Windows 10 Internet Connection Sharing in less than a minute


👤 Diwas Poudel    🕒 24 Jan 2022    📁 FIX

What is Internet Connection Sharing?

Internet Connection Sharing ( ICS ) is a service of windows OS which enables one internet-connected computer to share its internet with other electronics device(having wifi adaptor). So, the main computer /laptop/mobile which is providing an internet connection is considered as an ICS host / ICS gateway, and other devices are connected to this host system and all incoming traffic of those devices through the ICS host system.ICS is not a new feature, it was introduced in Windows 98 and exists till now as a preinstalled feature of windows. In general, ICS mostly uses NAT technologies to achieve internet sharing capabilities.

Before moving forward :

  • Make sure all client computers (the computer which wants an internet connection ) can connect to the Internet.
  • Make sure that the host PC can host an internet connection
  • Make sure that the host PC has OS above Windows 98. Today most of us have windows XP,  Windows Vista, Windows 7,8,10 and it is ok.
  • Make sure that your host PC is connected to Wifi, or Ethernet, or Cellular Data Connection

Must of today's computer has all these features.

When you may need Windows 10 Internet Connection Sharing?

  • Suppose you are in a room where you just have one wired Ethernet Connection and have no wifi available and your friends request the internet. Then you can share your internet connection with your friends.
  • Suppose your friend has a low wifi connection and you have the fastest ethernet connection and both are near to each other then you can share your internet connection with your friends.

Methods of Internet Connection Sharing Windows 10

There are various methods of sharing internet connection in windows 10.

Method 1: Internet Connection Sharing Using the mobile hotspot

For this, you don't need any software. All you may need the administrative level privilege of the system.

1)Press Windows + X shortcut keys to open a quick link menu.

Then quick link menu will appear at the button left corner as shown below

https://i.ibb.co/Q9BcXkQ/networkconnection.png

2)Now click on Network Connections

3)Then the network connection setting will appear as shown below. There look at the left pane, you will find "Mobile Hotspot".Click on "Mobile Hotspot".

4)On your mobile hotspot option, toggle to "on" Share my internet connection with other devices,

5)Then on the same screen,  selects "connection your internet connection from" to either wifi or ethernet. Here, In my case, I have selected wifi.

6)You can also choose between sharing your internet connection over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth by checking the appropriate option. In my case, I have selected wifi.

7)Next, click on the edit button, as soon as you press the "edit" button pop-up screen will appear.

There you enter a network name that users will use to identify in the name field and also Type a password (at least 8 characters) and click on the "Save" button.

Here, for the demo, I have networknameourtechroom and password: share111

 Now, when the client opens the wifi connection they will find a network that is created just now. In my case, I have "ourtechroom" as networkname.

How to disable Mobile Hotspot sharing in Host PC?

As above, follow the same up to step 3 in Host PC, then on the same screen, toggle switch to "off" in Share my internet connection with other devices.

Now your internet connection will not be shown to the client.

Method 2: Windows 10 Internet Connection Sharing Using netsh command

If you are a command prompt lover then you can try this. You can do the same in less than a minute.

Netsh command is one of the powerful command-line tools that helps you to modify any network configuration setting.

Hosted Network is one of the features of windows 10 which allows you to turn your pc into a wireless hotspot.

You must do this with administrator privilege otherwise you will not be able to perform the action.

First of all, check whether your system supported Hosted Networks or not for this follow this step:

1 Open Command Prompt with administrator privilege.

 1 a)  Press the Windows button and you will navigate to the search field at the bottom left corner. There type cmd and you will find a command prompt in the list.

 1 b) Just right-click on Command Prompt and select "Run as administrator".Then a small pop-up will appear. There Click on "Yes".

Then will get a command prompt as the black screen as shown below:

Notice:

You will find your command prompt opened inside the %windir%/system32 path. In my case: C:/windows/system32 

Also, look at the title bar of the command prompt, you will find Administrator, which means you have successfully opened a command prompt in admin privilege mode.

2 Check whether your system can host a network

For this type: 

 netsh wlan show driver

and press enter.

If you get an output as  Hosted Network supported: yes then you can move forward.

netsh-check-internet-coonection-available

3 Create a hosted network

Now, the next step is to create a hosted network. For this type below command on the same screen.

NETSH WLAN set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=Your_SSID key=Your_Password

Replace Your_SSID with your desired name. This is a network name. This name is seen to everyone who wants to connect to your hosted network.

Replace Your_Password with your desired password. This password is required whoever wants to connect to your hosted network.

Here, I have set SSID: Ourtechroom and Password: share111.

If you have done this step properly you will get a message like below:

The hosted network mode has been set to allow.
The SSID of the hosted network has been successfully changed.
The user key passphrase of the hosted network has been successfully changed

You can see this message as shown in the above screen.

4 Activate Hosted Network

NETSH WLAN start hostednetwork

Now, when the user wants to connect to my network they have to enter networkname and password just entered above. In my case: networkname : ourtechroom and password: share111 

Method 3. Windows 10 Internet Connection Sharing Using External Software

  3.1) Using Connectify 

Connectify is a virtual router that lets you share your wifi, ethernet, 3G/4G connections available on your PC to your friends. Follow below the minimal steps to use it.

  1. First, download Connectify software from this link
  2. Install and run it
  3. Give Hotspot Name (SSID) and password
  4. Then just click on "Start Hotspot" button
  5. Now any nearby devices can connect to the hotspot with a password provided for the hotspot.

Method 4. Windows 10 Internet Connection Sharing Using Ethernet Cable

You are connected to a broadband connection and want to share large files using wifi then it will be slow and take much time for sharing.So you can use Ethernet for sharing the internet from PC to PC for fast access.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q) How to stop Internet Connection Sharing with other devices in windows 10?

Ans: Suppose you want to stop sharing an internet connection with other devices then you can do it with one line of command as shown below

NETSH WLAN stop hostednetwork
Q) How to disable Internet Connection Sharing using Services.msc?

You can enable and disable Internet Connection Sharing in Windows 10 using services.msc by following steps:

  1. Goto run and type services.msc and press Enter
  2. Search for Internet Connection Sharing and right-click on it and then Properties.
  3. Change the Startup type to Disabled if you want to disable and if you want to enable it just select "Enabled".
Q) How to restart Internet Connection Sharing with other devices in Windows 10 ?

Ans: For this, just use below one line of command

NETSH WLAN start hostednetwork
Q) How to view the current Hosted Network settings?

Ans: In the command prompt type the below command:

NETSH WLAN show hostednetwork

If you want to display the security key as well then type the below command

NETSH WLAN show hostednetwork setting=security

netsh-network-detail