Softwares to turn a USB wifi dongle into a hotspot ?

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sabby

sabby

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I do have a router but that would require space on my table and more wires so prefer the wifi dongle to act as wifi hotspot. Can you guys recommend some good free software ?
 
Which internet connection do you want to share? Wired, wireless, USB dongle?

You can try the open source Virtual Router Plus which is easy to use or the free/paid app called Connectify.

Do post a guide once you are able to setup everything as needed.
 
Thanks @Renegade That tool looks neat. I was searching and got to know about two more tools - connectify (you already mentioned) and mypublicwifi. I'll try all three of them once I receive my wifi dongle and post a short guide here. :)

P.S. I have a wired BB connection via direct LAN.
 
Unless your usage is very limited, just buy the cheapest router you can get - even a g model should be better as the amount of power saved is huge.

Disclaimer : Unless your PC is on 24 x 7 :P
 
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vivek.krishnan said:
Unless your usage is very limited, just buy the cheapest router you can get - even a g model should be better as the amount of power saved is huge.

Disclaimer : Unless your PC is on 24 x 7 :p
Click to expand...
I will mainly use the wifi for my phone, so yeah - usage won't be much. Like I said, I already have a router just don't want to setup and add extra wire.Besides, My computer is usually on whenever I'm home (and not sleeping ;) )[DOUBLEPOST=1400524940][/DOUBLEPOST]A little update. I installed Virtual Router Plus and mypublicwifi. The first one seems not properly installed in Win 7 and it also installs the browser hijacker conduit search protect. I'd advise people aginst using it. The 'mypublicwifi' tool installed properly and the UI is simple and straight forward. I'll update after I get the wifi dongle tomorrow.
 
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sabby said:
I will mainly use the wifi for my phone, so yeah - usage won't be much. Like I said, I already have a router just don't want to setup and add extra wire.Besides, My computer is usually on whenever I'm home (and not sleeping ;) )[DOUBLEPOST=1400524940][/DOUBLEPOST]A little update. I installed Virtual Router Plus and mypublicwifi. The first one seems not properly installed in Win 7 and it also installs the browser hijacker conduit search protect. I'd advise people aginst using it. The 'mypublicwifi' tool installed properly and the UI is simple and straight forward. I'll update after I get the wifi dongle tomorrow.
Click to expand...

I was under the impression that Virtual Router Plus was the same as Virtual Router, which is free and hosted on codeplex. Guess not, its a now a scumbag software. Did you not get option of not installing the Conduit crap?

http://virtualrouter.codeplex.com/

I had also tried with the netstat tool command line, that too worked earlier.
 
I use connectify, there is another software with them called dispatch. You will find good deals on them once a week at least for a lifetime license.
 
Connectify has a 90 mins limit I guess.
Anyway, mypublicwifi worked like a charm. :) Set up in a minute.

Edit: I think there's a memory leak in this.
 
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right now I am also trying to setup this wifi hotspot on my laptop from mts data card
none of the above procedures are working
anybody here successfully created wifi hotspot from win7 laptop with mts data card......need help
 
Okay, after trying out all the options mentioned in this thread - I'll recommend mhotspot as suggested by boogeyman. That is the most fuss free app. However, I do want to inform that none of the above will work unless you manually share the Internet connection to the WiFi connection (Wireless Network Connection 2 with the SSID you give in the app as Name) created by the app. Its a one time activity.
 
^^ or just type following two lines on command prompt to start using WiFi hotspot:
Code: 
netsh wlan set hostednetwork ssid=<type any SSID> key=<type a password> keyUsage=persistent mode=allow
netsh wlan start hostednetwork
 
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I am trying to share my dongle internet connection via wi-fi using netsh method and also mHostspot but am unable to do so.

Method#1
According to this guide (http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/tutorial...ate-Wireless-Hosted-Networks-in-Windows-7.htm), there must be a Wireless network Connection 2 for the Virtual wifi access point thing to work.
The wireless card in my laptop is Realtek RTL8187B Wireless 802.11b/g 54Mbps USB 2.0.
upload_2014-6-8_2-20-53.png

As you can see, there is no Wireless Network Connection 2 here.

