Your Laptop or Windows PC Can Become a Wi-Fi Hotspot
You’ll have to spend a lot of time learning about Windows before you’ve exhausted all the features and functionality it has to offer, and one of the lesser-known features of the operating system is the ability to act as a Wi-Fi hotspot. so that other devices can connect to it and access the Internet through the same network connection.
In many cases this can be useful. Perhaps you’re traveling and your laptop is connected to a cellular network, in which case you can create a hotspot and connect your tablet and Kindle, which don’t have cellular service, to it.
Or maybe you’re struggling to get Wi-Fi to every corner of your home: your laptop or desktop might act as a repeater, sharing a Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection with anything around it and going out of range installed router.
There’s a slight problem with the Wi-Fi extender scenario because the hotspot network created by Windows will be separate from the network created by your router, so you’ll have two Wi-Fi networks in your home rather than one, but that’s not that big of a deal . this causes a lot of inconvenience and, of course, does not detract from the benefits of this process.
How to create a hotspot in Windows
Open Settings from the Start menu, then select Network & Internet and Mobile Hotspot . From the “Share my Internet connection ” drop-down menu, you can choose which of your computer’s Internet connections you want to use as the basis of the hotspot: you may only have one connection, but it’s possible that your laptop or desktop is connected. for example, for both Wi-Fi and Ethernet.
Click Share to set up internet connection sharing: Wi-Fi will be the best choice for most scenarios, but you can also share online access via Bluetooth if you need to. Directly below it is a toggle switch to turn power saving on or off—if it’s turned on, the access point will automatically turn off after a while if no devices are connected.
Under the Properties heading, you’ll see details about the Wi-Fi hotspot you’re creating (click the little arrow on the right if they’re not already visible). Click “Edit” to set your own network name and password, or you can leave the default values - you will need this data to connect other devices. On some computers, depending on your hardware, you will also be able to choose to broadcast the network in the slower, longer 2.4 GHz band or the faster, shorter 5 GHz band.
All that’s left is to turn on the Mobile Hotspot toggle at the top of the window, and your Wi-Fi hotspot is turned on – you can then connect other devices using the login credentials you’ve already provided. From trying to connect more devices online in a hotel room without having to register them individually, or wanting to expand Wi-Fi coverage in a finished attic, this Windows feature may be more useful than you originally thought.