With the explosion of more and more Wi-Fi networks, large number of users are using this technology to access internet. Normally, we buy a Wi-Fi router to create a personal Wi-Fi network within our home or small office. But, why spend on a hardware device when you can easily create a Wi-Fi hotspot in your home without it. If you already have a PC or laptop with a Wi-Fi adapter card, you can easily turn it into a Wi-Fi hub without any additional hardware. All you need is a soft Wi-Fi router software that's easy to install and configure. There are several good options available for the same and each of this support an array of features to create a powerful private Wi-Fi network. You can test each of these solutions and can use the one that gives you the best results. Let's check out these excellent soft Wi-Fi router software.
mHotspot - If you have a Windows 7 or 8 laptop, you can use this excellent software to create a secure Wi-Fi hotspot within minutes in your office or home. Through it, you can share your regular internet connection with multiple devices with Wi-Fi capabilities. The software itself is small in size and leaves a very small footprint on system resources.Connect up to 10 devices - Once your Wi-Fi hotspot is activated, you can configure it to support connections of up to 10 unique Wi-Fi enabled devices, whether it is a smartphone, PC or a laptop.
Extensive connection details - For each connection, you get tons of details including its IP address. This way, you can closely keep a watch on the devices connecting to your Wi-Fi network.
Secure password protection - To avoid unauthorized use, you can activate a secure and encrypted password. Device owners having the password can only access your Wi-Fi hotspot.
Track data transfers - You also get complete statistics about total as well as individual connection data transfer taking place through the Wi-Fi network.
Use as a repeater - Advanced users can use this software to further extend the reach and visibility of your existing Wi-Fi network.
Connectify - This slick app is a powerful and flexible Wi-Fi soft router option for users. It has one of the best interfaces that make the software usage, a good experience. It comes in two different versions., viz free and PRO. The former variant is good enough for creating a small Wi-Fi network at your home for a limited time.
Easy-to-use interface - Even if you're creating a hotspot for the first time, it's dead easy to configure it through this application.
Secure from unauthorized access - Like other soft Wi-Fi router applications, this one also supports network access through encrypted password to ensure only authorized users to get access to the network.
Customizable network name - You can specify a custom Wi-Fi hotspot name through the PRO version. Free version will always prefix connectify- before your network name.
Works as extender too - If you're looking to extend the reach of your existing Wi-Fi network so that it reaches in basements of your building, you can use this software to act as a repeater.
MyPublicWiFi - I often use this application for creating temporary Wi-Fi hotspots on the go. It has several unique features that make it one of my favorite apps for creating hotspots. The software is light and installs in seconds without any glitch. It works seamlessly both on 32 bit and 64 bit Windows machines. Following are some of the excellent features supported by this flexible Wi-Fi hotspot creating software.
Session logging - You can monitor the activity of all the connected devices which includes the URLs visited during the sessions. This ensures you're aware that all the connected clients are not abusing the network access privilege.
Built-in firewall - You can also restrict access to select websites and applications to ensure the available bandwidth is used in a responsible manner by all the connected devices.
Secure and encrypted connections - All the connections made by clients are encrypted and secured through a password. You can monitor all the connected devices and can disconnect any connection from your end.
User-friendly configuration - Like other popular applications, this one also lets you configure a Wi-Fi hotspot through a helpful interface with obvious controls and dialogs.
My WIFI Router - This free software is quite flexible and popular among users for instantly creating a Wi-Fi hotspot on a laptop. It has several unique features that make it one of the promising candidates in its category. It is available both in English and Chinese languages. This lightweight software runs seamlessly on Windows XP machines too. Following are some of the impressive features of this Wi-Fi hotspot creating software.
Secure file sharing - All the connected devices can easily transfer and share files securely on the Wi-Fi network without any glitch. This feature is ideal for small working groups.
Group chat - All connected users can also avail the facility of instant messaging and group chat which is natively supported by this excellent application.
Monitor connected devices - The originating device can easily track and monitor all the connected devices using the Wi-Fi network. This helps in assessing the usage of the network bandwidth.
Soothing interface - Application's interface is impressive that makes the configuring process a cakewalk. Device usage report interface is also good.
Free WiFi Hotspot - With a good user base, this application has easily made its way into this list. Quite similar to other popular competitors in its category, this software also provides robust Wi-Fi connectivity using one of your existing internet plans available on your laptop. It has a real-time logger display window that enables you to see the actions and events happening on the Wi-Fi network. Following features makes this application, a promising option to create a temporary Wi-Fi hotspot on your laptop.
Instant deployment - Application setup and hotspot creation are dead simple helping you create your very own private Wi-Fi network within minutes.
Information logger- This application has one of the best loggers and provides tons of details related to the network as well as of the connected devices.
Protected network - You can easily set a strong password for your Wi-Fi network so that only authorized devices can get access to the network resources.
Free with no limits - Did I told you that this application is completely free with no limitations on the available features? You can use it on multiple devices without any restriction.
WiFi HotSpot Creator - This is perhaps the only Wi-Fi hotspot creation software where you can get the email support from the developer, if required. The usage of the application is simple enough and doesn't require external help or guidance. It is available in several popular languages making it favorite among the multilingual user base. Following options and features are available in this application to instantly create a secure Wi-Fi hotspot on your laptop.
Simple to configure - It can be installed and configured in less than a minute enabling the almost instant creation of secure and personal Wi-Fi network.
Works on tablets too - You can use this application on a tablet device too. In other words, you can turn your tablet into a central Wi-Fi hub in your home.
Email support - As I mentioned before, after registering your copy of the software, you can easily gain access to unlimited email support to get more out of this application.
Resource friendly - This is one of the most resource friendly applications and is known to leave almost no footprint on the system even when multiple devices are using the network simultaneously.
Virtual Router - With over 2 million downloads (and counting...), this is perhaps the most popular Wi-Fi hotspot creation software with such a large user base. It is written in C# and runs seamlessly on Windows operating system. Since it is open source, one can easily modify its source code to customize the application as per his preferences. Following are some of the common features supported by this excellent application.
Ad-free - Unlike several other free solutions that rely on ads to run the support and development of the application, this solution is completely free of ads.
Handy status window - Its status window accessible through the tray icon contains rich information about the network as well as about the connected peers.
Community driven support forum - You can also use its support forum to get help for correctly using this application. Since the usage of software extremely simple, you'll rarely need to support forum to get the help.
Easy-to-use - Once installed, you can easily set up your secure Wi-Fi network in a few easy steps. One can also secure the network through a strong and encrypted password.
Thinix WiFi Hotspot - And last but not the least, this premium solution is ideal for professionals and serious users. Both Windows and Mac client devices can connect to the Wi-Fi hotspot created through this application. It supports a wide range of popular network adapters. Needless to say, this application has a very user-friendly and excellent interface. Following killer features tells why this application falls into the premium category.
Supports up to 100 devices - Unlike free solutions that normally restrict the number of clients up to 10, this software can handle up to 100 connections to the Wi-Fi network at a time.
Auto connects - You can also configure its auto-start option so that every time the application is started on boot, the Wi-Fi hotspot is created automatically using the previously stored settings.
Multilingual - Since this application can be used in several popular languages, users across the world can use this software with ease.
Connection prioritization - This application is capable is automatically detecting all the available internet connections and connecting with the best one that ensures smooth functioning of the Wi-Fi network.