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Free virtual router for distributing wi-fi from any computer. Creation of a computer network Virtual wai

During its existence, wireless networks (Wireless Local Area Network-WLAN) have experienced many changes that have affected security, range and speed of operation, but the basic principles of operation have remained unchanged.

Wireless networks can operate in two modes: when two or more devices are connected directly to each other - point-to-point, or when they are connected via an access point (Access Point-AP). In the first case, they talk about a simple network (ad-hoc mode). Usage this mode work is quite rare and is used mainly for data exchange when it is not possible to use an access point. The second mode, using an access point, is called infrastructure (infrastructure mode) and in most cases is used in conjunction with wireless router that is connected to the internet. But the use of two operating modes simultaneously on one physical wireless adapter is not provided by the Wi-Fi concept itself.

Looking for new ways to use wireless networks, the concept of virtualization was proposed, which removes certain restrictions from the use of such networks and thereby expands their capabilities. This approach of using wireless adapters has been implemented by several companies with corresponding technology names. At Intel, it's Intel My WiFi, and at Microsoft, it's Virtual WiFi.

Virtual Wi-Fi is a software layer that abstracts a wireless network card and creates multiple virtual adapters. Each virtual adapter can be separately configured to connect to different wireless networks, but they will all use the resources of only one physical wireless adapter.

What can this technology be used for? For example, creating a personal area network (Wireless Personal Area Network - WPAN) in which you can quickly connect a PDA, phone, printer, camera, laptop and other device with a wireless adapter for simple exchange information; use a laptop as a hotspot (Hotspot) to provide access to the Internet wireless devices using the laptop's internet connection, whether it be Ethernet, Wi-Fi, 3G or WiMax. Another example would be when the radio signal is not stable enough or does not cover the desired distance between the access point and the wireless devices. In this case, a computer or laptop with Virtual Wi-Fi technology can act as a repeater, thereby improving the radio coverage of the wireless network.

In Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2, Virtual WiFi technology was included in the system and implemented at the kernel level, in addition, work was done on a simple implementation of a software access point (Software Access Point - SoftAP), while from wireless device manufacturers, now you only need to implement SoftAP support in your drivers. Because of this, in the current implementation of Virtual WiFi in Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2, it is possible to create only one virtual adapter that will work only in access point mode, while still providing WPA2-PSK-AES encryption.

By the way, Virtual WiFi support in drivers is a mandatory requirement for certification of wireless adapters for compatibility with Windows 7.

Virtual WiFi is referred to as Wireless Hosted Network, in Russian designation as a Hosted Network. In connection with the introduction of Virtual WiFi in new operating systems from Microsoft, new commands have been included in the network shell to manage a distributed network. Here are some of them:

netsh wlan set hostednetwork allowed|disallowed - Allow or deny network usage.
netsh wlan set hostednetwork<идентификатор_SSID> <парольная_фраза>persistent|temporary - Configure network settings, where SSID is the network SSID; Key - The user's security key used by the network; keyUsage specifies whether the security key is permanent or temporary
netsh wlan show settings - Shows the network property and its status.
netsh wlan show hostednetwork settings=security - Displays hosted network security settings. (Shows, including the password set in key when configuring netsh wlan set hostednetwork)
netsh wlan start hostednetwork - Start hosted network.
netsh wlan stop hostednetwork - Stop hosted network.

What does the Virtual Wi-Fi setup look like in practice: we need a laptop or a regular Personal Computer with wireless devices, Windows 7 and a driver that supports Virtual WiFi.

If the above criteria are met, then we call the command line with administrator rights and execute the following command in it:

netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid="MS Virtual Wi-Fi" key="Pass for virtual wifi" keyUsage=persistent

AT this example"MS Virtual Wi-Fi" is the name of the wireless network, "Pass for virtual wifi" is the password to access this network. You can set these values as you wish.

After executing this command, the system will find new hardware and a new one will appear in the device manager. network adapter, or rather virtual - Microsoft Virtual WiFi miniport adapter. But again, this virtual adapter will only appear if our wireless adapter driver has Virtual WiFi support.

Going to Control Panel - Network and Sharing Center - changing adapter settings, we will see a new Wireless Network Connection 2 connection, which will show the status - no connection. Therefore, the next step will be the launch of the network. To do this, in a command prompt running with administrator rights, run the command:

netsh wlan start hostednetwork.

