Any computer with a wifi adapter can be configured as a virtual wifi router without the use of third-party programs. But every time you restart your computer, you will have to create the virtual network again.

Let's figure out what is the peculiarity of creating a virtual router using only one operating system, and using special programs.

Creating a virtual router using Windows

Remember that the main requirement when creating a virtual network by means of the operating system is that the client connected devices must work with WPA2-PSK / AES encryption. Otherwise, they will not be able to connect to your virtual router.

Access point creation

To implement a virtual network, you need to open the command line, and on behalf of the administrator run the command - nеtsh wlan set hоstednetwork mode \u003d allоwed ssid \u003d "My Virtuаl Wi-Fi" key \u003d "Password" keyUsаge \u003d persistent

Command values:

• My Virtual Wi-Fi is the name of the wireless network. Come up with any so that you can find it in the list of wifi networks.
• Pаssword - password for access to the created network.

Running command

After implementing this command, a network card should appear in your device manager - "Micrоsoft virtual WiFi mini-port adapter", and a wireless network connection should appear in the network connections folder 2.

Virtual router adapter

To start your virtual network, open the command line again and enter this command - nеtsh wlan start hоstednetwork. The network should now work, you can check this by looking for wireless networks on any wifi device. If you want to turn off the virtual router, then in the command line instead of - start, enter - stop, and the network will stop broadcasting.

Removing an access point

To remove a virtual router from a computer, you need to execute the command in the command line as administrator - nеtsh wlan set hоstednetwork mode \u003d disаllow.

Now the virtual router adapter will disappear from the device manager.

Access to the Internet from a virtual router

Go to the Networking and Sharing Center, then change the adapter parameters. You should select your Internet connection, go to its properties. There go to the tab - access. Check the box next to the inscription - allow other network users to use the Internet connection of this computer. Specify the connection that you grant access to below. We have a wireless network connection 2.

Selecting a connection property

We check, connect to the created network, try to go online.

In this version of creating a virtual router, everything is good and fast, but there is one inconvenience - when you restart the computer, all the manipulations described above will have to be repeated. Therefore, in order to avoid this, you can use special software to implement virtual networks. It simplifies setup and does not have to start all over again every time you restart your computer.

Creating a virtual router using the app

On the Internet, you can find dozens of applications that help create virtual networks. But now we will consider one of them, this is mHotspot. A small application that does not require installation, consisting of a single file.

Download the program from the Internet, run the executable file, the following window should appear.

Mhotspot app menu

The Mhotspot application menu has three buttons: "SETUP HOTSPOT", "START", "STOP". First press - SETUP HOTSPOT, this is the access point setting.

Setting up Mhotspot

Now we enter data from the appropriate fields: Hotspot name - write the name of the future virtual network, this name will be displayed during the search for wireless networks. Password -write the password, it will have to be entered to access the virtual network. This measure will protect your network from unauthorized users. We save by pressing the button - Ok. That's it, you can press the Start button, and your virtual router should work.

Setting up the distribution of the Internet

Now we need to configure the distribution of the Internet from an existing connection. Go to: Control Panel - Network and Internet - Network and Sharing Center - Change adapter settings.

Virtual wireless connection

In this window, we are looking for Wireless Network Connection 2. Hover the mouse over it, an inscription should appear - Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter. For convenience, it is possible to rename it to - Virtual WiFi. Now find your internet connection.

There can be several of these connections, because you can use the Internet from a 3G modem or via a provider's cable. Choose exactly what you want to distribute the Internet from.

Go to the properties of the selected connection and check the boxes following the example of the picture below.

Internet access

After pressing the button - Ok, you need to reconnect this Internet connection, and the virtual router should distribute the Internet.

When you restart your computer, if you want to distribute the Internet via wifi, just run the application - Mhotspot and click - Start. Now you don't need to enter anything, because the program remembered the data entered earlier. The application can be closed, the virtual router will continue to distribute the Internet.

