How to set-up an Ad Hoc Wifi Hotspot in Windows 10

While Microsoft’s Windows 10 is an improvement in the status quo of Windows in many ways, the firm also took a few features some power-users might find necessary – like network Sharing (the ability to create an Ad Hoc Network and allow your computer to act as a makeshift router for other users)

While you can still set an Ad-hoc network in Windows 10, it is a fair but more complicated than it used to be:

1.  Run command line as Admin by right-clicking on the Windows 10 Start button. You should see a bevy of options, including one which is (Command Prompt Admin) – Alternatively, use Win + X to open this directly if you are more comfortable with Keyboard Shortcuts.
2. Click yes to the UAC (User Account Control) prompt that follows
3.  In the command line Windows that opens, enter the following command ”
   netsh wlan show drivers”. This command allows you to see if your device can support virtualization or not. If it shows “Hosted Network Supported – Yes” then you’re good to go. (Note: Surface devices do NOT support this feature so if you’re using a Surface – you should probably stop reading here)
4.  Enter the following command  “netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid= mynetworknamehere key= mynetworkkeyhere ”
5. Once this is done, start the hosted network by entering the following command  “netshwlanstarthostednetwork
6. Open the Windows 10 Settings app. Navigate to Settings > Wifi > Network and Sharing center. On the left-hand side, there is an option labeled “change adapter settings” this will open up “Network Connections”
7. Once in the Network Connections menu, you should now right-click your the internet connected device (wifi or ethernet) and then navigate to properties > sharing.
8. . Check the option which states  “Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection” option, and choose the newly created WiFi connection from the drop down list located under
9. Select your newly created Wifi Network you named in step 4 from the list under the drop-down menu in “Home networking connection”.
10.  You should now be able to connect your devices to your Windows 10 PC.

There you have it, that’s how you create an Ad-Hoc network in Windows 10. Do you have any other Windows 10 related concerns? Let us know in the comments below.