Mickspace.net

Step 1: Is the MS Vwifi mini adaptor installed, and Enabling Internet Connection Sharing ( ICS )

Before we begin, two things that are helpful to have open Command Window and Notepad.

1. Click Start - > Go to -> Control Panel\Network and Sharing Center
there are a different ways to get to this, this is the simplest to explain

from cmd prompt - " control.exe /name Microsoft.NetworkAndSharingCenter " (this will be handy later)



2. 
   
   

   On the Left side menu, Choose "Change Adapter Settings". Once Open you should see all available Lan, Wlan adapters.

   
   
   
   
3. The PC must have Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter installed it will appear in the list of adapters if available. Right click on the adapter which is used as your internet connection, Lan or Wifi Adapter ( do not select the Virtual wifi adapter ) choose Properties at the bottom of the Pop up Menu.

   
   
   
   ( USB Connections or Tethered Connections to Cellular Phones and Air Cards will have a connection here as well, If your tethered device is not showing an adapter connection, connect the device and initiate connection to the internet, it should then show the device connection, These devices will sometimes remove the adapter after disconnection )

   
   
   
   
   
4. Choose the Second Tab, Sharing, Select the top Check Box. Click Ok

   ( Second Check Box - Allow users to connect ) I normally do not select the second check box as this will allow uses to control the connection. This feature is useful if you have to Dial Out to Connect, example would be an Air Card, or Using a modem such as a Dial Up Modem. This will allow a user on the network to initiate a connection thorough the Hosting PC. I am using Broadband, I do not have to Dial out, this not useful for my purpose. If you do have a Dialing out connection you will want to check this box. ( Cellular Air Cards use Dial Out, just as the old modems used Dialing )







5. After clicking Ok, you might get the pop up message about your adapter changing, this is the default Shared IP address, which will be assigned to the adapter. Click Yes.

   Later when you connect a device, the IP address of the connected device on the shared connection should show 192.168.137.xxx

   
   
   
   

   Close the Adapter settings Proprieties box.

   I recommend minimizing the "Network and Sharing Center" window to the task bar as we will need to Open again later.

    

Step 2: Enabling Vwifi

1. Open a Command Window

   Click Start (windows menu Button) type in the search box type CMD and a command window should open.

   My User account is set up as Administrator, I can not verify if one needs to be Admin to do this? If you find you do need to be administrator, go to C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe Right click on CMD.exe and select Run As Administrator.

Once Cmd window is Open a Black Window should appear.

 








~ It is possible to copy and paste this text, it is best to copy and Paste into NotePad, then into the CMD window ( Start Menu\Programs\Accessories\notepad ) Copy the lines here into Notepad, then reselect and copy and paste into the Cmd Window. Copying and Pasting is the easiest way to accomplish the following task~

2. Below in red text is what is need to set up and start the service.
   ( yes that simple line )

   Change only these two parts in the string, Broadcast Name "SSID=Mickspacenet" and Password "key=mypassword"

   Following the SSID= change to what you would like your Broadcasting name to become.

   Following the key= change to what you would like your Key or password to be. If you do not change this and simply copy and paste these lines your ssid and key will be what is shown here. Once you changed to what you like, copy and paste to the CMD window.

   [ Note: The spacing here must be exact, as shown here. There is one Space between each word except the " = " following the " = " there is no spacing - Example- " ssid=Change " ]

   
   

   netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=Mickspacenet key=mypassword keyUsage=persistent

   
   

    

3. Once copied, pasted into Cmd then press Enter, you should receive the following.

   C:\Windows\System32>netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=Mickspacenet key=mypassword keyUsage=persistent 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. C:\Windows\System32>

   
   
   

   Your Vwifi is now set up and almost ready to use. Now we have to start the service.

4. Paste this line into the Cmd Line.

   netsh wlan start hostednetwork

   This will start the service. You should receive the following message.

   C:\Windows\System32>netsh wlan start hostednetwork The hosted network started.

   Your Vwifi should now be broadcasting.

to check the set up type into the Cmd Line

netsh wlan show hostednetwork

You should receive the Following:

C:\Windows\System32>netsh wlan show hostednetwork

Hosted network settings
-----------------------
Mode : Allowed
SSID name : "Mickspacenet"
Max number of clients : 100
Authentication : WPA2-Personal
Cipher : CCMP

Hosted network status
---------------------
Status : Started
BSSID : 00:27:14:ab:ee:3d
Radio type : 802.11g
Channel : 10
Number of clients : 0


C:\Windows\System32>




the Show command will show you details such as How many clients are connected, SSID etc.

open the Network and Sharing Center and look at the adapters

The Microsoft Virtual Wifi Miniport Adapter should show what ever it is you named the SSID.

From a device or a different PC, attempt to connect to to your new broadcasting network.

Below are a few commands which control the "netsh wlan" Command.

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netsh wlan start hostednetwork

This will start the Network

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netsh wlan stop hostednetwork

This will stop the network broadcasting.

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netsh wlan show hostednetwork

This will show the network information

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netsh wlan show hostednetwork setting=security

This will show the security Key.

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Once this is set up and you are able to connect, the PC will save the settings, in the future if you want to to start or stop the service, simply do the start or stop command or Disable the Virtual Miniport Adapter in Network and Sharing Center.

The alternative to starting and stopping the service is creating a bat file or a short cut. I have created a Two short cuts, one to start, one to stop. You can download that below here.

Warning:

This worked beautifully on my PC there is no grantee this will work on your PC. You can how ever make your own short cut, in the Target entry place this line to start the service-" C:\Windows\System32\netsh.exe wlan start hostednetwork " Place this line to stop the service -" C:\Windows\System32\netsh.exe wlan stop hostednetwork "



 

 

 

To download shortcuts Right Click and Choose Save Target As: Once downloaded change the extension from .txt to .lnk (LNK)

Hosted Wifi Start Shortcut

Hosted Wifi Stop Shortcut

 

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