I setup the hosted network via the (netsh wlan set hostednetwork ssid=<type any SSID> key=<type a password> keyUsage=persistent mode=allow) command.
Then turned on Internet Sharing in the properties of my USB modem(MBlaze USB Modem).
Then I try to start the hosted network. I get this output.
upload_2014-6-8_2-24-19.png


Method #2
Then I downloaded mHotspot and tried to start the hotspot. I repeatedly get the following error -
upload_2014-6-8_2-26-37.png


Is this because my wireless card does not support the HostedNetworks feature?
 
Updated my card drivers from the Realtek website. Now it supports HostedNetwork.

Before installing the new driver
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Lappy>netsh wlan show drivers

Interface name: Wireless Network Connection

Driver : Realtek RTL8187B Wireless 802.11b/g 54Mbps USB 2.0 Network Adapter
Vendor : Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Provider : Microsoft
Date : 3/23/2009
Version : 6.1159.323.2009
INF file : C:\Windows\INF\net8187bv32.inf
Files : 1 total
C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\RTL8187B.sys
Type : Native Wi-Fi Driver
Radio types supported : 802.11g 802.11b
FIPS 140-2 mode supported : No
Hosted network supported : No
Authentication and cipher supported in infrastructure mode:
Open None
Open WEP-40bit
Shared WEP-40bit
Open WEP-104bit
Shared WEP-104bit
Open WEP
Shared WEP
WPA-Enterprise TKIP
WPA-Personal TKIP
WPA2-Enterprise TKIP
WPA2-Personal TKIP
WPA-Enterprise CCMP
WPA-Personal CCMP
WPA2-Enterprise CCMP
WPA2-Personal CCMP
Authentication and cipher supported in ad-hoc mode:
Open None
Open WEP-40bit
Open WEP-104bit
Open WEP
WPA2-Personal CCMP
Click to expand...

After installing the driver
C:\Users\Lappy>netsh wlan show drivers

Interface name: Wireless Network Connection

Driver : Realtek RTL8187B Wireless 802.11b/g 54Mbps USB 2.0 Network Adapter
Vendor : Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Provider : Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Date : 11/5/2009
Version : 62.1181.1105.2009
INF file : C:\Windows\INF\oem34.inf
Files : 1 total
C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\RTL8187B.sys
Type : Native Wi-Fi Driver
Radio types supported : 802.11g 802.11b
FIPS 140-2 mode supported : No
Hosted network supported : Yes
Authentication and cipher supported in infrastructure mode:
Open None
WPA2-Personal CCMP
WPA-Enterprise TKIP
WPA-Personal TKIP
WPA2-Enterprise TKIP
WPA2-Personal TKIP
WPA-Enterprise CCMP
WPA-Personal CCMP
WPA2-Enterprise CCMP
Open WEP-40bit
Shared WEP-40bit
Open WEP-104bit
Shared WEP-104bit
Open WEP
Shared WEP
Authentication and cipher supported in ad-hoc mode:
Open None
Open WEP-40bit
Open WEP-104bit
Open WEP
WPA2-Personal CCMP
Click to expand...
upload_2014-6-8_11-57-56.png


I setup the SSID, turn on internet sharing in my USB modem connection properties and then start the hosted network. It says Hosted Network turned on. I can see my SSID in the network connections popup. But my phone/tablet(Moto G, Nexus7) is unable to see the SSID.
upload_2014-6-8_11-57-56.png
 
^^ is turning on "internet sharing" required? i've no idea about this... i used it last on Win98.

for my system, i don't need to touch any settings at all and i just use netsh command. in fact, software like connectify and all showed inconsistent behaviour. i rely so much on netsh that i've made some batch files for quick action
stat.png
i think these software use windows' inbuilt features (like netsh) to enable hostedWiFi... ie, they don't have their own libraries.
 
how to check if my wlan adapter is supported hostednetwork or not?
mine is broadcom 802.11n network adapter.
 
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