How to turn your Windows PC into a VPN hotspot
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VPN technology has a lot of great advantages. You can spoof your location to access blocked services. Your browsing is hidden from your ISP. You can even improve your browsing speeds on a throttled connection.
The problem is that most VPN subscriptions only come with a few device slots, which means you have to either buy an expensive VPN-capable router or rotate your devices.
Even worse, some devices don’t have native VPN apps at all. This can include your media box, game console, and more. So, is there a way to share a single VPN connection without having to buy a VPN router? The answer is yes!
All for one and one for all
Everyone now realizes that you can share your mobile or tablet data connection with other devices. All you have to do is turn on the Mobile Hotspot option on the device, and you are good to go.
Did you know that you can do the same with a laptop or desktop computer with WiFi? Basically, you connect your computer to your router using an Ethernet cable. Then when the devices connect to this computer through WiFi, they can use the protected VPN connection. There are several ways in which this can be achieved, but we will start looking for one of the easiest.
Use special software
There are more than a few free software packages to help you create a WiFi hotspot on your Windows PC right away. Not only that but with most of these programs, you can also define which network connection should be your internet source for all devices that share WiFi. For example, Virtual Router 1.0 automatically setup and enable the virtual WiFi hotspot. It also lets you choose which internet connection you want to share. Just remember to connect to the VPN server using its client software so that all traffic through your connection is protected.
if you are on Windows 10 You don’t even need to use special software. Simply right-click on the network icon in the system tray.
Choose “Open Network Internet Settings” then click on “Mobile Hotspot” then enable internet sharing for your protected connection.
Create a WiFi hotspot manually
If for some reason you don’t want to use software to set up your virtual WiFi router, you can do that manually as well. This includes using the Windows Command Prompt. This may feel a little intimidating. However, it is actually quite simple, and you will get the hang of it in no time.
Windows 7 and 8 basically use the same set of steps to do this. Here’s how to create a so-called “hosted network” on Windows.
Step 1: Go to Command Prompt
Command Prompt is a simple text shell where you can enter commands directly into the operating system. This includes commands that are not available through the normal graphical interface.
To access the Command Prompt, you need to find a Windows application called “cmd”. In Windows 7 and later, all you have to do is type “cmd” into the start menu search bar and it will appear. Don’t just press it; We want to run it as administrator. So right click on it and choose Run as Administrator.
Depending on your user account type, you will either have to agree to this with a single click or type in a password to accept it.
Step 2: Find Hosted Network Support
Now that the Command Prompt is open, you can type in the commands. Type NETSH WLAN SHOW DRIVER To see the details of the installed network drivers. We only do this the first time. why? Because we have to check if your computer is set up to run on a hosted network.
Look for the text that says “Hosted network supported: Yes”. If there is, we’re good to go.
What do you do if he says “no”?
If not, you will have to make sure that your version of Windows is updated to the latest patch level.
If it still doesn’t indicate support even after the update, then maybe your WiFi adapter doesn’t support it at all. In this case, your only real option is to use a different adapter. After making sure that your computer supports hosted networks, you can close and then restart Command Prompt as in Step 1.
Step Three: Create the Hosted Network
Here comes the part where you actually create the hosted network. Write the following:
netsh wlan set hosted network mode = allow ssid = choose one key = choose one
Where you wrote “choose one”, you need to replace the text with your own choice. The SSID is the name of the network that you will see on other devices. The passphrase is the password that you will need to enter when connecting to another device.
This is what it should look like:
Step 4: Start the hosted network
Now we actually want to activate the network. To do this enter the following command:
start the hosted network netsh wlan
If everything is OK, you will see the message “The Hosted Network Started”.
Step 5: Share your internet connection
Fortunately, we are now done fiddling with the Command Prompt. At least until you want to restart the hosted network again.
If users connect to the network now, all they can access is each other. To give them a VPN-protected internet connection, we have to share it.
Find “Network and Sharing Center” in the start menu and open it.
Now click on the adapter that connects you to the Internet.
Then click on “Properties”. This opens the properties of the adapter as you can see here. Now click on Share.
Now check the box that allows other users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection. Under Home Network Connection, choose Microsoft Hosted Virtual Adapter. Click OK, and you’re done.
Alternatively, if you’re using a Windows 10 device like me, just right-click on the network icon in the system tray. Choose “Open Internet Settings”.
From here the steps are the same as above.
That’s all I have, folks!
Since your VPN is online and active, any device you connect to the virtual WiFi should have full VPN protection. If you restart your computer, you will have to start the virtual network again, but once you are done, it won’t be too much of a hassle.
If you are still looking for a good VPN to use for your home security, why not give ExpressVPN a try? It’s one of our favorite services and supports an incredibly wide range of devices. It’s definitely one of the elite options in our book.
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