After that, the network will start and the software access point (SoftAP) will work. You can verify this by going to Control Panel - Network and Sharing Center. Since we are using a Wi-Fi Internet connection, we found that Windows 7 was connected to several wireless networks at the same time. Now other wireless devices can connect to our hotspot.

If we want to provide access to the Internet to other wireless devices that are connected to our software access point, that is, to organize a Hot Spot (Hotspot), then you need to go to the tab Control Panel - Network and Sharing Center - change adapter settings and connection properties , which is connected to the Internet (in our case, this is a Wi-Fi connection, but it can be anything: ethernet, 3G, WiMax, etc.). On the Access tab, check the box Allow other network users to connect to the Internet this computer, and in Connection home network indicate which network adapter to provide (share) the Internet, in our case, it will be Wireless Network Connection 2, which refers to a virtual wireless adapter.

From the client side, you can see several wireless networks, and when connected to our organized access point, the client will automatically receive an IP address from the internal DHCP servers and will be separated from the external network by NAT (Network address translation).

The convenience of using Virtual Wi-Fi is obvious, but using the command line to configure and start the network (and you need to start the hosted network every time you restart the computer with administrator rights) is not very convenient. And, unfortunately, there is no built-in graphical shell for setting up Virtual WiFi. Therefore, it is not surprising the appearance of third-party utilities that perform the function of this very shell. Now there are several such utilities - these are Connectify and Virtual Router Manager. Their configuration is reduced to a minimum - you need to specify the SSID and password for access. They are loaded with the system and immediately enable the distributed network and are able to display all connections to our distributed network.

Connectify

We remind you that attempts to repeat the actions of the author can lead to the loss of the warranty for the equipment and even to its failure. The material is provided for informational purposes only. If you are going to reproduce the steps described below, we strongly advise you to carefully read the article to the end at least once. The editors of 3DNews are not responsible for any possible consequences.

For Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 is just one of the many innovations that has gone almost unnoticed, although it is extremely easy to find materials on this topic on the Web. Strictly speaking, the Wi-Fi specification implies that the network operates in two main modes - either point-to-point (ad-hoc mode), when all clients connect to each other, or in access point mode (infrastructure mode), when data exchange between two hosts goes through a third party. The operation of one physical adapter simultaneously in these two modes is theoretically impossible.

In practice, Microsoft decided to turn their attention to the now fashionable virtualization technologies and created a layer that abstracts the wireless adapter. In fact, we can have several Wi-Fi modules in the system, each with its own settings, which in reality use the resources of only one physical device. This subsystem is called Virtual Wi-Fi. Intel has a similar development - Intel MyFi (My Wi-Fi). We will not go into the technical details of the implementation of each of the technologies - it is important for us that we can make the adapter work in the Software Access Point (SoftAP) mode.

So why would you need SoftAP? Firstly, to quickly organize a local wireless network to which you can connect another computer, smartphone, and so on. Secondly, you can distribute the Internet from the main machine inside our small network. In this case, the clients will be behind NAT. It doesn't matter how we access the Network on a machine with SoftAP - via Ethernet, WiMax, 3G, Dial-Up (anything happens) or something else. It is noteworthy that a computer can be connected to any wireless network and at the same time be an access point.

Thus, it is easy to create a repeater by placing a laptop on the edge of receiving the main wireless network and setting the same SoftAP settings as the parent access point. Thus, we will expand the range of the network, and all clients, if necessary, will automatically reconnect to the repeater and vice versa. Another possibility is the easy "institution" of wireless client traffic to any available network interface, for example, to a VPN tunnel. There are other possibilities for using a software access point that go beyond the moral framework of our rubrics.

To implement SoftAP, we need a Wi-Fi adapter whose drivers support this mode. In principle, almost all modern wireless modules, built-in or external, have this capability. Moreover, Virtual Wi-Fi support is one of the prerequisites for the adapter to be included in the list of certified compatible devices for Windows 7. Do not be too lazy to find out this point before starting the setup and update the drivers from the manufacturer’s official website just in case WiFi module. However, in most cases, the driver that “arrived” along with system updates will work as it should. Unfortunately (not very big, really), now we can create only one virtual access point with mandatory WPA2-PSK / AES encryption.