How to set up a Virtual Wi-Fi connection

Let's imagine the following situation: you have a laptop or computer running Windows 10 with Internet access (via cable or USB modem) at home, and besides, you have a tablet, smartphone, TV, etc., which would also be nice. it would not be difficult to connect to the Internet, of course, if there was a Wi-Fi router, but what to do when there are a lot of devices, there is no router, but everyone wants the Internet.

There is a way out, you can configure the distribution of the Internet via Wi-Fi directly from a laptop or from a stationary PC (provided there is a discrete or external Wi-Fi adapter in it), i.e. create a virtual access point (Hot Spot), essentially turning your computer into a Wi-Fi router.

All this, of course, can be implemented using the standard Windows tools (), but for most people it will not be so easy to understand all the intricacies of such a setting, so it would be much more convenient to use the free Switch Virtual Router program to distribute the Internet via Wi-Fi, which will help it is easy for every PC user to create and run a virtual access point.

Program setting

• Download the program via a direct link;
• Installation is not required, it is enough to extract files from the archive (for example, using an archiver or);
• Run VirtualRouterPlus.exe;
• Fill in the Network Name (SSID) field - you can come up with any name, in our example "alpinefile";
• Password - set a password, a combination of letters (Latin) and numbers, but, of course, it is better not to enter a password like ours "12345678", think of something more complicated;

• The program is up and running, but that's not all;

• In the left part of the window, click "Change adapter parameters";

• In the window that opens, select the main wireless connection, right-click on it, then "Properties";
• Open the "Access" tab, check the box next to: "Allow other network users to use this computer's connection", then in "Home network connection" select "Local area network connection * 3" (created by Virtual Router Plus, your name may be different ). The order of the above actions is shown in the screenshot;

• That's all, now we can distribute the Internet via Wi-Fi and without a router.

Possible setup problems

If you did everything according to the instructions, the program works correctly, as evidenced by such an icon in the notification area,

but there is no connection, then, with a high degree of probability, it can be argued that the connection is blocked by the firewall installed in the anti-virus program (Dr.Web, for example, does just that). Therefore, do not forget, if necessary, to add the created Internet connection to the exceptions of your antivirus software.

Nowadays, wireless networks are becoming more widespread: they work in train stations, airports, enterprises, and for many users at home. In Windows 7, there was such an option as "virtual WiFi" (Virtual WiFi) - a software layer that creates several virtual adapters from a wireless network card installed in a computer. But first, a little theory.

Wireless networks can operate in two modes

The devices are connected directly to each other. It turns out a simple network (ad-hoc mode). This mode is called point-to-point. This mode is used quite rarely and, mainly, for data exchange in the case when it is not possible to use an access point.

The devices are connected via an Access Point (AP). This mode is called Infrastructure Mode and is usually used in conjunction with a wireless router connected to the Internet.

It should be noted that the simultaneous use of two modes of operation of a wireless network on one physical wireless adapter is not provided for by the very concept of WiFi, and this is where the virtualization technology used in Windows 7, which extends the capabilities of adapters, came to the rescue.

What is Virtual WiFi technology

Without going into technical details: in Windows 7, one physical wireless adapter can be turned into several virtual ones, and - attention! - Each of these virtual adapters can be configured to connect to a different wireless network.

What is it for

Hmm ... The question, of course, is an interesting one. Example one: the radio signal from an existing access point does not cover the required distance between it and wireless devices. In this case, a computer or laptop with Virtual WiFi can act as a repeater (repeater), expanding the coverage of the wireless network.

Example two: creating a personal network (Wireless Personal Area Network), to which you can very quickly connect a phone, camera, printer, laptop or any other device with a wireless adapter for simple exchange of information.

Example three: an existing wireless network - with static IP-addresses of devices, but sometimes you need to quickly connect new devices, and without any adjustments (this can be done if the dynamic IP-address allocation mode was enabled. But alas) ...

