It wasn't all that long ago that Microsoft was talking up the
Virtual WiFi feature developed by Microsoft Research and set for inclusion in
Windows 7, but something got lost along the road to release day, and the functionality never officially made it into the OS. As you might expect with anything as big and complicated as an operating system though, some of that code did make it into the final release, and there was apparently enough of it for the folks at Nomadio to exploit into a full fledged feature. That's now become Connectify, a free application from the company that effectively turns any Windows 7 computer into a virtual WiFi hotspot -- letting you, for instance, wirelessly tether a number of devices to your laptop at location where only an Ethernet jack is available, or even tether a number of laptops together at a coffee shop that chargers for WiFi. Intrigued? Hit up the link below to grab the beta.
posted Nov 2nd 2009 2:19AM
This could eat into router business; have a desktop PC connected to the modem, and use it as a wireless router. Interesting...
This has pretty much always been possible and isn't anything new with this. You can do this right now on XP. You won't get the distance or features a router will give you though.
Just to add to that. What really makes this special is the ability to connect to a Wireless network while also sharing it wirelessly with one WiFi card.
Still nice to have a hardware firewall in front of your first box. I'd rather have hackers banging at my NAT router than my main PC even if it does have a software firewall.
@Bootes
I was going to ask what made this different then an adhoc network, but that makes sense.
$10 says this will be broken or disabled after the next patch release.
I've been able to do this in Linux for years... ^_^
Aside from that shameless plug, this is a really nifty feature and I can see it benefiting many people. =)
Exploit?
Its a feature/ability.
Ok if you're a knucklehead it can be exploited asn set it up to be open.
But if you're a knucklehead you probably will do other dumb things as well.
Its like saying , there is an new danger for stepping in front of moving traffic.... no duh !!
Not that amazing, unless they are able to pull this off on all wireless chipsets. I know that for Intel's newest Centrino offerings, a tool called My WiFi is included in which you can do this exact thing.
PC's have had this for years it's called Internet Connection Sharing and Apple probably copied it
Flame On!!
Crap. Clicked reply on wrong post :|
LMAO low ranked for posting a joke under the wrong message and then apologising for it. Damn some people seriously need to get out more.
Could someone explain to me how this is different from a feature the Mac has had for a long time? Create a computer to computer network over WiFi and share an ethernet internet connection over it. It works just fine...
This allows you to take your laptop to a hotspot (or your home wireless network) and connect to it via your wifi card, and then turn around and share that connection with other users around you by creating a new wireless network from the same wifi card.
So in essence its like you have 2 wifi cards in your computer instead of just one.
I find it interesting how you guys low rank mac fans :P
I was actually going to ask the same question, but I guess a mac can't connect to a wifi network and share it at the same time,
we have to connect it to an ethernet cable and then create a network (like a router),,
Anyways, I guess we're not perfect, but still better than windows hehe :P
Stephen is being downranked because of his pathetic attempt to claim that Macs are uniquely capable of something that every PC with a wireless nic has always been able to do or that Apple somehow invented this feature first.
It's a wireless NIC.
PC's have had this for years it's called Internet Connection Sharing and Apple probably copied it
Flame On!!
You're calling that a mac feature? Really?
It's called a bridge.
So anyway, why bother caring about what OS "had it first"? For the record off a Microsoft support document:
"you can turn on Internet Connection Sharing on computers that are running Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition, Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), and Microsoft Windows 2000."
See? Windows 98 (though correct me if that ISN'T a feature - oh, and it's not just for Wi-Fi). Not counting Mac OS 9's ability to turn AirPort cards into hotspots, it was only until Mac OS X 10.2 that Internet Sharing was provided.
Though honestly, who cares? If it's in the operating system you own today, what should it matter who copied who or who had it first? Of note, I don't believe OS X actually has THIS feature yet, but as a Mac user who sees this as useful, I DO wish I had it.