In order to create an access point, it is enough to launch the console (command line) as an administrator and execute a single command:

netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid="SoftAP Tst" key="Yourpassword" keyUsage=persistent

Naturally, in the ssid parameter, you must specify the name of the access point, and in key, set the password for accessing the network. In the future, you can change the AP parameters in the same way. After executing the command, the OS will install correct driver and the Virtual Wi-Fi we need will appear in the list of wireless adapters. To remove an adapter, specify mode=disallow in the command and omit all other parameters.

Now you can start the point with the command:

netsh wlan start hostednetwork

To stop the work, we logically change the start parameter to stop in the command.

Highly discouraged when working inSoftAP disable physical adapterWi-Fi for example pull it outUSB ports - this can lead to an emergency shutdown of the OS !!!

To view the current settings of a virtual access point, you can use the commands:

netsh wlan show settings

netsh wlan show hostednetwork setting=security

When SoftAP starts, the built-in DHCP server will automatically start. To "share" the Internet connection for users of the newly created wireless network, you need to go to the "Sharing" tab in the properties of that network interface, which just has access to the Web. There you need to enable permission to share the network and select our virtual adapter in SoftAP mode.

To simplify working with a software access point, two programs can be recommended: VirtualRouter and Connectify. The first is absolutely free, but a little outdated and does not always work out of the box, and the second asks to pay money for access to some functions. However, it's worth it. The functionality of the utility far exceeds the built-in capabilities of the OS for working with a virtual access point. It has an UpnP server, it allows you to choose a different type of encryption, it has more convenient management of wireless clients, and much, much more. In general, a real little software monster for organizing a hot spot. If you really need this advanced functionality, then $30 a year doesn't sound like much. You can also create a software hotspot on Linux or Mac OS X. True, in the first case, you will have to tinker with the settings, and there will be fewer opportunities than in Windows 7. In the second case, in the best traditions of Apple's OS, everything is done elementarily. In addition, with the advent of AirDrop and AirPlay, the exchange of information between i-devices has been greatly simplified. On this, as they say in these your Internets, we will consider the topic open. Good luck!

Without WiFi technology majority life modern people unthinkable. First of all, it is very convenient: you can use the Internet both at home and at the train station or airport, in various institutions and enterprises. Therefore, it is extremely important to understand how this technology works and be able to use it correctly.

What is a virtual router?

A device that forwards information packets between segments (computers) within a network. It is routers that allow us to use wireless internet: computers or other devices that we connect to a network, the router combines into one network, allowing them to simultaneously use the Internet.

A virtual router is a technology that allows, on the basis of only one network card create a virtual device that performs all the same functions as a real one. At the same time, the device itself does not physically exist: we can say that our computer becomes a router. No need to fiddle with wires and setup.

Any computer with installed Windows 7 provides such an opportunity.
In this case, two methods are possible:

Use the technology implemented at the kernel level and configure the connection via the command line;
Use additional software, which takes on the task of setting up and provides a convenient interface;

Having dealt with why we need this, we will consider both options in detail.

What are virtual routers for?

Surely you have repeatedly had to distribute Wi-Fi from your phone? For phones with operating iOS system just turn on the "modem mode" in the settings, enter the network name and password - you're done! Your phone at this point becomes a full-fledged Wi-Fi hotspot. Each time you use this feature on your phone, you are actually creating a virtual router, grouping the users connected to you into single network. The only difference is that on Windows this is a little more difficult.

So, the main reasons for using:

The need to “share” Wi-Fi to another person as quickly as possible;
Saving money by not having to purchase a router;
Lack of an electrical outlet nearby to connect the router;

Installation and setup

Method 1. We use the technology built into Windows 7.

We need a command line. To call it, press the key combination Win + R:

Launching "Run" with Win+R

Enter in the window that opens "cmd", click OK

Run window in Windows 7

A window will open command line. Type the netsh command and press Enter.
Then we write the following line:

wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid="name" key="password" keyUsage=persistent

Here name is the name of the future network, password is the password, respectively. Keep in mind that the password must not only consist of numbers or letters.