How Virtual WiFi is Implemented in Windows 7

By the way: Virtual WiFi technology is included not only in Windows 7, but also in Windows 2008 R2.p Virtual WiFi is implemented in the operating system at the kernel level and allows a very simple implementation of a software access point (SoftAP), while the manufacturers of wireless adapters only need one thing is to implement SoftAP support in their drivers (by the way, many have already done this). So far - in the current implementation - Virtual WiFi has the following restrictions: it is allowed to create only one virtual adapter that works only in the access point mode and only with WPA2-PSK / AES encryption By the way, Virtual WiFi technology allows you to connect up to 100 clients to the access point against 8 clients in Intel-promoted My WiFi technology.

Installing, enabling and configuring Virtual WiFi

Testing of Virtual WiFi - installing, enabling and configuring a wireless network - was carried out on an ASUS eeePC 1000H netbook with a built-in Ralink WiFi adapter.

So, first you have to "tinker" a little - call the command line with administrator rights and enter the following command:

netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode \u003d allow ssid \u003d "MS Virtual WiFi" key \u003d "softodrom" keyUsage \u003d persistent

"MS Virtual WiFi" here is the name (SSID) of the virtual network being created, and "softodrom" is the password for accessing the network. Of course, both of these parameters can be changed at your own discretion.

The last parameter - keyUsage \u003d persistent - specifies that the password will be saved and will not have to be specified every time the virtual network needs to be started.

After executing this command, the system will detect new hardware and a new network adapter will appear in Device Manager called "Microsoft Virtual WiFi miniport adapter".

As a clarification: of course, the virtual adapter will appear in the Device Manager only if the driver of the wireless adapter you have installed has support for Virtual WiFi technology.

For greater reliability, let's take a look at Control Panel -\u003e Network and Sharing Center -\u003e Change adapter settings:

As you can see, a new connection "Wireless network connection 2" with the status "No connection" has appeared here (it is already in the picture. More on that below).

Let's move on to launching the network. In the command line launched with administrator rights, run the following command:

After that, a) the network will start (Microsoft called it "Hosted Network") and b) the software access point will start working, which can be verified by going to Control Panel -\u003e Network and Sharing Center.

As we can see, the computer is connected to several wireless networks simultaneously, and now other wireless devices can connect to our newly created software access point.

To provide Internet access to other wireless devices that will connect to our software access point, go to the Control Panel tab -\u003e Network and Sharing Center -\u003e Change adapter settings and in the properties of the adapter through which the computer - in our case eeePC netbook - gets access to the Internet (we have this connection via WiFi, but it can be any of the available ones - Ethernet, WiMax, 3G, etc.) in the "access" tab, check the box "Allow other network users to use the Internet connection this computer. "

In addition, in the "Home network connection" you need to specify which network adapter - in our case, this is "Wireless Network Connection 2" - you should provide the Internet.

Finally, about the client. From the client's side, several wireless networks will be visible, and when connected to an organized access point (previously we assigned it SSID \u003d MS Virtual WiFi), the client will automatically receive an IP address from the internal DHCP server, gain access to the Internet, and at the same time will be separated from the external NAT (Network Address Translation) networks.

A laptop and a mobile phone with WiFi support were used as clients in the test; in both cases, accessing the Internet via a virtual WiFi network was straightforward.

Simplifying WiFi Virtual Network Management

Despite the obvious advantages of Virtual WiFi, using the command line to configure and launch the network for windows-users who are accustomed to clicking on buttons is not to say that it is convenient and familiar, especially since the network will have to start every time after restarting the computer, as well as waking it up from sleep or standby mode.

Unfortunately, there is no built-in graphical interface for Virtual WiFi in the operating system, but, as always in such cases, third-party developers came to the rescue, who released graphical shells for Virtual WiFi - Connectify and. We recommend the second one, and not for some of its software advantages, but simply because in order to download Connectify, you will first have to register on its developer's website, and Virtual Router Manager does not require this.

The principle of using both utilities is very simple: in the corresponding fields you need to specify the SSID of the network and the password for access and click on the Start button, after which the program will start loading along with the launch of the operating system, ensuring the launch of the virtual network. In addition, both the Connectify and Virtual Router Manager utilities show the current connections to the virtual network.

