Turning a PC or Mac into a hotspot allows you to wirelessly share your Wi-Fi or wired internet connection with other devices.
In a perfect world, you'd connect all of your gadgets to a single Wi-Fi network and be online right away, but that isn't always possible. Perhaps your hotel only has one Ethernet port, or your airline's Wi-Fi costs you per device, and you'd rather pay once for your laptop and phone. You'll need a mechanism to share the internet with another device in those scenarios.
If you don't have a mobile hotspot and can't transform your phone into one (for example, on an airline), you may use Wi-Fi to share your PC's internet connection with other devices. Here's how to set up a hotspot on your PC.
How to Share a Windows 10 Internet Connection
This capability is incorporated into the operating system if you're using a version of Windows 10 from the Anniversary Update onward. Without an Ethernet wire, you may even share your Wi-Fi internet with other devices.
Simply go to Network & Internet > Mobile Hotspot in Windows 10's settings. If you're connected to the internet by both Ethernet and Wi-Fi, the "Share my Internet connection from" box should default to whatever network adapter is presently connected to the internet. If you're connected via both Ethernet and Wi-Fi, you may pick which connection to share using this box.
Choose whether you want to share via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth-most likely Wi-Fi-and then click the "Edit" button to give your new network a name and password. When you're ready, turn on the Mobile Hotspot option at the top of the settings, and log in using your freshly established credentials from your phone or other devices.
Due to the inefficiencies of Wi-Fi sharing, you may experience slower internet when doing this. Even so, it's better than nothing, especially in a pinch.
How to Use Connectify to Share Your Internet Connection
Although older versions of Windows have built-in internet sharing, these methods can be extremely finicky. Ad-hoc networks, which are designed to share your Ethernet connection with other devices over Wi-Fi, are available in Windows 7.
Unfortunately, I've had such bad luck with this method in the past that I'd call it more trouble than it's worth. (To try it out for yourself, go to the Start menu and type "Manage Wireless Networks," then click the "Add" button to create a new ad-hoc network.)
Instead, third-party programs like Connectify, which are free, work well with Windows 7, 8.1, and 10. It not only allows you to share your Ethernet connection over Wi-Fi, but it also allows you to share a Wi-Fi connection. You can customize different aspects of the connection to fit your needs if you purchase one of the more feature-rich paid versions. However, for most people in a pinch, the free version should suffice.
The steps will be walked through by Connectify, but here's the gist: Make sure the Wi-Fi Hotspot button is turned on, then select your Ethernet or Wi-Fi connection from the top box, then click the Start Hotspot button.
Connectify will generate the network name and password for you (with paid users having the option to customize it), and you should be able to connect with your phone, tablet, or other devices by typing those credentials into your phone, tablet, or other devices.
It's worth noting that the hotspot may take a minute to start, and I had some dropouts in my tests, but it's still a lot better than trying to use an ad-hoc network. However, if you plan to use this feature frequently, you should upgrade to Windows 10.
How to Share Mac's Internet Connection
For a long time, Apple's macOS has had internet sharing built-in, and it's very easy to use. Simply go to System Preferences > Sharing and select Internet Sharing from the sidebar. Any of these protocols can be used to share a connection between computers via Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Thunderbolt, or FireWire.
However, you can't share using the same protocol that you're using to get internet. (You'd have to share Ethernet over Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi over Bluetooth to share your Wi-Fi connection over Wi-Fi.)
Select the options you want-in my case, I'm using Wi-Fi to share the internet from my Ethernet connection with other devices-and then click the Wi-Fi Options button to name and password your resulting network, if necessary. Then, in the sidebar, check the box next to Internet Sharing to create your hotspot. You should be able to use the internet normally after connecting your other devices via Wi-Fi (or Bluetooth or Thunderbolt).
Check out our advice for enhancing your Wi-Fi signal for more information on how to optimize your Wi-Fi network.
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