[HOW TO] TURN YOUR COMPUTER INTO A WIFI HOTSPOT (SHARE YOUR INTERNET CONNECTION & FILES)

Have you ever found yourself in a situation whereby you have more than enough bandwidth in your internet usb modem or data card? or do you feel like. you want to share your internet connection with your mobile phone or to another mobile device? Or you feel like networking two or more computers so that you can easily share your data and files among them? do you want to run a low end or medium cyber cafe with about 10 or more computers? Then this topic is for you. By the time am through with this post, you will able to do all listed above with ease with the help of a software called “CONNECTIFY” The Best is yet to come i have always said this.

This method is most suitable for a cooperate company, business organization cyber cafe Family, school e.t.c as long as you wish to share your internet connection with others

Now in a layman’s Language, I will be giving a detailed tutorial on the followings

1.How to Share your Internet Connection Between your Personal Computer (Must have inbuilt wireless card or buy an external wireless adapter) and other wireless devices e.g iPhone, iPad, Android, Blackberry, Play station, e.t.c

2. How to transfer files from your computer to other computers through wifi

REQUIREMENTS:

> Windows 7 or Higher

> Microsoft .dotnetfx35 you can download it here

> Download Connectify Lite HERE: 

> A Computer that has wireless connection (Note: if your connection doesn’t have one but your network card is power full then you can get an external wireless card adapter for your pc)

Note: Connectify will note work with with windows xp no matter how hard you try, Connectify willl not work without microsoft .net frame work service pack 1

Connectify will not work with all antivirus softwares so pls drop any error you get while trying to launch connectify here more frequently asked questions available here

PROCEDURES TO INSTALL CONNECTIFY ON YOUR WINDOWS 7 PC:

After installing the software from the above link, launch connectify and you will see something like what is in the picture below

you only need to change the followings:

Hotspot Name: any name you like mine is Lemmy morgan NETWORKS

Password: this is the password you will give to people who whom you want to share your connection with

Internet: make sure this is the currently active/ connected internet connection on your pc if you upgrade to pro, you may select Automatic ( a clue to this is locating your active connection under networks a sharing windows)

Advanced; skip this step

Security Mode: select Ad-Hoc, WEP to protect your connection

Now connect the software once connected it will automatically redirect you to the client’s tab with the message “waiting for the first client to connect”

once fully connected the numbers of wireless devices connected to your pc will be listed under the client’s tab and in here you can manage the devices by right clicking on it you can either Rename, Disable Internet Access or Disable local Access it simply means this is your admin control centre for all devices connected to your Hotspot

Next search for the available wifi networks from the device you wish to use in connecting to connectify. Once found, enter your WEP key and holla you are connected you can now browse with your phone or other wifi devices using your PC as a wireless Hotspot.

HOW YOU CAN SHARE FILES BETWEEN COMPUTERS USING CONNECTIFY (exclusive to connectify pro)

It is a known fact that when a product is developed and it has both free and pro versions it is better to buy the Professional version Connectify Lite has its Known limitations like limited share of 3G/4g networks over wifi inability to transfer files from one pc to another via, and inability to fully customize your hotspot

I bought the Pro version as you can see from my Screenshot because i want to use this to network my pc with that of my girl friend. Presently am sharing my internet connection with a nigeria network provider called Multilinks with their 3G Bluebroad band modem.

So having said that let me teach you how you can transfer files between your computer and others mind you the file transfer features is between computers and very few high end mobile phones.

From the Connectfy User Interface click on Services>> you will see the computer connected to your Hotspot>> Double click on the icon of that computer and you will be taken to the shared folders of the computer that is connected to yours and this folder is located under Local DiskC:/>>User>> Public.Once you are here you can transfer to and from the computer either by using the drag and drop method or the copy and paste method.

That is about all the essentials of Connectify the powerful software that turns your computer running windows 7 into a wireless Hotspot.

If you however encounter any problem which is most unlikely, you are free to drop same at the comment box below and i will attend to it promptly.

However if you wish to learn more about connectify outside what is covered here, then  you must visit our WEB FORUM .

Finally if you want to compare the connectify LITE with Connectofy Pro then read on

Features	Lite	Pro
Software Access PointTransform your laptop into a real Wi-Fi hotspot, sharing any available Internet connection
Share Internet from other Wi-Fi NetworksRe-broadcast the Wi-Fi network you’re on, as your own secure Connectify Hotspot using your laptop’s Wi-Fi card.
Display Connected Computers/DevicesKnow who and what devices are connected to your Connectify Hotspot at all times.
Simple Firewall ControlsSet Internet and local network (LAN) access permissions for each connected device.
Share Wi-Fi from 3G/4G NetworksShare Internet from 3G/4G cards in addition to a wide variety of other USB cards	Limited
Drag and Drop File TransferEasily share files with devices connected to your hotspot as well as other computers on the network running Connectify.	Limited
Service DiscoveryScans all devices on your Connectify Hotspot for available shared folders or drives, web servers, iTunes, and other remote services.	Limited
Fully-Customizable SSIDName your hotspot whatever you want (Connectify Lite requires your hotspot name to start with “Connectify-”)
Repeater FunctionalityExtend the range of your home or office router using the identical network name and password.
AutoInternet SelectionWhen set to “Automatic,” Connectify Pro intelligently chooses which Internet connection to share and makes the necessary configuration changes to your hotspot
Premium SupportOne full year of premium support and upgrades! Receive preferred support and the best possible response time to open tickets.

Connectify Pro is sold for cool $23 for one quantity and $ for 50+. you dont need to install connectify on other computer before you share your connection with them or before you send or receive files from them