Quite often the question arises: "How to distribute WiFi from a laptop?" The desire to save on the purchase of a router is quite justified, and at first there is no urgent need for it. It can be successfully replaced by a laptop, netbook or system unit equipped with this kind of transmitter. To do this, you will have to make certain changes to the software configuration of the PC. It should be noted right away that there is nothing super complicated in solving this problem, and everyone can do it. Including a novice user.
Possible solutions
Before you start setting up such a wireless network, you need to decide on a list of potential subscribers. If there are only devices based on Windows, then there is only one solution. But in case of using “Android” another software is needed. Therefore, before you distribute WiFi from your laptop, you need to resolve this issue. The essence of the problem lies in the different types of supported encodings. For Windows devices, AES is used, which is not supported by most modern smartphones. In turn, they most often use TKIP. Therefore, for the first case, you can use VirtualWiFi from Microsoft, but for "smart phones" Connectify is recommended. Each of them is focused strictly on its own niche and works with a strictly defined set of devices.
For devices based on Windows
Now we will find out how to distribute WiFi from a laptop to another laptop or a stationary system unit running Windows. It should be noted right away that such a network can be made on a PC with a "seven" or "eight" that support this technology. First, go to the network control center. Next, we make changes to the sharing settings. All of them must be disabled. Then we change the settings of the adapter itself: open the corresponding window and go to the “Access” tab. In it, we activate both parameters by setting the checkboxes. Then we return to the "Network Management" window and configure a new connection. In the window that appears, it is important to select its type “Computer-to-computer”. At the next stage, enter the network name and access key to it. Next, go to the adapter settings window and select the wired and wireless device by alternately clicking the right button of the manipulator. In this case, “Ctrl” should be held down. We call the context menu and select the item "Configure bridge". After that, a request will appear regarding the type of network being configured. Here we already choose at our discretion: “Home” or “Public”. After that, you can connect another PC to the wireless network.
The combination of "Windows" - "Android"
The main problem in this case is the need to install additional software. Therefore, after learning how to distribute WiFi from a laptop, you first need to install Connectify. This program is of two types. The first is a free option with truncated functionality. And the second is paid software with a full set of functions.
The first of them is easiest to apply: you don’t need to pay money, but for home use it is quite enough. Download the program installer from the official website. Next, following the instructions of the wizard, install. Then we launch this software by double-clicking the left button of the manipulator on its icon from the desktop. In the window that opens, enter the name of the new wireless network and its password. You also need to select the source of information - the existing wired connection. Next, you need to make a single click on the left button of the manipulator on the "Hot Spot". This should start the virtual network. That's it, the connection is ready, and you can connect smartphones and tablets running “Android” to it. Basically, this is the easiest way to distribute WiFi from a laptop. A program that requires additional installation is the main drawback of such a solution. And another advantage of this method is its versatility. It can work with Windows devices.
conclusions
This article described how to distribute WiFi through a laptop. There is really nothing complicated in solving this problem, and it is quite affordable for a novice user. It is only important to understand what type of connection is most appropriate to use for a particular device, and from this configure a virtual network.