[How to] Use Windows 7 to create a Wi-Fi network without using router

[How to] Use Windows 7 to create a Wi-Fi network without using router

If you have got Wi-Fi in your laptop and have Windows 7 installed in it then you can easily turn it into a Wi-Fi hotspot and share your net connection with other people in the range and Virtual Router is the easiest way to do so.
Virtual Router is an open source software which leverages the Wireless Hosted Network API which is a part of the new Windows Operating Systems (Windows 7 and Windows server 2008).

With this feature, a Windows computer can use a single physical wireless adapter to connect as a client to a hardware access point (AP), while at the same time acting as a software AP allowing other wireless-capable devices to connect to it. This feature requires that a Hosted Network capable wireless adapter is installed in the local computer. (quoted from MS library)

The program is really simple to use. After downloading and installing the software all you have to do is specify the network name and password to access this network. It uses the WPA-2 encryption to protect the wireless network from unwanted users.