Press Enter, if everything went well, we see the following:

Don't close the command line! We will still need it.

The network adapter (virtual Wi-Fi) has been created, however, let's check. Go to the Control Panel, go to the Network and Sharing Center, and then go to the "Change adapter settings" section

Among the list of networks we should see the following:

As you can see, our connection is created, but does not work. Open a command line window and write:

wlan start hostednetwork

Then we see a notification that everything is running:

Go to "Network and Sharing Center". Now our point is working:

Ready! At this stage, the creation virtual wifi router is completed.

Method 2. Using specialized programs.

To set up a virtual wifi hotspots, without resorting to the command line and to be able to manage our network, you can use special programs.

What is the main difference between this method and the first one? The thing is functionality. Let's say you wanted to change your network name or password without running to the command line and wasting no time typing some commands there. Or, for example, you want to monitor which computers connect to you and, if you wish, block them. These opportunities are provided by software such as Connectify.

You can download this program from the official site, as well as from any other source. Installation is also as simple as possible and will not cause any problems.

There are only a few obvious fields in the main window of the program: Name, Password and Internet to Share. We set the last parameter to automatic, since the program itself will select the desired connection for distribution.

Click the Start Hotspot button and you're done! In the Clients tab, we see a list of devices connected to us, which we can easily block:

Results

We got acquainted with what virtual routers are and what they are used for, considered the main ways to organize them on your computer. Which way to use is up to you. In any case, the technology of creating virtual routers is a skill that is extremely useful for any user. In addition, taking up this topic more seriously, you can learn for yourself a lot of all sorts of interesting things.

Currently, wireless networks are becoming more widespread: they work at train stations, airports, and enterprises, and for many users even at home. Windows 7 introduced such an option as "virtual WiFi" (Virtual WiFi) - a software layer that creates several virtual adapters from a wireless network card installed in a computer. But first, a little theory.

Wireless networks can operate in two modes:

The devices are connected directly to each other. It turns out a simple network (ad-hoc mode). This mode is called "point-to-point". This mode is used quite rarely and mainly for data exchange when there is no possibility to use an access point.

Devices connect via an access point (Access Point-AP).
This mode is called infrastructure (Infrastructure Mode) and, as a rule, is used in conjunction with a wireless router connected to the Internet.

It should be noted that the simultaneous use of two modes of wireless network operation on one physical wireless adapter is not provided for by the WiFi concept itself, and this is where the virtualization technology used in Windows 7, which expands the capabilities of adapters, came to the rescue.

What is Virtual WiFi technology

Without going into technical details: in Windows 7, one physical wireless adapter can be turned into several virtual ones, and - attention! - Each of these virtual adapters can be configured to connect to different wireless networks.

What is it for

Hmm... The question is, of course, an interesting one.
Example one: the radio signal from an existing access point does not cover the required distance between it and wireless devices. In this case, a computer or laptop with Virtual WiFi can act as a repeater (repeater) that expands the coverage area of the wireless network.

Example two: creating a personal area network (Wireless Personal Area Network), to which you can very quickly connect a phone, camera, printer, laptop or any other device with a wireless adapter for easy information exchange.

Example three: an existing wireless network with static IP addresses of devices, but sometimes you need to quickly connect new devices, and without any settings-rebuilds (this can be done if the dynamic IP address allocation mode was enabled. But alas) .

How Virtual WiFi is Implemented in Windows 7

By the way: Virtual WiFi technology is included not only in Windows 7, but also in Windows 2008 R2.

Virtual WiFi is implemented in the operating system at the kernel level and allows a very simple implementation of a software access point (SoftAP), while wireless adapter manufacturers only need to implement SoftAP support in their drivers (many, by the way, have already done this).

So far - in the current implementation - Virtual WiFi has the following limitations: only one virtual adapter can be created, operating only in access point mode and only with WPA2-PSK / AES encryption.
By the way, Virtual WiFi technology allows you to connect up to 100 clients to an access point against 8 clients in the corporation promoted Intel technology My WiFi.

Installing, enabling and configuring Virtual WiFi

Testing of the operation of Virtual WiFi - installing, enabling and configuring a wireless network - was carried out on ASUS netbook eeePC 1000H with built-in Ralink WiFi adapter.