@Anthony La
Macs have it:
http://cnettv.cnet.com/create-your-own-wi-fi-hotspot-mac/9742-1_53-50004434.html
It's just not as easy to use.
And before I'm downranked, YES you CAN connect and share one Wi-Fi network.
@MZLweasel no, that's not it - that's the Internet Sharing I mentioned earlier. The technology Microsoft has here allows Windows 7 computers to create a hotspot while ALREADY connected to a hotspot - "virtual Wi-Fi".
Engadget, you are so late. This was discovered nearly a week back on other sites.
It's not cool until engadget does it.
You forget that Engadget is run by bloggers not journalists so until someone else reports it they don't know about it.
Not all of us have the ability to read the entire internet every single day.
I have done this for years with my Macs. I don't mean to be smug when I say that, just surprised. I thought Windows could do it as well.
seems like you got down voted just for saying the word Mac. Windows fanboys I guess are so jealous that they think down voting Mac users comments will make them feel better. Guess they gotta compensate somehow.
No, he was voted down for saying something completely stupid and not understanding what this does and what his Mac is capable of doing.
Cool.. Sounds like something my android phone should be able to suck juice off of!
I have rooted my phone and am able to use it as a 3G-hotspot. It's a nice feature when out and about with a laptop.
@Rybak: you fail at avatar stealing.
But isn't this feature called "Ad-Hoc Wi-Fi," and it's been available for some time now already?
you beat me to it
I think with ad hoc, in order to share internet, one computer has to be connected to ethernet. So this is slightly different as I don't think you need a direct line.
From the website FAQ:
Is this just WiFi’s ad hoc mode?
No, Connectify is a real WiFi Access Point running on your computer. Any device that can connect to a regular access point, can connect to a Connectify Hotspot, with no special setup or software required.
@aznjohnny, I agree re: that exact "extra" feature to w/c the PC World link/article had mentioned that there's definitely a "plus feature" to it, wherein Nomadio's "Connectify" software has that feature included: receiving Wi-Fi & distributing Ad-Hoc Wi-Fi as well!
So it's definitely a "software tweak," w/c "Engadget" had mentioned that was just "exploited," because it was not finished by Microsoft on Windows 7.
A new twist created by Nomadio for creating an Ad-Hoc Wi-Fi software on Windows (not only for Windows 7 but also for Windows XP & Vista) PC's indeed.
Not completely. Android can not connect to Adhoc networks. Ok, you CAN, and I just did. It only took me 3-4 hours, and requires a rooted phone, rewriting some linux config files, messing around with some phone settings, some network settings on the computer... and 10 minutes after I got it working (more or less... I have to connect the laptop to my phone... the phone can't sign in automatically) I read about Connectify. Oh well... But I suppose Connectify will be less troublesome.
so its just an ad hoc network?
just to now thath windows 7 has this funtion by default..
15 second and you have an hot spot in 7 without program like this...
this is a screen.. just push the button to have hot spot
http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/4264/hotspotseven.jpg
People that saying this feature exists (including the ones mentioning how it only exists on macs), you are thinking of adhoc. Yes it does exist for windows and mac, but that is just a connection from 1 computer to another, then you can share your internet connection. Not every wifi device supports adhoc, and with this, it just creates a wifi access point that anything can connect to. Don't get me wrong, this is not new technology, hell, i've even seen an app that does this on WinMo.
I am using OS X's Wi-Fi sharing with multiple devices. It supports both Ad-Hoc (you get WiFi+Computer icon) and real hotspot mode (you get WiFi icon with arrow up).
And to quote the last sentence from the PC World link now:
"Apple's Mac OS X already offers a similar feature under the "Internet Sharing" preferences setting."
@Owen V, "so its just an ad hoc network?"
Correct!
This in my mind is pretty much a useless feature. If you're at a cafe and pay for internet to use on your laptop, why would you want to browse the internet using your phone? It just doesn't make any logical sense for me.
what?
u missed the point, mate.
