microsoft hosted network virtual adapter driver windows 7

In order to use the wireless Hosted Network feature, your wireless adapter must be using drivers certified for Windows 7. Getting started with wireless Hosted Networks In this article, we are going to experiment with the netsh tool. Software developers can also write front-end utilities, like Connectify, or use the capabilities in other third-party applications.

Plus the users might give the key to others.Įnd-users can interact with the wireless Hosted Network via the netsh command-line tool. People with the key can snoop on the other users that are connected. Just remember, even though the wireless Hosted Network is encrypted, giving out the key comprises the security. Others might suggest that you can use this virtual AP as a Wi-Fi hotspot. In any case, it serves as a quick mobile AP. Another more legitimate use might be to “repeat” a network’s signal. One use of this new feature might be to extend a hotel’s paid-Internet connection to other Wi-Fi users for free-not that I advocate this practice. It also includes a DHCP server, so users automatically receive an IP address. Thus, it lets anyone with a supported Wi-Fi adapter and driver to become a wireless AP for other Wi-Fi users, while also having the ability to connect to another wireless network. The wireless Hosted Network feature uses the VirtualWiFi technology along with a software-based access point (AP) feature. Microsoft coined the name, wireless Hosted Network, for this new feature. Though the VirtualWiFi project disbanded before the feature was fully implemented, Microsoft has included some of the underlying functionality in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. They hoped this technology could be used in a variety of applications, including wireless diagnosis and troubleshooting, Wi-Fi mesh networking, virtual access points, and wireless repeating. VirtualWiFi lets users simultaneously connect to multiple wireless networks with only one wireless card. They discovered a way to make a single physical Wi-Fi adapter look like multiple adapters in Windows. The wireless Hosted Network feature in Windows 7 lets anyone with a supported Wi-Fi adapter and driver become a wireless AP for other Wi-Fi users, while also having the ability to connect to another wireless network.īack in 2002, the research department at Microsoft started experimenting with the virtualization of 802.11 wireless adapters under the project code name VirtualWiFi.

Microsoft hosted network virtual adapter driver windows 7