Share PC internet with android phone through wifi without using any software.

I just wanted to share some tips to "Share PC internet in android mobiles through wifi" or "reverse Tethering" without using any external software neither in your PC nor in your android phone. Yes you can do this on your own without spending money on purchasing a wifi router, :).

Normally Tethering means sharing your mobile data connection to some other devices like laptop or PC. But you must have thought of using your broadband internet connection in your wifi enabled device where no hard wired LAN connection is not possible.


I know you are searching for only those steps to get this done. But let me discuss something before telling, that will help you to comprehend the same.

I think Android devices have been previously configured for peer to peer connection (connecting to another android device) and to share data connection from a wifi hotspot where many android or other wifi enabled devices connects to the shared router.

You can find both these type of connections in you android device in :-

(a) Settings>Wireless and network>Wi-Fi Direct settings -> This is equivalent to peer to peer network.To me wi-fi peer-to-peer implementations by creating adhoc connections is same as Wi-Fi Direct. You can opt for this type of network only to build a small, all-wireless LAN quickly and spend the minimum amount of money on equipment. Like sending songs or anything else from one device to other android devices. But sharing internet connection of your PC ,using this is not suitable according to me because what I found, Ad-hoc networks cannot bridge to wired LANs or to the Internet easily without a gateway or bridge.
(b) Settings>Wireless and network>Wi-Fi Settings -> This one is for accessing a wifi hotspot through an access point.This one is more suitable for sharing Internet Connection of your PC to one or more devices without purchasing a wifi router. ;-)

Now I will tell you step by step how to share your PC internet.

1. Go to start button of win 7 or vista and type 'cmd', then right click on the 'cmd.exe' application and click on 'Run as Administrator' option.
Sorry for the small pics. Please click on them to see the enlarged view.

2. Now set up a wifi access point with name 'funkywifi' with a password 'password123'.
For that you have to type the following command :
netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=funkywifi key=password123 keyusage=persistent

Note: You can set any name to this access point by replacing 'funkywifi' with your required name.Similarly you can give any password/security key instead of 'password123' that must be a string with 8 to 63 ASCII characters.
If keyUsage is specified as 'persistent', the security key will be saved and used when the hosted network is started again in future. Otherwise it will be used only when the current or next time the hosted network is started. Once the hosted network is stopped, the temporary security key will be deleted from the system. If keyUsage is not specified, it is persistent by default.If you want to keep the password temporary replace 'persistent' with temporary'.

3. Once the command executes successfully. You can check your newly created hosted network configuration by typing the following on the same command prompt window:
netsh wlan show hostednetwork

Now that you have configured the access point network, follow step no. 6 to share your broadband or lan connection.
4. Now that you have configured a hosted network named 'funkywifi', you need to start it by the following command on the same command window:
netsh wlan start hostednetwork

Now you can check the same by opening either 'Network and sharing center' or by clicking connection button in right corner of taskbar.

5. To stop the connection type the following :
netsh wlan stop hostednetwork
[Remember everytime you do this , all these commands except the commands in step 3 and 5 needs administrative privilages.Hence you should follow the first step for doing the same.]

If you don't like to type all these lines every time you start your network, then skip steps 2,3,4 & 5. You can save the three commands as discussed in steps 2,4 and 5 in three different batch files , which can do the same task if you run them as administrator.
If you are not familiar with batch files then simply create desktop shortcuts of these commands by following these steps.
To do this using batch files, type the command of my 2nd Step i.e, "netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=funkywifi key=password123 keyusage=persistent" in Notepad.exe and save it as "sethostednetwork.BAT".
Similarly save "netsh wlan start hostednetwork" as start.BAT and "netsh wlan stop hostednetwork" as 'stop.BAT".
Now to creat or configure a new connection you can right click on "sethostednetwork.BAT" file icon and click on 'run as administrator'.

To start the connection right click on "start.BAT" file icon and click on 'run as administrator'.
To stop the connection right click on "stop.BAT" file icon and click on 'run as administrator'.
If you want to change username and password just right click on the "sethostednetwork.BAT" file icon and click on edit option. After replacing the existing username or password save it.

6. Now this is an important step without this you can't share your laptop internet. For doing this go to 'Network and sharing center' and click on 'Change adapter settings'. If you find it difficult to find it, just type 'Network and sharing center' as search phrase.

Identify your broadband connection or your PC internet connection (for me it is 'Local Area Connection') , right click and goto properties and then click onto sharing tab.Check the "Internet Connection Sharing" button and select your home network connection from the given options in the same tab for me it is "Wireless Network Connection 2".Now click ok and you are done.

:P Not yet !!

7. Once you can see your hosted network in 'Network and sharing center', go to Settings>Wireless and network>Wi-Fi Settings in your android device , and tap on "Turn on Wi-Fi" button. It will automatically detect your PC/Laptop wifi network. On clicking the same connection in your mobile you only have to give the password and tap on 'connect' button.
Once connected you can use your PC/Laptop internet.


Leave a comment if this helped you. I will be happy to see them. :)
Thanks.. :)
-Soham


Update 1: Guys, I'm very happy to see that this post helped you all a lot. Friends who are commenting about their problem, I request them to go through the previous comments. I have already answered to most of these comments. Hopefully you will find the solution to your problem there. Thanks.

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