In this hub I will demonstrate to you, how to create a wireless local area network using your computer. No additional equipment is needed unless you are using a desktop without a wireless network card. I personally use this technique for a wide range of things from hosting my own Apache development server then wirelessly accessing it using my laptop, to transferring files between my android phone and my laptop when the USB cable is out of reach.
Checking whether the WLAN is supported in your network card
First you need to make sure that your network card supports hosting a wireless LAN network.Do this by running Windows' Command prompt(cmd) with administrative privileges.
Type netsh wlan show drivers and press enter. If Hosted network supported is Yes, then you are good to go, else, this isn't going to work for you.
Checking whether wlan is supported
Creating the network
Now let's get to the fun part, creating the network. Type netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=nameOfNetwork key=myPassword and press enter.
In case of an error the system will notify you. Check out for typos.
NB: ssid is the name you assign to your network and key is the password(at least 8 characters).
To edit the values just rewrite the whole line again but this time with the new values. It will overwrite the old values.
Starting and Stopping the network.
Once you have started the network, you will need to start it to use it.
To start it type netsh wlan start hostednetwork and press enter.
To stop it type netsh wlan stop hostednetwork and press enter.
TIP You only need to create the network once.
You can also create a .bat file to save you the typing every time you start or stop the network. I will discuss creating .bat files later. Also you could make a cmd program using Java or C++ that makes those system calls if you are into programming
Using the network
The network will be visible like a normal WiFi connection accessible by other devices like phones, laptops, gaming consoles e.t.c
You just need to connect and enter the password. You can now transfer files between devices without a physical connection or play computer games that support LAN gaming without a hustle.
BONUS: Transferring files between Windows and Abdroid
To transfer files between your Android device and Computer you will need an app called ES file manager (I am sure there are other alternatives).
What this program allows you to do is transfer files using FTP(to remotely manage your phone) or via the LAN browser. I use it to play movies and songs on my laptop using my Android Phone, especially when someone else is using my laptop.
I also enjoy playing NFS most wanted and black hawk down with friends on weekends.
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