Mobile hotspot, virtual hotspot, or Wi-Fi hotspot feature enables you to share your Windows 10 PCs Internet connection with up to 8 devices. The mobile hotspot or Wi-Fi hotspot feature has been part of Windows 10 since the first preview build of Windows 10.
Mobile hotspot or Wi-Fi hotspot in Windows 10
Although Windows 10 supported mobile hotspot since its early days, turning on the mobile hotspot was not a straight-forward job as it required executing commands in Command Prompt. In a nutshell, there was no option neither in Settings nor in Control Panel to turn on the mobile hotspot feature.
With Windows 10 Anniversary Update builds, Microsoft has introduced an easy way to set up a mobile hotspot in Windows 10. You can create a mobile hotspot under Settings, meaning you no longer need to open the Command Prompt or use third-party tools to create a virtual Wi-Fi hotspot on your Windows 10 PC.
Currently, the mobile hotspot feature supports up to 8 devices, meaning you connect up to eight devices to Windows 10 mobile hotspot. The mobile hotspot feature can be turned on a PC that supports Wi-Fi.
In addition to users who use Wi-Fi to connect their PCs to the Internet, users who use an Ethernet connection to connect to the web can also set up a mobile hotspot without any issues.
Thankfully, setting up a mobile hotspot is very easy in Windows 10 Anniversary Update builds. Complete the given below directions to turn on the mobile hotspot or virtual hotspot in Windows 10 without the help of third-party utilities.
Create mobile hotspot in Windows 10
NOTE: This feature is present in Windows 10 Anniversary Update or above builds only. Make sure that you’re running 14379 or later build of Windows 10 by typing Winver.exe in Start menu search box and then pressing Enter key.
Step 1: Open the Settings app either by clicking its icon on the left side of the Start menu or simultaneously pressing the Windows logo + R keys.
Step 2: In the Settings app, go to Network & Internet > Mobile Hotspot page.
Step 4: To turn on mobile hotspot, turn on the option labeled Share my Internet connection with other devices. That’s it!
As you can see in the picture above, Windows 10 automatically assigns a network name as well as a strong password for your mobile hotspot. If you want to change the default password or name of your Windows 10 mobile hotspot, click the Edit button and then a name or password you wish to use.
Step 5: To connect a device to your Windows 10 mobile hotspot, select your Windows 10 mobile network’s name on the device that you want to connect and then enter the password being shown on the Mobile hotspot page of Settings on your Windows 10 PC.
By default, Windows 10 automatically turns off the Mobile Hotspot to save power. If you want to keep it turned on always, turn off When no devices are connected, automatically turn off the mobile hotspot option.
Tip: As said before, the mobile hotspot allows you to connect up to a total of eight devices to your Windows 10 mobile hotspot. The Mobile hotspot page in Settings displays the number of devices connected to your mobile hotspot as well.
