Share VPN via a Wi-Fi from Windows

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Note: Recent Intel Wireless Adapters don't support the wireless hosted network feature on Windows 10. For more information, visit this page.

First, connect your Windows PC to your network over Wi-Fi.

If you have a VPN-incompatible device that does not support any VPN protocols, you can connect to the internet using a shared Wi-Fi access point.

Note: Make sure you are not connected to NordVPN. The tutorial will specify when you can do so.

1. Open the Windows Command Prompt (cmd.exe) as the administrator. You can do that by typing cmd in the Windows Search bar. Right-click on the result and select Run as administrator.
   
   
    
2. In the Command Prompt, type the following:
   
   netsh wlan show drivers
   
   
   
   If the Hosted network supported line says Yes, you will be able to set up a virtual Wi-Fi adapter on your computer. If it says No, look for a newer version of your adapter drivers and install them. Alternatively, try using a different wireless card.
    
3. To configure the shared network settings, such as the name and password, type in the following command:
   
   netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=NetworkName key=NetworkPassword
   
   Hit Enter. You should see something similar to this:
   
   
    
4. To activate this virtual network, type:
   
   netsh wlan start hostednetwork
   
   
    
5. Once the virtual network has been activated, you will need to set it up to share the VPN connection. Open the Network and Sharing center by right-clicking the network icon in the system tray. Select Open Network and Sharing Center and click Change adapter settings.
   
   
    
6. You will see the newly created VirtualNord adapter and the TAP-NordVPN Windows Adapter V9 adapter. Right-click on the TAP adapter and select Properties. 
   
   
   
   Open the Sharing tab, check the Allow other networks users to connect through this computer's Internet connection box, and select Local Area Connection from the drop-down list (in our case, it represents VirtualNord). Click OK.
   
   
7. Connect to one of our VPN servers in the NordVPN application. Every device connected to the VirtualNord Wi-Fi network will now be using your internet connection, which is connected to NordVPN.
8. To check the status of your virtual adapter, type the following:
   
   netsh wlan show hostednetwork
   
   To stop the virtual interface, type:
   
   netsh wlan stop hostednetwork
   
   
    
9. If you get the message “The hosted network couldn't be started. The group or resource is not in the correct state to perform the requested operation output” after performing netsh wlan start hostednetwork, try the following:
   
   Open Run window with the keyboard shortcut Windows Button + R and type in:
   
   mmc devmgmt.msc
   
   Press Enter. Once the Device Manager is open, navigate to Network Adapters and right-click Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter. Select Enable. Perform the following command again:
   
   netsh wlan start hostednetwork