So, first you have to "cheat" a little - call the command line with administrator rights and enter the following command:

netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid="MS Virtual WiFi" key="softodrom" keyUsage=persistent

"MS Virtual WiFi" here - the name (SSID) of the created virtual network, and "softodrom" is the password to access the network. Of course, both of these parameters can be changed at your own discretion.
The last parameter - keyUsage=persistent - specifies that the password will be saved and will not need to be specified each time the virtual network needs to be started.

After executing this command, the system will detect new hardware and a new network adapter will appear in Device Manager called "Microsoft Virtual WiFi miniport adapter".

As a clarification: naturally, the virtual adapter will appear in the Device Manager only if the driver of the wireless adapter you have installed has support for Virtual WiFi technology.

For greater reliability, let's take a look at the Control Panel -\u003e Network and Sharing Center -\u003e Change adapter settings:

As you can see, a new connection "Wireless network connection 2" has appeared here with the status "No connection" (it already exists in the picture. More on that below).

We turn to the launch of the network. From a command prompt running with administrator rights, run the following command:

netsh wlan start hostednetwork

After that, a) the network will start (Microsoft called it "Hosted Network") and b) the software hotspot will work, which can be verified by going to Control Panel -\u003e Network and Sharing Center.

As we can see, the computer is connected to several wireless networks at the same time, and now other wireless devices can connect to our newly created soft access point.

To provide access to the Internet to other wireless devices that will connect to our software access point, go to the tab Control Panel –> Network and Sharing Center -> Change adapter settings and in the properties of the adapter through which the computer - in our case netbook eeePC - gets access to the Internet (we have this connection via WiFi, but it can be any of the available ones - Ethernet, WiMax, 3G, etc.) in the "access" tab, check the box "Allow other network users to use the Internet connection this computer."

In addition, in "Home network connection" you need to specify which network adapter - in our case, this is "Wireless network connection 2" - Internet should be provided.

Finally, about the client. From the client side, several wireless networks will be visible, and when connected to an organized access point (we previously assigned it an SSID = MS Virtual WiFi), the client will automatically receive an IP address from the internal DHCP server, access the Internet and be separated from the external NAT (Network Address Translation) networks.

As clients in the test, a laptop and mobile phone With WiFi support; in both cases, access to the Internet through a virtual WiFi network did not cause any problems.

Simplify virtual WiFi network management

Despite the obvious advantages of Virtual WiFi, using the command line to configure and start the network for windows users who are accustomed to pressing buttons is not to say that it is convenient and familiar, especially since you will have to start the network every time you restart the computer, as well as wake it up or standby mode.

Embedded GUI for Virtual WiFi in the operating system, alas, no, but, as always in such cases, third-party developers came to the rescue by releasing graphical shells for Virtual WiFi - Connectify and Virtual Router Manager. We recommend using the first one (Connectify), since its developer is constantly working on improving it and regularly releases new versions, and the development of Virtual Router Manager is still at the "beta" stage, with the latest beta version dated 2009.

The principle of using both utilities is very simple: in the appropriate fields you need to specify the network SSID and password for access and click on the Start button, after which the program will start loading along with the launch operating system, enabling the launch of the virtual network. In addition, both the Connectify and Virtual Router Manager utilities show the current virtual network connections.

Hosted Network Management Commands

Finally, for connoisseurs of the command line - new commands for managing a hosted network that appeared in Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2:

netsh wlan set hostednetwork allowed/disallowed - allow or deny the use of the network

netsh wlan set hostednetwork persistent/temporary - setting network parameters, where SSID is the SSID of the network; key - the security key (password) used by the network; keyUsage - indicates whether the security key is permanent or temporary

netsh wlan show settings - shows network properties and its status

netsh wlan show hostednetwork settings=security - Displays hosted network security settings, including showing the password set in key when configuring netsh wlan set hostednetwork

netsh wlan start hostednetwork - start a hosted network

netsh wlan stop hostednetwork - stop hosted network.

Wireless networks can operate in two modes

Devices connect via an access point (Access Point-AP). This mode is called infrastructure (Infrastructure Mode) and, as a rule, is used in conjunction with a wireless router connected to the Internet.

