How to Create a Wi-Fi Hotspot on Windows 11

In this era of information, connection to the internet is one of the most important things. To be connected means either having a router nearby or creating a Wi-Fi hotspot with your device to act as a router broadcasting its own network for other devices to connect to.

Why set up a hotspot on Windows 11?

You may ask yourself why not just use the traditional router instead of using a Wi-Fi hotspot. Well, several things could cause this.

• Creating a temporary set-up - In a remote location with no Wi-Fi available, the hotspot may be the most reliable source of internet for your devices.
• Security Control - Instead of giving people access to your router, you can create a temporary hotspot with a custom password and SSID to give your friends when they come over. That way, your security is not compromised.
• Quick set-up - It is easier to set up a Windows hotspot compared to configuring a router in the situations where you need a network up and running swiftly.

Limitations of the Windows hotspot over traditional router

As much as a Wi-Fi hotspot sounds ideal in some situations, it also has its own limitations.

• Range and Coverage - A router is specifically designed for connectivity meaning it has a broader coverage and can handle more devices simultaneously. The Windows hotspot has a limited range and capacity.
• Network Stability - Without a router, you can expect a stable and constant network connection unlike with a hotspot that is subject to interruptions.
• Dedicated Hardware - A hotspot cannot beat a purposely built device optimized for routing network traffic. A Windows hotspot is impacted by its performance and battery life, and many other factors.
• Advanced features - Routers being optimized for routing network traffic come with advanced features such as QoS (Quality of Service), guest network setup, and better traffic management. These features are not as easily accessible or configurable on the Windows hotspot.

How to Enable the Mobile Hotspot on Windows 11 through the Settings App

Now that we understand why you may need to set up a Hotspot on Windows 11 and the pros and cons, let's see how to set one up. With Windows 11, setting up the hotspot has been made very easy. Follow the steps below to set it up.

• Start by opening up the system settings. You can do this by pressing win + I.

• On the left pane of this window, find Network & Internet option.

  

  This opens up more internet settings.

• Scroll down until you see the Mobile hotspot Option and slide the toggle on.

  

  Just like that, you can share your internet with other devices.

• You can also access other settings for the hotspot by clicking on the Mobile hotspot option.

  

  In here, you can set whether you want to share the internet over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, change the name, password and Band of the hotspot over the properties options. You just need to click on the Edit button,

  

• Once you have configured all the settings, turn of the hotspot to make it available for the other devices.

• To connect to the network on the other devices, go to the Wi-Fi settings of the device and find the network name that you set for the hotspot, select it and enter the password you set as well and connect.

Creating Wi-Fi Hotspot using the Command Prompt

On some occasions, turning the hotspot on using the setting may backfire and that is when you can turn it on manually through the command prompt. Let us see how to do this.

1. Start by opening the command prompt with administrative privileges. You can do this by opening the start menu, search for "cmd" and then select Run as administrator.

   

2. With the terminal open, check whether your PC supports the virtual hotspot or not. You can do this with the command below.

   netsh wlan show drivers
   

   Find the line that says "Hosted network Supported". If the value for this is "Yes", then you can proceed.

   

3. The next step is to set up the hotspot profile. You can do this using the following command.

   netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=NetworkName key=Password
   

   Replace NetworkName with the name you intend to give your hotspot and Password with the desired password.

   

4. Start the Hotspot you just created using the command below.

   netsh wlan start hostednetwork
   

   

5. Before it is possible to share your hotspot, you will have to enable internet sharing from your Primary network connection to the newly created hotspot. You can do this via the ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) feature.

   • Open the Network Connections window using the run dialogue box by pressing win + R then type "ncpa.cpl" and press Enter.

     

   • In the window that opens, right-click on the active internet connection and select Properties.

     

   • On the new window that pops up, head to the sharing tab and check the box next to "Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection". and uncheck the box next to "Allow other network users to control or disable the shared Internet connection" as shown below.

     

     Make sure you also select the correct Home networking connection depending on your home network. At this point, your network is ready to be used.

6. When done sharing the internet, you can stop it with the command below.

   netsh wlan stop hostednetwork
   

Summing Up

As established, we are in the era of information and as such, we must be connected to the internet to stay informed. This article shows two methods to create a Wi-Fi hotspot on Windows 11. One using the settings app and the other using the command prompt. |When using the command prompt, check that step 2 says "Yes" before proceeding. If the article was helpful, consider sharing it with your friends to stay informed.

Thank you for reading : )