virtual access point, the internet will be shared by default. If anytime in the future you want to revoke the sharing on the internet, you can do that by changing the properties of the virtual adapter.

My Verdict
Creating virtual access point and sharing the internet has never been this easy. No software, no wizards, no irritating error codes, just open the browser and press a button, thats all (and some easy steps in the network sharing center). So, what do you think about the trick? We will love to hear. Tagged as: wifi, windows 7, wireless

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Written By Ashish M undhra and published on Thursday, January 26th, 2012. Ashish M undhra is a tech blogger from TechPanache and is an enthusiast in the field of technology. A software engineer, he enjoys learning about technological advancements and exploring the gamut of new developments in the field. Once versed with the knowledge, he loves sharing his experiences and experiments with the world.

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Com m unity

fo rva te ra fo rva te ra

7 months ago

Guys... Stop embarrassing yourselves. The easiest way is this: 1. Create an empty .bat file (notepad.exe can do that) for starting a Virtual Wi-Fi, for instance Virtual.Wi-Fi_Start.bat 2. Paste the following code there, change necessary parts (in caps), and save: netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid="MY-VIRTUAL-WIFI-NAME" key="MY-VIRTUAL-WIFI-PASSWORD" keyUsage=persistent netsh wlan start hostednetwork netsh wlan show hostednetwork 3. Create an empty .bat file (notepad.exe can that) for stopping a Virtual Wi-Fi, for instance Virtual.Wi-Fi_Stop.bat 4. Paste the following code there, change necessary parts (in caps), and save: netsh wlan stop hostednetwork netsh wlan show hostednetwork That's it. (dont forget to change wifi name and password in #2) +You need to share the active internet connection, just like article describes, there is no way around this. BUT good that it's a one-time action (unless you need to share a difference connecton: eg. wired instead of wifi and vise sersa) Now every time you need to start a virtual wifi, run file Virtual.Wi-Fi_Start.bat, for stopping run Virtual.Wi-Fi_Stop.bat. THAT'S IT: no stupid java applets, no damaging applications that do this simple staff for you, no memory lost for applications that actually reside in memory for this (no good reason), etc. This works, it's lightning fast and requires ZERO memory and zero effort. nJOY!
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TZS

a day ago parent

This thing doesnt work on my hp 8510p. Is it some driver problem with the wifi adapter or the cable network I am connected to?
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Ab h i j e e t Mu kh e rj e e MOD

7 months ago parent

Thanks for sharing!

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ch a rl to n
0

a month ago Reply Share

i get limited connectivity on my android phone using this method...please help!

Ph i l
0

2 months ago Reply Share

My android tab connects just fine but i can't access the internet :( I can't seem to get this working at all and I'm frustrated :)

An n a b a b e

4 months ago

Hello, have anyone heard about Virtual Hotspot app? I want to use it to share my laptop Internet access with my Blackberry. But I'm not sure whether it could do that, and I want to get more infos before I check it out. Cnt find my desired infos through the website thoughwww.virtualhotspot.net/i.... Could you guys give me some suggestions? Thanks ahead!
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How to Quickly Share Wi-Fi From Laptop With Virtual Access Point
Kn ka m u n yu

5 months ago

"forvatera forvatera Collapse Guys... Stop embarrassing yourselves." i have but its not acess point it seems to be adhoc, the playbook cant pick that up
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Ma n ku l 6 5
0

7 months ago Share

Would this work with an iPad2?

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Ab h i j e e t Mu kh e rj e e MOD
0

7 months ago parent

Yes, once the sharing is set up on the computer, a smartphone or iPad can connect wirelessly to it.
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