Virtual wifi router. Creating a computer network

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In order to distribute the Internet via Wi-Fi, you need a router - a special device. But in most cases, especially at home, you can not even buy it, but turn any computer into a router. All you need for this is a computer with a built-in or external wi-fi adapter and a small program called Virtual Router Plus - a free virtual router.

Thanks to a virtual router, you can distribute wi-fi to all devices in the immediate area - computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones, anything that can receive a signal.

Virtual Router Plus – free virtual router

Virtual Router Plus is a free virtual router in Russian. Thanks to it, any computer with a Wi-Fi adapter can distribute the Internet to other devices that can receive a Wi-Fi signal.

Virtual Router Plus is lightweight, easy to use, has a clear interface, stability, and does not load the system. This is one of the simplest and most intuitive programs for creating a wi-fi point on a computer.

Virtual Router Plus Interface

When you run this program, a window will open in front of you. You need to fill in the following information:

Network name (SSID). Write down what your wi-fi network will be called. I do not recommend using Cyrillic.
Password. Create a password to prevent your neighbors from stealing your Internet.
General connection. Select from the list the Internet connection that you want to distribute through this virtual router. If the required connection is not in the list, then click the “Update” button next to it.

When all the data is filled in, click on the “Launch virtual router plus” button. When Wi-Fi starts to work, you will see a message in the system tray. After this, you can try to connect to the Internet using a variety of devices.

Currently, wireless networks are becoming increasingly widespread: they work at train stations, airports, and enterprises, and for many users at home. In Windows 7, an option appeared called “virtual WiFi” - a software layer that creates several virtual adapters from the wireless network card installed in the computer. But first, a little theory.

Wireless networks can operate in two modes

The devices are connected directly to each other. The result is 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 cases where it is not possible to use an access point.

Devices are connected via an access point (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 wireless network operation on one physical wireless adapter is not provided for by the WiFi concept itself, and this is where the virtualization technology used in Windows 7, which expands the capabilities of adapters, comes 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 different wireless networks.

What is it for

Hmm... The question is, of course, interesting.p 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 area 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 information exchange.

Example three: an existing wireless network with static IP addresses of devices, but sometimes you need to quickly connect new devices, without any adjustments or adjustments (this can be done if the mode for allocating dynamic IP addresses 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 for a very simple implementation of a software access point (SoftAP), while only requiring wireless adapter manufacturers to one thing is to implement SoftAP support in your drivers (many, by the way, have already done this). So far - in the current implementation - Virtual WiFi has the following limitations: it is allowed to create only one virtual adapter, operating only in 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 an access point versus 8 clients in Intel's My WiFi technology.

Installing, enabling and configuring Virtual WiFi

Testing the operation of Virtual WiFi - installing, turning on 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 play around a little - call the command prompt with administrator rights and enter the following command:

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

The last parameter - keyUsage=persistent - determines that the password will be saved and will not have to be specified every time you need to start a virtual network.

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

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

To be more reliable, let's look at Control Panel -> Network and Sharing Center -> Change adapter settings:

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

Let's move on to launching the network. In a command prompt running with administrator rights, run the following command:

After this, a) the network will start (Microsoft called it “Hosted Network”) and b) the software access point will work, which you can verify by going to Control Panel -> 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 -> Network and Sharing Center -> 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 a WiFi connection, 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 "Connecting a home network" you need to indicate which network adapter - in our case it is "Wireless Network Connection 2" - the Internet should be provided to.

Finally, about the client. From the client side, several wireless networks will be visible, and when connecting to an organized access point (previously we assigned it SSID = 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 be separated from the external NAT (Network Address Translation) networks.

The clients used in the test were a laptop and a WiFi-enabled mobile phone; in both cases, accessing the Internet via a virtual WiFi network did not cause any difficulties.

Simplifying virtual WiFi network management

Despite the obvious advantages of Virtual WiFi, using the command line to configure and start a network for Windows users who are accustomed to pressing buttons is not convenient and familiar, especially since they will have to start the network every time after rebooting 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 by releasing graphical shells for Virtual WiFi - Connectify and . We recommend the second one, not for any of its software advantages, but simply because in order to download Connectify, you will first have to register on the website of its developer, and Virtual Router Manager does not require this.

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

Commands for Managing a Hosted Network

Finally, for command line connoisseurs, there are new commands for managing a hosted network that appeared in Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2:

netsh wlan set hostednetwork allowed/disallowed

Allow or deny network use

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

Configuring network parameters, where SSID is the SSID of the network; key - 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=security

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

netsh wlan start hostednetwork

Launch a hosted network

netsh wlan stop hostednetwork

Stop the hosted network.

Wireless networks can operate in two modes:

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

What is Virtual WiFi technology

What is it for

Hmm... The question is, of course, interesting.
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 area of the wireless network.

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.

Virtual WiFi is implemented in the operating system at the kernel level and allows for a very simple implementation of a software access point (SoftAP), while the only thing required from wireless adapter manufacturers is to implement SoftAP support in their drivers (many, by the way, have already done this).

So far - in the current implementation - Virtual WiFi has the following limitations: only one virtual adapter can be created, operating only in 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 an access point versus 8 clients in the My WiFi technology promoted by Intel.

Installing, enabling and configuring Virtual WiFi

Testing the operation of Virtual WiFi - installing, turning on 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 play around a little - call the command prompt with administrator rights and enter the following command:

netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid="MS Virtual WiFi" key="softodrom" keyUsage=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=persistent - determines that the password will be saved and will not have to be specified every time you need to start a virtual network.

