How to Share Wired Internet via Wi-Fi with a Windows Laptop

Want to connect all your devices (computers, mobile phones, tablets, game consoles) to the Internet via your LAN Internet connection, whether that is broadband or cable? It is easier than ever to do this, and you do not need any additional hardware such as a wireless router.

All you need is the Connectify Hotspot virtual router app for Windows PCs, which turns your laptop into a Wi-Fi hotspot and shares your wired Internet connection wirelessly with your other devices. It is free to start: download Connectify Hotspot free.

Turn Your Laptop Into a Wi-Fi Hotspot and Share Your LAN Connection

Taking a wired connection and handing it out as Wi-Fi works in every edition of Connectify Hotspot, including the free Hotspot Lite. There are no technical skills involved and no extra equipment: you pick the connection, set a password and press one button. Your hotspot is secured with WPA2 encryption, exactly like a conventional router.

What the paid editions change is how long it runs and what else you can share:

• Unlimited uptime. Hotspot Lite, the free edition, runs in timed sessions that you restart. That is fine for a one-off, and awkward for a desk setup you leave running all day. PRO and MAX keep sharing until you stop.
• A custom hotspot name. In the free edition the network name starts with “Connectify-“. Setting your own name, emojis included, is a PRO and MAX feature.
• More ways to share. Sharing from a 4G or 5G modem, and Wired router mode, which shares your PC’s internet out of its Ethernet port to a switch, a router or devices that have no wireless at all.

If this is going to be how the room gets online every day, Connectify Hotspot PRO or MAX is the version worth having. If you just need it working this afternoon, start with the free one.

5 Steps to Share a LAN Connection Over Wi-Fi, No Router

Here are five easy steps to share your wired Internet connection with other computers, smartphones, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo and other Wi-Fi enabled devices:

1. Have your PC connected to LAN Internet via Ethernet.
2. Download Connectify Hotspot on your 64-bit Windows 10 or 11 PC or laptop. The free edition shares a wired connection; PRO or MAX removes the session time limit.
3. Open Connectify Hotspot, choose Wi-Fi hotspot, and select the LAN (Ethernet) adapter under Internet to share. You can also share other types of connection: Wi-Fi, a USB-tethered phone, a VPN (to keep all your devices protected), and with PRO a 4G or 5G modem.
4. Set a password and turn on Block ads, to save bandwidth and battery life on your devices.
5. Click Start hotspot. Wi-Fi enabled devices such as PCs, laptops, tablets, smartphones and game consoles can now join by scanning the QR code on the Hotspot screen or with the network name and password.

Connectify Hotspot Does More Than Just Share Your LAN Internet Connection Over Wi-Fi

Alongside sharing any type of Internet connection via Wi-Fi or Ethernet, Connectify Hotspot comes with other useful features:

• Extend your range with Wi-Fi repeater mode (MAX): stretch your existing Wi-Fi network into rooms the router does not reach.
• Get your devices online while traveling: sign in once to hotel Wi-Fi on the laptop, start a hotspot, and your phone and tablet ride along. You can also get a Chromecast working in a hotel room the same way.
• Save bandwidth and battery life on your devices by turning your Windows laptop or PC into a whole house ad blocker. It also works on ads inside apps and is a viable way to block iPhone app ads.
• Game consoles work too: PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo. Connectify Hotspot’s gaming mode, free in every edition, forwards the ports they need for online play.

Share your LAN Internet connection with all your devices. Get started with Connectify Hotspot today: 70% off PRO and MAX.