Commands for managing a hosted network

Finally, for lovers of the command line - new commands for managing the hosted network that appeared in Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2:

netsh wlan set hostednetwork allowed / disallowed

Allow or deny network usage

netsh wlan set hostednetwork<идентификатор_SSID>
<парольная_фраза> persistent / temporary

Configuring network parameters, where SSID is the SSID of the network; key - the security key (password) used by the network; keyUsage - Indicates whether the security key is permanent or temporary

netsh wlan show settings

Shows network properties and status

netsh wlan show hostednetwork settings \u003d security

Displays the security settings of the hosted network, including the password set in key when configuring netsh wlan set hostednetwork

netsh wlan start hostednetwork

Launch hosted network

netsh wlan stop hostednetwork

Stop hosted network.

Virtual WiFi Router is a simple and easy-to-use utility that, as the name suggests, can turn your computer or laptop into a Wi-Fi hotspot and "share the Internet" over a short distance. The program is extremely easy to use and configure.

There are not many options in the program. The developers allowed the user to assign a name to the access point, set a password, and limit the number of possible connections. The main window of Virtual WiFi Router displays all connected devices with brief information about them. Immediately after setting, the application can be minimized to the notification panel. It will continue to run in the background. It is also important that the program is completely free. Its only drawback can be considered, perhaps, the fact that it is compatible only with Windows 7 (including the 64-bit version).

Key features and functions

• allows you to turn your computer into an access point in a couple of minutes;
• makes it possible to assign a name and password;
• displays all active connections;
• can work in the background;
• convenient to use and easy to set up.

Virtual router manager is designed to help if you don't have a real wi-fi router, but you need to distribute it. Its main task is to imitate a wi-fi router, so you can forget about any wires and inconveniences. The program is reliable and licensed, it does not have viruses, and you can download the virtual router manager completely free of charge. The program is compatible with Microsoft Windows XP, Seven and higher operating systems.

What devices is the program compatible with?

The key condition for the correct operation of the program is the presence of wi-fi on the sending and receiving devices. Receiving devices can be: iPhone, iPod Touch, netbooks, laptops, audio devices, wireless multifunctional devices, smartphones, phones with Android or Zune, and others. The distribution device (usually a computer) on which the program is installed must have a wi-fi adapter.

Where to download Virtual Router?

You can download the virtual router manager on the official website or on torrents. Please note that the file must only have the extension ".exe" or ".msi". Anyone can customize the program, even without reading the instructions. Using the program is even easier than installing.

How do I get started with the virtual router manager?

To distribute wifi to windows, you will need to perform the simplest manipulations:

• correctly indicate the name of your network;
• enter a password;
• click on the "Start" button.

Entering a password is necessary for the security of the transmitted data, so that another person cannot unauthorizedly connect to your virtual distribution. All devices that you connect via virtual wifi will be displayed in the program window. If necessary, it is even possible to find out the ip and MAC addresses of each device by looking at them in the program window.

Working with the program

At its core, the virtual router manager Russian version is a shell, that is, it is able to perform all the settings for you. To access via wifi, just start the program and then minimize it to the tray. With such actions, every time you turn on the computer, it will automatically start.

Program setting

The setup is reduced to filling or selection in 4 lines:

• to create a wifi network, you need to give it any name in the upper field;
• in the next field, create a password consisting of at least 8 characters;
• in the drop-down menu "Shared Connection" select the connection through which the computer connects to the Internet;
• in the lowest drop-down menu, select the desired connection type.

Press the central button "Start Virtual Router" - the settings are complete. In the same settings window, you will see "Peers Connected", which will display all connected portable devices that will distribute wifi.

How to choose the right connection type?

In order to correctly create a wifi network, you need to select the desired type of connection - this is important! There are two modes: acess point or ad hoc.

• Ad hoc. This mode is a point-to-point connection. Translated into simple language, only one device can be connected to a virtual router.
• Acess point. This mode will allow a large number of receiving devices to be connected to the "access point" (distributing wi-fi device). Possible problems and their elimination