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

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

To be more reliable, let’s look at Control Panel –> Network and Sharing Center –> Change adapter settings:

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

Let's move on to launching the network. In a command prompt running with administrator rights, run the following command:

netsh wlan start hostednetwork

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.

In addition, in "Connecting a home network" you need to indicate which network adapter - in our case it is "Wireless Network Connection 2" - the Internet should be provided to.

The clients used in the test were a laptop and a WiFi-enabled mobile phone; in both cases, accessing the Internet via a virtual WiFi network did not cause any difficulties.

Simplifying virtual WiFi network management

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 and released graphical shells for Virtual WiFi - Connectify and Virtual Router Manager. We recommend using the first one (Connectify), since its developer is constantly working to improve it and regularly releases new versions, and the development of Virtual Router Manager is still in the beta stage, with the last beta version dating back to 2009.

Commands for Managing a Hosted Network

Finally, for command line connoisseurs, there are new commands for managing a hosted network that appeared in Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2:

netsh wlan set hostednetwork allowed/disallowed – allow or deny network use

netsh wlan set hostednetwork persistent/temporary - setting up network parameters, where SSID is the SSID of the network; key - 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 its status

netsh wlan show hostednetwork settings=security – displays the security settings of the hosted network, including the password specified in key when configuring netsh wlan set hostednetwork

netsh wlan start hostednetwork - start a hosted network

netsh wlan stop hostednetwork - stop the hosted network.

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

Let's figure out what is special about 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 using the operating system is that the connected client devices must work with WPA2-PSK/AES encryption. Otherwise, they will not be able to connect to your virtual router.

Creating an access point

To implement a virtual network, you need to open the command line and, as an administrator, run the command: netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allowed ssid=”My Virtual Wi-Fi” key=”Password” keyUsage=persistent

Command meanings:

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

Running a command

After implementing this command, a network card should appear in your device manager - “Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter”, and wireless network connection 2 should appear in the network connections folder.

Virtual router adapter

To start your virtual network, open the command line again and enter this command - netsh wlan start hostednetwork. Now the network should work, you can check this by searching 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 your computer, you need to run the command netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=disallow on the command line as an administrator.

The virtual router adapter will now disappear from Device Manager.

Internet access from a virtual router

Go to the Network and Sharing Center, then change adapter settings. You should select your Internet connection and go to its properties. There, go to the access tab. Check the box next to “Allow other network users to use the Internet connection of this computer.” Just below, indicate the connection to which you allow access. We have a wireless network connection 2.

Selecting a connection property

We check, connect to the created network, try to access the Internet.

In this option for 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 performed again. Therefore, in order to avoid this, you can use special software to implement virtual networks. With its help, setup is simplified and when you restart the computer, you don’t have to start everything again every time.

Creating a virtual router using the application

On the Internet you can find a dozen applications that help you create virtual networks. But now we will look at 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 application menu

The Mhotspot application menu has three buttons: “SETUP HOTSPOT”, “START”, “STOP”. First, click – SETUP HOTSPOT, this is the access point setup.

Setting up Mhotspot

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

Setting up Internet distribution

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

Virtual wireless connection

In this window, look for Wireless Network Connection 2. Hover your mouse over it and the text “Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter” should pop up. 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 through a provider cable. Choose exactly from which you want to distribute the Internet.

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

Internet access

After clicking 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 launch the application – Mhotspot and click – Start. Now you don’t need to enter anything, because the program has remembered the previously entered data. The application can be closed, the virtual router will continue to distribute the Internet.

How to set up a Virtual Wi-Fi connection

A simple and convenient program for distributing the Internet via Wi-Fi on a computer or laptop. Those. the program will help you create a virtual access point from the Wi-Fi adapter of your device and allow you to connect to it from your phone, tablet or TV. Naturally, the Internet to your PC or laptop must come through another network connection, from where it will be distributed. The program is absolutely free and has support for the Russian language.

Setting up the program does not raise any special questions, but if you couldn’t figure it out, then see the instructions below, which show all the details of setting up the program for distributing Wi-Fi from a computer. I will try to describe the setup in the most understandable language possible, even for the most novice users.

1. First, you should make sure that the Wi-Fi adapter is working correctly. In Device Manager, check for the presence of drivers for the device. Picture below.

2. Download the Switch Virtual Router program from the link below or from the official website.

3. Install the program and run it. In the settings on the right we indicate Russian Interface language.

On the left, enter a custom name for your virtual network and a custom password (at least 8 characters).

Click apply and OK. The main program window is shown. Click the arrow at the top right and an additional setting appears. Here, in the Drop-down list, select a wireless connection and click OK. Use the same button to collapse this menu.

4. Then you can press start and your WiFi router will work, but there will be no Internet in it. This can be seen by clicking on the “network indicator” in the system tray. In the window that appears, we see that our virtual network does not have access to the Internet.

5. Go to Network and Sharing Center by clicking on the inscription at the bottom.

We see that my Internet comes through a cable connection named DIR-632. And our virtual network SVR website has a connection name - . (Your name may be different, it doesn’t matter). Just remember it and click on the inscription “ LAN connection"on the connection through which the Internet comes to the computer. The window below appears.

Click on the button Properties and a new network settings window appears.

Next, click on the tab Access(top of the window). In this tab, check the “Allow other network users to use this computer’s Internet connection” checkbox. Below we select the name of our wireless connection, we had it and Wireless network connection 4 click OK.

After this, if you click again in the tray on the “network connections icon”, we will see that our network already has access to the Internet.

Now we need to restart our virtual router again in order for the Internet to appear on it. After that, you can connect from it through any smart phone, tablet, laptop, TV and use this Internet.

If you have any questions, be sure to write about them in the comments, we will sort them out.