How to turn wifi transmitter with computer

In an ideal world, you would connect all your devices to a single Wi-Fi network and be instantly on the internet, but that doesn’t always work. Maybe your hotel only offers a single Ethernet connection, or perhaps the airline’s Wi-Fi charges you per device, and you want to pay once for your laptop and phone. In those situations, you will need a way to share the internet through another device.

If you don’t have a mobile hotspot and turning your phone into a hotspot isn’t an option (like on an airplane), you can share your PC’s internet connection with other devices over Wi-Fi. Here’s how to turn your computer into a hotspot.

How to Share Your Internet Connection on Windows 10

If you’re running a version of Windows 10 from the Anniversary Update onwards, you have this feature built into the operating system. You can even share your Wi-Fi internet with other devices without an Ethernet cable.

Just open Windows 10’s settings and go to Network & Internet > Mobile Hotspot. The “Share my Internet connection from” box should default to whatever network adapter is currently connected to the internet. However, if you are currently connected via Ethernet and Wi-Fi, you can choose to connect to the internet any link you want to share via this box.

Choose whether you want to share over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, do you want to share over Wi-Fi, and click the “Edit” button to create a name and password for your new network. When you’re ready, turn the Mobile Hotspot switch to the on a position at the top of the settings and use your newly created credentials to sign in from your phone or other devices.

Note that you may experience slower internet while doing that due to the inefficiencies of Wi-Fi sharing. However, it’s better than nothing, especially when you’re in a bind.

How to share your Internet connection with Connectify

Older versions of Windows technically also have internet sharing built-in, but these methods can be extremely difficult. Windows 7 users can create ad networks designed to share your Ethernet connection with other devices over Wi-Fi.

Unfortunately, this method has worked so little for me in the past that I consider it more trouble than it’s worth. (If you want to try it yourself, search for “Manage Wireless Networks” in the Start menu, then click the “Add” button to create a new ad network.)

Instead, free third-party programs like Connectify work great on Windows 7, 8.1, and 10. Not only do they let you share your Ethernet connection over Wi-Fi, but you can also share the connection Wi-Fi over Wi-Fi. If you purchase one of the more feature-rich paid versions, you can customize different connection aspects to fit your needs. The free version should suffice for most people.

Connectify will walk you through the steps, but here’s the gist:

• Make sure the Wi-Fi Hotspot button is selected.
• Select your Ethernet or Wi-Fi connection from the box along the top.
• Click the Start button Broadcast point.

Connectify will generate a network name and password for you (with paid users given the option to customize it), and you’ll be able to import those credentials to your phone, tablet, or other device connection.

Note that it can take a minute for the hotspot to start, and I experienced some dropouts in my tests, but still much better than trying to use an ad-hoc network. However, if you plan to use this feature, your best bet is to upgrade to Windows 10.

How to Share Your Internet Connection on a Mac

Apple’s macOS has had internet sharing built-in for quite some time and is very simple to use. Just go to System Preferences > Sharing and click on the Internet Sharing option in the sidebar. You can share Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Thunderbolt, or FireWire to computers using any protocol.

However, you cannot share through the same protocol that you are currently receiving on the internet. (So you can’t share your Wi-Fi connection over Wi-Fi, you have to share Ethernet over Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi over Bluetooth.)

Select the options you want to have; in my case, I am sharing the internet from my Ethernet connection with other devices over Wi-Fi and click the Wi-Fi Options button to set my name and password for your resulting network, if any. Then check the box next to Internet Sharing in the sidebar to create your hotspot. You should be able to connect your other devices via Wi-Fi (or Bluetooth or Thunderbolt) and use the internet normally.

For more on optimizing your Wi-Fi network, check out our tips for boosting your Wi-Fi signal. We also tested the best wireless range extenders and top mesh Wi-Fi systems.