Creating a WiFi Hotspot

When out and about, I usually use my smartphone as a 4G modem for my laptop - either through USB tethering or as a portable hotspot. However, the reverse is a bit tricky. For example, I would be in a hotel room which provides wired Ethernet to the laptop, but no WiFi for my smartphone or tablet.

I've looked into this before, and there are software like mHotspot and Connectify that can use your Internet-connected PC as an access point for other devices. However, if your PC's wireless adapter supports hosted networks, then you won't even need any third-party software.

1. Open a command prompt with administrator privileges.
2. Type 'netsh wlan show drivers'. Make sure it says Yes for "Hosted network supported"
3. Type 'netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=<SSID> key=<password>" to create the WiFi hotspot with the chosen SSID and password.
4. Type 'netsh wlan start hostednetwork' to activate the WiFi hotspot.
5. To deactive, simply type 'netsh wlan stop hostednetwork'.
6. To check the hotspot status, type 'netsh wlan show hostednetwork'.
7. Open Network and Sharing Center. Right-click on the connected that is connected to the Internet, and select Properties. Under the Sharing tab, tick "Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection". Select the connection name that is used by your hotspot. Click OK.

I've tested this myself and it actually works just fine. Lifehacker's article makes use of an ad hoc network. I still prefer the former method.

Sources:
http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-WiFi-Hotspot-Using-the-Command-Prompt
http://www.reddit.com/r/YouShouldKnow/comments/2bqfvi/ysk_how_to_turn_your_pc_into_a_wifi_hotspot/
http://lifehacker.com/5369381/turn-your-windows-7-pc-into-a-wireless-hotspot