Please guys, read the damn article.
This doesn't just let you create an ad-hoc network. It lets you create an ad-hoc network while you're still connected to a wireless network, so it's kinda like having two wireless adapters.
It's not an article, it's an ad. And it mentions the wireless network you create has to run on the same channel as the one you join! That's not terribly useful I don't think. It sounds like a modified version of WDS, and it'll cut your bandwidth way, way down as every packet has to be sent twice over the same channel if it passes through your virtual base station.
"It's not an article, it's an ad."
See, LS, this is why I laugh when you complain about advertisements on that other device. Seriously, this is an ad? If this is an ad, why are you not complaining in every single post here on Engadget for being a shill, advertising cameras, computers, MP3 players, etc? Why would you subject yourself to these horrible, brain altering, demeaning advertisements by coming to a place like Engadget when they are beaming their subliminal "buy me" messages directly into your brain?
Take off the tinfoil hat.
I'm referring to the item at the link, not the engadget piece. it's not an article. An article is written by a journalist and pretends to be news. This is an ad. That's why it says "beta test now", and you have to click the button "FAQ" in the corner to see info. That's why it's hosted by the software maker. That's why it says "all sales are final" at the bottom.
As to the rest of your post, that chip on your shoulder must get damn heavy at times. Give it a rest some time. Why do I come to engadget and subject myself to ads? Hey, well, I'm not being CHARGED to view them am I? So you somehow didn't notice that 70% of Live Gold was ads and you got burned. Get over it, it's been weeks.
i think there is one main point for this:
*you can create mesh networks*
before you would all physically cram around the range of a single wifi point/ethernet connection. now you can have lots of devices connect to each other and effectively extend the range by creating a "net/mesh" instead of cramming around the same physical space.
interestingly enough, the OLPC device has this ability already:
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Mesh_Network_Details
This has been around forever. It's how the Nintendo Wi-Fi adapter (to let DSes work) works for example (on Windows XP and up!). It's just ad-hoc Wi-Fi.
The feature W7 was going to have but lost was where you joined a Wi-Fi network and re-shared that back out over Wi-Fi. Or you could join two networks at once. This required support at the hardware level I believe.
Too lazy to read the entire article, huh?
This lets you share your Wifi....
This is not simply ad-hoc wifi, its wifi adapter virtualization. It allows a single wifi adapter to behave as if you have multiple wifi adapters.
Except multiple adapters would be able to work on multiple frequencies at once...
...And of course they just *had* to make this "exploited windows 7 feature" look like a half-baked knockoff of OSX.
TO ALL THOSE SAYING IT IS JUST AD-HOC:
Can I still join a WiFi network while my computer is acting as a WiFi Hotspot?
Yes, absolutely. You can join a WiFi network and run the Connectify Hotspot on the same WiFi card, at the same time. The Connectify Hotspot is always on the same channel as the WiFi network that you join, but WiFi networks can share the same channel.
Is this just WiFi’s ad hoc mode?
No, Connectify is a real WiFi Access Point running on your computer. Any device that can connect to a regular access point, can connect to a Connectify Hotspot, with no special setup or software required.
FAQ from Connectify's website.
Hey, someone who actually bothered to read the info on the program from their site instead of just jumping to conclusions and sounding stupid. I was going to post pretty much the same thing you did after reading all of the comments of people saying "can't you do the same thing with XP" and "Macs have been doing this for years" lol. I'll find this pretty damn useful since I can now tether my phone to my netbook running windows 7 and then connect my PSP to my netbook. The PSP can only connect to access points for internet and not Ad-hoc connections. Pretty handy when I'm at work and I want to do some online gaming in my downtime XD
This is basically setting up a repeater bridge without a dd-wrt router.
They seem to state you can have a different encryption (WPA/WPA2/WEP) on the network you make as the one you join. That would mean it isn't just WDS repeating.
@why not the LS2LS7?
