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Do you want to share one internet connection with multiple devices? Why don’t you use Connectify? It’s a software which magically turns a laptop into a fully functional Wi-Fi hotspot. You can share your wired or wireless internet connection with all Wi-Fi equipped devices. No additional Wi-Fi routers are required to share wired broadband and 3G/4G connection. Connectify is an easy to use Windows software which virtually creates Wi-Fi hotspot. This software works on any computer running Windows XP, Vista, 7 or 8. However, on Windows XP and Vista it supports only Ad-Hoc mode. In this tutorial I’m going to show you how to create virtual hotspot using Connectify.

Connectify review

Connectify Lite or Pro? Which is best for you? 

There are two versions of Connectify, one is free [Lite] and another is paid [Pro].  Connectify Lite doesn’t support 3G/4G Internet sharing, custom hotspot name, file sharing etc. If you just want to share wired broadband connection, I’ll recommend you to try the free edition first before buying the paid version.

Check out this Connectify Lite vs Pro comparison chart to get more clear idea-

Connectify Lite vs Pro comparisonHow to turn a laptop into Wi-Fi hotspot?

First download and install Connectify on your laptop or desktop (additional Wi-Fi adapter required). It will take a few minutes to install Connectify. You need to restart computer after installing it. Connectify icon will appear in the Windows taskbar. Click on the icon to open settings panel.

Connectify main window

In the Connectify settings window you have to enter some details like Hotspot name, password to set up Wi-Fi network. Select which internet connection you want to share from the ‘Internet to Share’ option. If you are using the free version of Connectify, then you can only select wired internet connection. Connectify Pro allows sharing 3G or 4G wireless internet connections. Apart from that Connectify Pro can automatically detect active internet connection and share it over Wi-Fi network. Once the setup is complete hit the ‘Apply Setting’ button to start Wi-Fi hotspot. Now you can connect any laptop, mobile phone, tablets etc. to this Wi-Fi network. Additionally you can make secure Wi-Fi networks with WEP or WPA2 encryption protocol.

Connectify connected clients

Click on the ‘Clients’ tab to see all the connected devices. From this screen you can enable or disable internet and local access to all devices individually. For example I can give internet access to my mobile and only local access to another computer. Connectify Pro supports device renaming, you can assign friendly names to all connected devices.

Drag and drop file sharing and local access:

Connectify Pro supports drag and drop file sharing; you can simply drag a file or folder on a connected device name to share it. If another computer is running Connectify, then a pop up notification will appear to accept or reject the file. If another computer doesn’t have Connectify installed, no problem, you can transfer files using a web browser by entering the IP address.

Connectify file transfer

Connectify file sharing on mobile

All computers connected to same Wi-Fi hotspot will be able to communicate with each other using wireless local network. So you don’t need to buy additional LAN cables to make a local network. Connectify can be used to increase range of other Wi-Fi networks using the repeater functionality.

Connectify Dispatch integration:

Connectify Dispatch is a revolutionary software. It combines multiple internet connections into one to speed up internet speed. The combined speed can be shared over Wi-Fi hotspot.

Why not buy an actual Wi-Fi router? or Wi-Fi 3G router? 

Connectify is a must have software for those who are looking to share one internet connection with other computers and devices. Now you might ask me why you will spend this money to buy a software when you can actually buy one physical router instead?

There are several advantages of  using Connectify over Wi-Fi routers.

1. Economical:

Connectify Lite is free and  it gets the job done perfectly. If you want to use additional features then you can buy Connectify Pro for $29.99. You will not find a good Wi-Fi router for this price and Wi-Fi 3G/4G routers are more expensive.

2. Portability and 3G/4G internet sharing:

You can wirelessly share internet connection is any places like home, office or on the move. This is not possible with a physical Wi-Fi router. Additionally Connectify Pro can share 3G/4G internet connections which can not be done using traditional Wi-Fi routers.

3. No maximum device limitation:

There are some portable battery powered Wi-fi 3G/4G routers which can share wireless internet connection. These may solve the portability issue but most of these portable Wi-Fi 3G/4G routers come with maximum devices limitation. Usually maximum 5 devices can simultaneously connect to the Wi-Fi hostspot. Connectify doesn’t have this limitation, you can connect more than 5 devices simultaneously.

The only drawback of Connectify is that you need to keep laptop turned on to use Wi-Fi hotspot functionality.

Download Connectify Hotspot

 

Connectify Dispatch Giveaway: 

Connectify has sponsored 5 lifetime licenses of Connectify Dispatch. We are giving away these licenses to the readers of Web Advices. Each license costs around $84, so we are giving away total 5 licenses worth $420. You will get lifetime subscription of Connectify Dispatch and Hotspot Pro. Please read Conectify Dispatch and Hotspot review before participating in the giveaway.

This giveaway will starts today and ends Feb 1, 2013. Five lucky winners will be selected randomly and the names will be declared after Feb 1. Please follow these simple steps to participate in this giveaway.

All the best!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Update:

Thank you all for participating in the giveaway. We have randomly selected five winners who will get lifetime license of Connectify Dispatch.

  1. Nayyar A.
  2. Emmanuell S.
  3. Sam K.
  4. Asriel R.
  5. Chandra M.
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