Wi-Fi
lets us share the Internet and files among multiple computers. In your home or
small office this is all made possible by your wireless router. However, you
can also create a virtual wireless router on your computer, taking it anywhere
you go, great for mobile or temporary uses.
Creating
a virtual wireless router can extend the wireless Internet signal in your home
or office to a computer that's just outside the coverage of your main wireless
router. Another use is that you can purchase Internet access for one computer
at a hotel or Wi-Fi hotspot and share it with other people or devices. Plus you
have a mobile wireless router in case you want to share files with other people
or devices, in the car, at a café, in a meeting, anywhere.
Now
we'll look at a couple different ways you can create a virtual wireless router.
Create a Wireless Hosted Network in Windows 7 With Netsh
Microsoft
included a virtual Wi-Fi feature in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 that
lets you connect to a normal wireless network and at the same time create a
virtual wireless network with that same wireless adapter. However, you must use
a command-line tool called Netsh to create and manage the virtual router, which
Microsoft calls a Wireless Hosted Network. There are third-party programs to
help configure this functionality with a GUI (as discussed in the next
section), however we'll first review the commands.
First,
you'll want to enable the Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) feature of Windows
7 so the Internet access is shared with users on the Wireless Hosted Network.
Open
the Network Connections window, right-click the network adapter that's
connected to the Internet and select Properties. Then select the Sharing tab,
check the Allow other network users to connect through this computer's
Internet connection, choose the network connection name of the Microsoft
Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter from the drop-down box, and click OK.
Now
open the Command Prompt: click
Start > All
Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt.
Set
the network details:
netsh
wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=YourVirtualNetworkName key=YourNetworkPassword
Start
the Wireless Hosted Network:
netsh
wlan start hostednetwork
To
stop the Wireless Hosted Network:
netsh
wlan stop hostednetwork
To
see the Wireless Hosted Network details, including the MAC addresses of
connected users:
netsh
wlan show hostednetwork
Make an Ad-Hoc Wireless Network with Any Windows (or other OS)
If
you can't use a Windows 7 computer to host the virtual Wi-Fi router, you can
create an ad-hoc (or computer-to-computer) wireless network. This will appear
slightly different than a typical wireless network to other devices but works
on all Windows versions and operating systems and is supported on all wireless
adapters.
If
you want to share the Internet among all the computers, someone must connect
via an Ethernet cable to a router or port for the Internet. Or if someone has
two wireless adapters they could connect to the Internet source on one and then
connect to the ad-hoc network on the other. To share the Internet they could
use the Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) feature of Windows, such as explained
in the first section.
When
you create a Wireless Hosted Network in Windows 7, either with Netsh commands
or Connectify, the use of WPA2 encryption is required. People can only connect
to your virtual wireless network if they know the encryption key/password.
However, people that connect may be able to view and/or edit your files if you
have file sharing enabled. If you don't trust the other people, ensure you
disable file sharing using the Network and Sharing Center.
If you create an ad-hoc
wireless network, remember to use encryption if you want to control who
connects. You'll probably be limited to using WEP, which requires a 5 or 13
characters. Keep in mind, this encryption is hackable so use carefully. Once
people connect, the same thing applies as discussed above; disable file sharing
if you don't want them to access your shares
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