Configuring windows 7 to provide secure wireless access point services to wi fi

1. Configuring Windows 7 To Provide Secure Wireless
Access Point Services to Wi-Fi Clients - Turn
Windows into an Access Point
PREPARED BY RAVI KUMAR LANKE
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2. Not many people are aware that Windows 7 has built-in capabilities that allow it to be transformed
into a perfectly working access point so that wireless clients such as laptops, smartphones and others
can connect to the local network or obtain Internet access. Turning a Windows 7 system into an
access point is an extremely useful feature, especially when there is the need to connect other
wireless devices to the Internet with no access point available.
When Windows 7 is configured to provide access point services, the operating system is fully
functional and all system resources continue to be available to the user working on the system. In
addition, the wireless network is encrypted using the WPA2 encryption algorithm
Even though there are 3rd-party applications that will provide similar functionality, we believe this
built-in feature is easy to configure and works well enough to make users think twice before
purchasing such applications.
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3. Creating Your Windows 7 Access Point
While there is no graphical interface that will allow you magically to turn Windows 7 into an access
point, the configuration is performed via CLI using one single command. We should note that when
turning a Windows 7 station into a Wi-Fi access point, it is necessary to ensure the station’s wired
network card (RJ45) is connected to the local network (LAN) and has Internet access. Wireless clients
that connect to the Windows 7 AP will obtain Internet access via the workstation’s wired LAN
connection and will be located on a different subnet network.
To begin, click on the Start button and enter cmd.exe in the Search Programs and Files area as
shown below:
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4. Next, right click on cmd.exe and select Run as administrator from the menu. This will open a DOS
prompt with administrator privileges, necessary to execute the CLI command.
As mentioned earlier, a single command is required to create the Windows 7 access point and here it
is:
netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=”myssid" key=”mykey” keyUsage=persistent
The
only
parameters that
will
need
to change
from
the above
command are
the ssid and key parameters. All the rest can be left as is. The ssid parameter configures the ssid
that will be broadcast by the Windows 7 operating system, while the key parameter defines the
WPA2-Personal key (password) that the clients need to enter in order to connect to the Wi-Fi network.
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5. Following is an example that creates a wireless network named Firewall.cx with a WPA2 password
of $connect$here :
C:Windowssystem32> netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow "ssid=Firewall.cx"
"key=$connect$here" keyUsage=persistent
The hosted network mode has been set to allow.
The SSID of the hosted network has been successfully changed.
The user key passphrase of the hosted network has been successfully changed.
C:Windowssystem32>
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6. When executed, the above command creates the required Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport
adapter and will setup the hostednetwork. The new Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport adapter will
be visible in the Network Connections panel as shown below. In our example the adaptor is
named Wireless Network Connection 2. Note that this is a one-time process and users will not
need to create the adaptor again:
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7. Next step is to start the hosted wireless network. The command to start/stop the hostednetwork
is netsh wlan start|stop hostednetwork and needs to be run as administrator. Simply run the
command in the same DOS prompt previously used:
Notice how our Wireless Network Connection 2 has changed status and is now showing our
configured SSID Firewall.cx:
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