I am using my windows 8.1 laptop to create a hosted network. It is doing this fine and says that it has 'IPv4 connectivity: internet'. But when I go onto it on my surface pro and ipad it says the connection is limited and does not let me use the internet. Does anyone know how I can resolve this problem?
asked Apr 29, 2015 at 15:05
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Not enough information I'm afraid. Do you mean that your Surface & iPad are accessing the Internet via the laptop's internet connection? How is the laptop connected to the Internet?– Julian KnightApr 29, 2015 at 16:01
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@JulianKnight My laptop is using a wifi, but my surface and ipad can't connect to it as the are not in range. So I am using a hosted network basically as a wifi extender. I have done it in the past but now both my ipad and surface connect to the hostednetwork created by my laptop but the connection is 'limited' and thus I can't use the internet on them– Quantum spaghettificationApr 29, 2015 at 16:04
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It would seem that, for some reason, your laptop is not bridging the networks. hard to say why. Have you checked Event Manager for any errors or warnings?– Julian KnightApr 29, 2015 at 16:11
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@JulianKnight hi, no there is no errors or warnings, Is there anyway that I can rest all my internet settings and then just try from scratch?– Quantum spaghettificationApr 29, 2015 at 16:13
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There is but you won't like it! You can use the Windows recovery console to reset your laptop. It will return to factory fresh settings and that means that you will loose any software you have installed. However, it will retain all data.– Julian KnightApr 29, 2015 at 16:23
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1 Answer
OK, so you learn something new every day!
Generally you cannot share a single Wi-Fi adaptor across multiple wireless networks.
However, some years ago, Microsoft developed a VirtualWiFi miniport adaptor that allows exactly this. To use it, you need to make sure that the Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport driver is enabled. This may be hidden in device manager so you may need to "show hidden devices" before you can see it.
There are some instructions on the Instructables website.
From there:
the "Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter" is not compatible with all wireless cards but if it yours is compatible, and you follow my guide, it will work.
To enable the Virtual adapter open the "Run" dialogue ("Windows key"+ "R")
Then open the Command Prompt (type in "cmd" and click "Enter")
Once CMD is open type in the following command:
netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=Hotspot key=Password keyUsage=persistent
Where "Hotspot" is the SSID (the name of your connection) and "Password" is the password locking the connection.
Once this is done, you have enabled the Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter!
The salient point for you may be the comment that the driver is not compatible with all adaptors.
If that is the case for you, a simple alternative would be to buy a USB Wi-Fi adaptor and install that in the laptop and configure that to share. However, a better solution would be to buy a Wi-fi extender to extend the range of your existing router's Wi-Fi. Units from manufacturers such as Edimax work well.
answered Apr 30, 2015 at 7:49