What is Virtual WiFi technology

What is it for

Hmm ... The question, of course, is interesting.p Example one: the radio signal from the existing access point does not cover the required distance between it and wireless devices. In this case, a computer or laptop with Virtual WiFi can act as a repeater (repeater) that expands the coverage area of the wireless network.

How Virtual WiFi is Implemented in Windows 7

By the way: Virtual WiFi technology is included not only in Windows 7, but also in Windows 2008 R2.p Virtual WiFi is implemented in the operating system at the kernel level and allows a very simple implementation of a software access point (SoftAP), while only requiring wireless adapter manufacturers one thing is to implement SoftAP support in their drivers (many, by the way, have already done this). So far - in the current implementation - Virtual WiFi has the following limitations: it is allowed to create only one virtual adapter that works only in access point mode and only with WPA2-PSK / AES encryption By the way, Virtual WiFi technology allows you to connect up to 100 clients to an access point against 8 clients in Intel-promoted My WiFi technology.

Installing, enabling and configuring Virtual WiFi

Testing of Virtual WiFi - installation, enabling and configuring a wireless network - was carried out on an ASUS eeePC 1000H netbook with a built-in Ralink WiFi adapter.

So, first you have to "cheat" a little - call the command line with administrator rights and enter the following command:

netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid="MS Virtual WiFi" key="softodrom" keyUsage=persistent

"MS Virtual WiFi" here is the name (SSID) of the virtual network being created, and "softodrom" is the password for accessing the network. Of course, both of these parameters can be changed at your own discretion.

The last parameter - keyUsage=persistent - specifies that the password will be saved and will not need to be specified each time the virtual network needs to be started.

After executing this command, the system will detect new hardware and a new network adapter will appear in Device Manager called "Microsoft Virtual WiFi miniport adapter".

As a clarification: naturally, the virtual adapter will appear in the Device Manager only if the driver of the wireless adapter you have installed has support for Virtual WiFi technology.

For greater reliability, let's look at the Control Panel -> Network and Sharing Center -> Change adapter settings:

As you can see, a new connection "Wireless network connection 2" has appeared here with the status "No connection" (it already exists in the picture. More on that below).

We turn to the launch of the network. From a command prompt running with administrator rights, run the following command:

After that, a) the network will start (Microsoft called it "Hosted Network") and b) the software access point will work, which can be verified by going to Control Panel -> Network and Sharing Center.

As we can see, the computer is connected to several wireless networks at the same time, and now other wireless devices can connect to our newly created soft access point.

To provide Internet access to other wireless devices that will connect to our software access point, go to the Control Panel tab -> Network and Sharing Center -> Change adapter settings and in the properties of the adapter through which the computer - in our case netbook eeePC - gets access to the Internet (we have this connection via WiFi, but it can be any of the available ones - Ethernet, WiMax, 3G, etc.) in the "access" tab, check the box "Allow other network users to use the Internet connection this computer."

In addition, in "Home network connection" you need to specify which network adapter - in our case, this is "Wireless Network Connection 2" - you should provide the Internet.

As clients in the test, a laptop and mobile phone with WiFi support were used; in both cases, access to the Internet through a virtual WiFi network did not cause any difficulties.

Simplify virtual WiFi network management

Unfortunately, there is no built-in graphical interface for Virtual WiFi in the operating system, but, as always in such cases, third-party developers came to the rescue by releasing graphical shells for Virtual WiFi - Connectify and. We recommend the second one, and not for any of its software advantages, but simply because in order to download Connectify, you will first have to register on its developer's website, and Virtual Router Manager does not require this.

The principle of using both utilities is very simple: in the appropriate fields you need to specify the SSID of the network and the password for access and click on the Start button, after which the program will start loading along with the startup of the operating system, ensuring the launch of the virtual network. In addition, both the Connectify and Virtual Router Manager utilities show the current virtual network connections.

Hosted Network Management Commands

Finally, for connoisseurs of the command line - new commands for managing a hosted network that appeared in Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2:

netsh wlan set hostednetwork allowed/disallowed

Allow or deny the use of the network

netsh wlan set hostednetwork<идентификатор_SSID>
<парольная_фраза>persistent/temporary

Configuring network settings, where SSID is the SSID of the network; key - the security key (password) used by the network; keyUsage - indicates whether the security key is permanent or temporary