How to Turn Your Windows PC into a Wireless and Wired Router

Public Wi-Fi is available in many places, but it can be frustrating when you're limited to using it on just one device. Luckily, you can turn your Windows PC into a router and connect multiple devices wirelessly or via a wire. In this guide, we'll show you how to do it.

Enabling Hotspot on Windows Devices

Starting with Windows 10 version 1607 and on Windows 11 as well, Microsoft introduced the native functionality to share your Windows PC’s internet connection using Wi-Fi hotspot with other devices. Here's how to set it up:

  1. Search for “Mobile hotspot” from the search icon on the taskbar and click on the “Mobile hotspot” option.
    Router settings in PC

  2. Click on “Share my internet connection from” and select whether you want to share the Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection.

  3. Choose whether you want to share the internet using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

  4. In the Properties section, click on “Edit” and enter the network name and password. Click on “Save”.

  5. Set the network band to either 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz.

  6. Enable the mobile hotspot to turn on the shared Wi-Fi network.

On your secondary device, open Wi-Fi settings and connect to the network created by your Windows PC using the network password you set. You can connect up to 8 devices to your Windows PC hotspot simultaneously.

Sharing Internet via Wired Connection

If your Windows PC doesn't have a Wi-Fi adapter or you prefer not to update to the latest version of Windows, you can use a wired connection. Here's how:

  1. On your Android device, go to Settings, scroll down to About phone, and tap on it.

  2. Select Software Information and tap 7 times on Build Number to enable Developer's options.

  3. Go back to the Settings menu, scroll down, and tap on Developer's options. Turn on USB Debugging.

On your Windows PC:

  1. Download the latest version of the gnirehtet tool from GitHub.

  2. Extract the downloaded file.

  3. Download the Android Platform Tools by Google and extract them as well.

  4. Move all the files from the platform-tools folder to the gnirehtet folder.

  5. Type “cmd” in the address bar of the folder and press Enter to open the command window.

Connect your Android device to your Windows PC using a USB charging cable. In the command window, type “adb devices” and press Enter to check the connection. Tap “Allow” on your Android device when prompted.

Install the gnirehtet app on your Android device by typing “adb install -r gnirehtet.apk” in the command window and pressing Enter.

Run the gnirehtet-run executable file on your Windows PC. Allow the VPN connection on your Android device. Keep the command window open to continue browsing.

To end the wired connection, press Ctrl+C in the command window.

With these methods, you can turn your Windows PC into a router and connect multiple devices to the internet. It's a convenient solution when you're facing connectivity issues or need to connect more devices than your current network allows.