How to make my laptop a WiFi Hotspot (using internet from USB 3G device)

Question

I own a USB 3G Device to access internet on my Windows 7 laptop. I am interested in using this internet connection on my Android Cell Phone too. So, I plan to make my laptop a WiFi hotspot so that I can use WiFi to share my internet connection with my cell phone. Can someone guide me how to do so?

Note: Free or open-source software considerable.

Answer 1

You couldn't do it before Windows 7... because no previous version of Windows included the Virtual WiFi components. So, if you want to do this with XP or Vista, forget about it.

Now. If you do have Windows 7, you can use Virtual Router. It's still in Beta, so it's Free. You could also try Connectify, and see if the limited lite version fits your needs , or you can use the MyRouter.

Answer 2

You can create an ad-hoc wireless network on your laptop, and then share USB 3G modem internet connection with this ad-hoc network so that every device which will connect to the ad-hoc network will have an Internet access.

How to Share Internet Connection with Ad Hoc Network on Windows 7

With some chinese cheap modems I got BSODs several times after an hour of work.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

On your laptop connected to local connection: open cmd and run the following commands

netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=name_of_network key=password
netsh wlan start hostednetwork

then active the sharing of this local connection to this new created miniport wifi connection.

On your Android cell, active wifi features, then select the name_of_network and fill in the password.

If other connections instead of local connection, shared the internet from it to the miniport wifi connection.

Answer 4

The best way is to download mHotspot (Turn your Windows 7 & 8 laptop into Wi-Fi hotspot and make a virtual Wi-Fi router)

• Install and run mHotspot

• Then open Run command box (using pressing Windows + R key in your Keyboard). Type ncpa.cpl and hit Enter.

• You will see that a new window is open. Select the Wireless network adapter (mHotspot) from the Network and sharing center. After that right click and select Properties

• Now switch the tab to Sharing tab and click on the check box right to Allow Other Users to Connect Through this computer’s Internet connection and uncheck the second option Allow Other Users to Control.

• Make sure that your firewall does not block your phone from connecting to your hotspot

Answer 5

As correctly pointed out, Connectify Hotspot is a paid product. However, there are many free alternatives available.

I used MyPublicWiFi and it works fine. Just a word of caution: Most of these programs get stuck at WiFi saying they're obtaining an IP address. This is due to your security setting.

I first uninstalled my firewall and turned on the Windows firewall. Then I installed the hotspot software and allowed the permission for it in Windows firewall when prompted. After that I tested out for everything working fine. Then I reinstalled the firewall. That resolved the problem.