Transform Windows7 computer into a wireless router

In the usual process of surfing the internet, it is inevitable to encounter some network problems, at this time we need to look at the status of network connectivity, to find the root cause of the problem.

In Windows XP, everyone opens the Network Connections window from the Start menu or Control Panel to check for network problems, but for a Windows7 novice it seems a bit difficult to find the window, and searching for "network Connections" in Control Panel is not available. At this point, you should think of the last introduction of the "Network and Sharing Center", because this centralized network related to the regular configuration, here can find clues?

Try clicking on the "Change adapter Settings" task at the top left, see, the "Network Connections" window was hidden here, and we can see the settings and status of the NIC in the computer as we did in XP:

But some students may find that there is a number of these network cards called "Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter" Things, by name appears to be Microsoft's virtual WiFi network card. How could a computer have such a thing for no reason? is another Windows7 hidden function found?

Yes, this is indeed the Windows7 of the new features-"virtual Wifi", embarrassed to sell to everyone in front of a big one. In simple terms, Windows7 can be in the existing wireless network card on the basis of virtual a wireless card, support network sharing, so that our computer into a wireless router Oh! It seems that now "virtual" is really everywhere ah.

Some students may know that before, in fact, can also establish a temporary network to other Wifi devices to share the Internet Ah, the virtual WiFi network card what new advantages?

The traditional temporary wireless network (ad hoc mode) is a point-to-point network, similar to the "dual-computer interconnection" in the wired network, although it can also achieve Internet sharing, but mainly for the temporary interconnection of two devices, and some devices (such as the use of Android devices) are not supported to connect to the temporary wireless network. There is also a serious problem, because a wireless network card can only be connected to a wireless networks, so if you connect to the Internet through the wireless card, you can no longer use this wireless network card to establish a temporary networks, share the Internet.

The virtual WiFi in Windows7 can be a real wireless network card on the basis of a virtual network card, the wireless router to achieve the AP function, solve all the problems of the temporary network.

So tempting function, now hurriedly teach everybody:

1. Run the command prompt as an administrator

Because the following steps must run under administrator privileges, we find the command prompt from the Start menu, or type cmd Quick Search, right-click it, select Run as Administrator, and click Yes in the pop-up User Control window. Another way to do this is to hold down the CTRL and SHIFT keys and click the shortcut directly, even simpler.

2. Enable and set the "Virtual WiFi network card" mode

Run the following command to enable the virtual wireless network card (equivalent to opening the router):

Netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid= "Win7 AP wow!" Key=wifimima

There are three parameters in this command:

Mode: If the virtual WiFi card is enabled, the disallow is disabled and the virtual NIC disappears.

Ssid: Specifies the name of the wireless network, preferably in English.

Key: Specifies the password for the wireless network. The password is used for secure WPA2 encryption of the wireless network, which can prevent the net from being rubbed well.

The above three parameters can actually be used alone, such as using only Mode=disallow to disable the virtual WiFi card directly.

3. Enable Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)

To share the connected Internet with other computers or devices, we need to enable the Internet Connection Sharing feature. Open the Network Connections window, right-click a network connection that is connected to the Internet, select Properties, switch to the Sharing tab, select the check box, and select the network connection that allows it to share the internet here is our virtual WiFi card:

Once identified, a shared flag appears next to the shared network card icon, indicating that Internet Connection Sharing is open to the virtual wireless card:

4. Open the Wireless network

Continue to run the following command at the command prompt:

Netsh wlan start hostednetwork

You can turn on the wireless network that we have set up previously (equivalent to the wireless function of opening the router). Similarly, you can turn off the wireless network by changing start to stop.

As you can see, the virtual wireless network card has opened the wireless networks we have specified, and its IP address and other properties are assigned by the Internet Connection Sharing service, and are therefore more specific:

Everything is ready, and finally you can surf the internet simply by connecting the wireless network to a computer or mobile phone that needs to be networked:

What needs to say is, "virtual WiFi card", the driver that needs the real network card is designed and developed specifically for WINDOWS7. Fortunately, as long as through the "Windows7 logo certification" Wireless network card driver Support this mode, we choose the wireless network card directly to find whether the logo can be. If the virtual wireless network card does not appear in the network connection after the Mode=allow command is run, the feature is not supported by the real NIC. You can upgrade the NIC driver to the latest Windows7 version to try.

In addition to using the command to set up virtual WiFi, Microsoft also exposes its programming interface, providing the possibility for developing graphical setup programs, such as free software connectify to visually set up virtual WiFi capabilities, Students can download it on their official website: www.connectify.me

In short, today's introduction of this feature is very suitable for family or student dormitory use, as long as the sharing of the computer does not sleep does not shut down, you can and the same router to provide network sharing. Using Windows7 can also save you the cost of buying a wireless router, think about it.