Rad. This will be very helpful at school, which has unsecure WiFi but uses a portal to get us to log into the campus-wide Internet. I can login and turn my laptop into a secure hotspot so my Zune and DS can access the Internet without going through the portal.
@Jasmine
Only the connection between your device (i.e. DS) and your Connectify-running laptop will be secure. The data will be decrypted by your laptop and sent unencrypted to the access point that your laptop is connected to, so this isn't a way to secure communications on an unsecured AP.
If you're only worried about people in your immediate area sniffing out your wireless packets, they'll go for the unsecured laptop-to-AP connection anyway.
Kanye-meme, Linux.
Umm... I don't have Windows 7. I use Windows XP. Is there any software for XP like this? Been wanting to make my laptop a virtual hotspot for a while now. Need it sometimes for my group cause I'm the only one with a data plan and when we're not a place with wifi, they can't connect to the internet.
No. I don't think so. Connectify requires Windows 7. But why don't you try making an AD-HOC WiFi network?
Just f-ing upgrade already.
I did something similar on my iPhone, its called MyWi, its actually a cool feature. Looks like one more thing to throw in when I upgrade to Windows 7.
is there a device that can steal bandwidth from multiple sources and combine them into 1 super pipe? sort of like torrent, but for general internet usage...
I think that M$ has taken a big step forward with this ...
not expect similar innovations from M $ .. ^_^"
The virtual wifi feature is fully intact and present in windows 7 not some unfinished feature as Engadget claims - it just has no GUI & it is activated via command line only.
All they did was build a GUI to the interface.
That is correct. Everyone should check the WinHEC slide linked to above. The architecture (component names and all) are exactly how it was built into the OS. You can turn it on in netsh if you want without the UI. WCN also uses it as well.
The connectify software fits in as "ISV App."
http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/18/microsofts-virtual-wifi-will-make-windows-7-wireless-adapters-d/
"or even tether a number of laptops together at a coffee shop that chargers for WiFi"
Does WiFi need batteries? Or horses?
This would be useful for sharing a mobile internet connection with other users.
So it's like Joiku Spot for the pc? Awesome.
"or even tether a number of laptops together at a coffee shop that chargers for WiFi"
Does WiFi need batteries? Or horses?
This feature is available on all rooted android phones and winmo. Turns your data connection into a signal and your phone into a router. Very sweet and convenient:)
Haha we DDOS'd their site.
Tested it, works well. Didn't initally work but I found out this was because I 'updated' to newer drivers from the Realtek site which it didn't like (I'm guessing they're just Vista drivers) but after rolling back to the ones included with Windows 7 it worked like a charm. Connected my PS3 to it without any trouble and was just as fast as connecting to my router, although I'm guessing it would increase ping somewhat.
get the program here:
http://www.techspot.com/downloads/4899-connectify.html
The article is wrong. The feature is not missing from Windows 7.
The feature is there, but there is no GUI for it. You can still create and modify the Virtual WiFi from the command prompt.
Connectify is just a GUI for this functionality, not the functionality itself!
Kill yourself :)
For those wondering, this WAS a reply to one of those damn spam adverts.
I have been able to do this with my Symbian Device for a long time, but it's still nice to hear.
Macs have had this since at least Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger". For those who don't know, we're now on Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard".
So, I'm curious as to whether anybody is actually aware that Virtual WiFi was never supposed to contain a Microsoft frontend. Not in the original version from Microsoft research back in 2002, not the current version.
Here, have a slide from WinHEC in May of this year. http://www.istartedsomething.com/20090516/windows-7-native-virtual-wifi-technology-microsoft-research/
Also, have an Engadget article from the same timeframe with the same slide: http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/18/microsofts-virtual-wifi-will-make-windows-7-wireless-adapters-d/
Come on, guys. At least read your own articles before posting false news. Your article clearly shows that VWiFi is just a framework. It's up to ISVs to develop the frontend.