How To Get Wifi At Home Without A Router

Are you looking to have Wi-Fi in your home, but you don't have a router? This may sound strange, but it is possible using the mobile hotspot feature on your computer. Many of the newer and more popular computer operating systems support this feature (for free).

Not the mobile hotspot that you're used to

This method of sharing an internet connection is frequently referred to as 'mobile hotspot', however this setup differs from most people's definition of mobile hotspot – which is the process of enabling a feature on their smartphone so that they can tether a computer to the phone for internet access through the phone's mobile data connection.

Using a smartphone's hotspot permanently will get expensive very quickly – since you will likely blow through your mobile data allotment in short order. This type of hotspot also requires that the phone has adequate mobile data reception – if your signal is too weak, you won't be able to even turn on the mobile hotspot functionality on your phone.

The solution we are discussing here uses a computer to act as a router in order to share an internet connection. The internet connection you are sharing could be a Cable or DSL service of your own, or perhaps a neighbor's Wi-Fi that they are granting you access to.

Why no router?

There are multiple reasons why someone would want to go without a router.

The most common reason is that someone has recently moved and doesn't yet have a router because they either didn't buy one yet or because their old router is packed away somewhere and they can't find it.

Or, perhaps they were leasing their last router from their ISP – in this case, they would have had to return it when they disconnected service at their last house/apartment.

Also, people that are traveling frequently can benefit from hotspot functionality on their laptop. Frequently, while traveling, you will run into internet access services that only allow one device online at a time.

Want to get online with both your laptop and your tablet? In this case, you may have to pay again to get the second device online as well. This type of service is not uncommon and is typically found in airports, cruise ships, and some hotels.

A Mobile hotspot on your computer can alleviate the need for these additional charges and allow you to only pay one access fee for all of your devices.

Pros and Cons to going router-less

Pros

• Saves money up front – No router to purchase
• Slightly lower power consumption due to the lack of a router (this only applies in cases where you leave your computer running all the time anyway)
• It's an easy fix when you're in a bind and don't have a router
• Excellent for travelers

Cons

• More complex – Traffic is going to be double NAT'ed in some cases, which can also impact performance
• Worse performance – Depending on the speed of your computer and the other tasks that are running, your computer may not be able to route packets as quickly as a regular router can
• Worse coverage – Most computers lack an external wireless antenna, and the ones that do have one are quite small. A router can easily cover a larger area than a computer can
• Must keep the computer on all the time – That's right, if you shutdown or reboot your computer, other people in the house that are using your Wi-Fi network will be disconnected
• Difficult to expand wireless coverage – adding additional access points to your network to increase the range won't work in some cases because the wired Ethernet adapter on your computer is likely already being used to connect to your Cable/DSL modem
• Limited to 8 devices (Windows 10) – Windows caps the amount of devices that you can share with at 8 total

It's only temporary (usually)

There's no reason why you couldn't rely on this set up permanently, however, most people will only use it temporarily – such as when they are on travel or if they just moved in to a new place.

A router isn't THAT expensive and the benefits of using a traditional setup versus a mobile hotspot are many.

Getting Started

Difficulty: Medium
Time Required: 10 Minutes

Prerequisites

• A computer with an Operating System that supports mobile hotspot functionality (Windows 10, MacOS)
• The computer must have a wireless adapter (any modern laptop will have a wireless adapter built in, and some desktops have them too)
• An internet connection to share – either your own Cable/DSL type service, or a nearby Wi-Fi network that you have access to (Windows 10 only – MacOS can't be connected to WiFi and share via WiFi at the same time like Windows 10 can)

Optional

If you are wishing to share your own Cable/DSL service, your computer will also need to have a wired network adapter for connection to your Cable/DSL modem. If you are sharing a nearby Wi-Fi network, a wired adapter is unnecessary.

Windows or Mac?

See the mobile hotspot procedure for Windows 10 below, or jump ahead to the instructions for MacOS.

Windows 10 Procedure

• Click on the 'Start' Button and click on the 'Settings' icon:

• Click on 'Network and Internet':
• On the menu on the left, click on 'Mobile hotspot'

You will see a drop down box that says 'Share my Internet connection from'. If you have multiple connections to the internet, such as a Wi-Fi connection to someone else's network plus a wired connection to your Cable/DSL modem, you will see them listed here.

• Choose the connection that you want to share.
• If desired, you can change the network name and password by clicking the 'Edit' button. Your password needs to be at least eight characters long.

Alternatively, you can keep the randomly generated name and password that is already shown on the settings screen.

• Lastly, move the slider at the top of the screen that says 'Share my Internet connection with other devices' to 'On'. Your computer is now acting as a router.

You should now see your shared wireless network available on other devices in your home and you should be able to connect to that network using the password shown on the mobile hotspot configuration screen.

You will also see a count of the number of devices that are connected to your shared wireless network:

Remember: If you turn off or reboot your computer, you will cut off anyone else that is using your hotspot.

MacOS Procedure

Note: With MacOS, you can create a mobile hotspot just like in Windows 10, except you can typically only share a wired Ethernet connection. This is due to the fact that Windows 10 allows you to connect to a Wi-Fi network and then share that same network on the same wireless adapter.

MacOS does not support this functionality, so you are generally limited to sharing an internet connection that comes in through the computer's wired Ethernet port, unless you happen to have two wireless adapters. However, many people want to share their Cable/DSL service through their computer, so this functionality on the Mac is still definitely worth mentioning.

• Click on the 'Apple' menu and then click on 'System Preferences':

• Locate the 'Sharing' option and click on it:

• Select 'Internet Sharing' on the left side:

• On the 'Share your connection from' drop-down, choose 'Ethernet'
• In the 'To computers using' box, chose your Wi-Fi adapter (the screenshot doesn't show a wireless adapter since my Mac doesn't have one, but your computer should)
• Click the 'Wi-Fi Options' button at the bottom to configure your hotspot. You can chose a name for your network as well as select a channel:

We recommend selecting 'WPA2 Personal' from the 'Security' box and then pick a secure password. If you don't set a security mode, the network will be created as an open network, which will allow anyone to connect to it. Bad idea.

• Lastly, check the checkbox next to 'Internet Sharing' on the left to enable the hotspot. 'Internet Sharing' will show as 'ON' and have a green dot next to it once it has successfully been enabled.

You should now be able to see the Wi-Fi network on other devices and connect to it to access the internet.

Remember: If you turn off or reboot your computer, you will cut off anyone else that is using your hotspot.

Andrew Namder is an experienced Network Engineer with 20+ years of experience in IT. He loves technology in general, but is truly passionate about computer networking and sharing his knowledge with others. He is a Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) and is working towards achieving the coveted CCIE certification. He can be reached at andrew@infravio.com.

How To Get Wifi At Home Without A Router

Source: https://www.infravio.com/how-to-get-wifi-at-home-without-a-router/

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