Spotlight on Wireless Hosted Network in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2

  • Article

Hello, Windows Networking Developer folks and interested parties!

The wireless Hosted Network is a new WLAN feature supported on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 with the Wireless LAN Service installed. This feature implements two major functions:

· The virtualization of a physical wireless adapter into more than one virtual wireless adapter sometimes referred to as Virtual Wi-Fi.

· A software-based wireless access point (AP), sometimes referred to as a SoftAP, that uses a designated virtual wireless adapter.

With this feature, a Windows-based 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. The driver for the wireless adapter must implement the wireless LAN device driver model defined by Microsoft for use on Windows 7.

A wireless Hosted Network sample that demonstrates the use of wireless Hosted Network functions is included with the Windows Software Development Kit (SDK). The latest version of the Windows SDK is available from the Download Center.

By default, the wireless Hosted Network sample source code is installed in the following directory:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.0\Samples\NetDs\Wlan

The wireless Hosted Network sample is located under the following folder:

WirelessHostedNetwork

The Wireless Hosted Network sample can be compiled on the Windows SDK for Windows 7. The Wireless Hosted Network sample can be run on Windows 7 and on Windows Server 2008 R2 with the Wireless LAN Service installed.

Some links:

· About the Wireless Hosted Network

· Using Wireless Hosted Network and Internet Connection Sharing

· Wireless Hosted Network Sample

· Netsh Commands for WLAN in Windows Server 2008 R2

 

We’d love to hear your feedback on this documentation and code sample, so please send e-mail to wsddocfb@microsoft.com (with “wifi” in the e-mail subject header) if you have any comments, suggestions, criticisms, or encouragement!

The Windows Networking Developer Documentation Team