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When having a Windows 10 computer that has both:

  • Ethernet NIC
  • Wi-Fi NIC

Can this machine be connected to a WLAN via the WNIC,
and then provide the internet to another device via Ethernet?

If yes, does it require installing a special program, or can it be done using Windows 10's built-in programs/settings?

spaceman
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3 Answers3

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Yes, you absolutely can! IMHO, this used to be easier before Microsoft changed all of the settings applications but it can still be done.

  1. Open Windows Settings (click Windows Menu, click Settings icon)
  2. Select the Network & Internet option.
  3. Select “Change adapter options”.
  4. In the Network Connections window, find the network you wish to share from, right click, and select Properties (this would generally be a Wi-Fi connection).
  5. Select the Sharing tab.
  6. Check the checkbox for "Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection.
  7. For the “Home networking connection:” drop down, select the Ethernet adapter to which you are connecting your Ethernet gateway.
  8. Click the Ok button.
  9. Connect the Ethernet port of your gateway to the Ethernet port on the PC using a standard Ethernet cable.
  10. Power the gateway up.
    • If the gateway is able to successfully receive a valid IP address from the PC, the bottom LED will go solid green. If the bottom LED is solid green, you have successfully shared the Internet Connection from your PC.

This information was gathered from: https://www.monnit.com/support/knowledgebase/gateways/sharing-your-windows-10-pc-internet-connection-with-an-ethernet-gateway/

Please note that in the link, the author provided very nice pictures of the process. I did not reflect those here for a number of reasons.

I take no credit in writing these instructions but I have done this many times and the author wrote it better than I could have.

A comment from @reirab:

I would also add that, due to a bug in Windows 10, if you want the connection to persist between power cycles, you need to create a DWORD value called EnableRebootPersistConnection in HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SharedAccess and set its value to 1, per Microsoft's instructions. Also, that link says it's for Windows 10 version 1709, but I can confirm that it's still the case in the current version (as of Feb 5, 2022) of Windows 10.

Señor CMasMas
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An alternative method is to go to the new Settings app, then Network & Internet, and select the Mobile Hotspot menu:

Screenshot of relevant settings menu

Toto
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Raf
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In theory if you want the device connected to the Ethernet connection to use the same IP address range as the WiFi, you can try to do this by bridging the connections together.

  • Open Windows Settings.
  • Click "Network & Internet".
  • Click "Change adapter options".
  • Click on your WiFi adapter.
  • Ctrl+Click on your Ethernet adapter.
  • Right-click on of the adapters and select "Bridge connections".

However this is apparently not a supported configuration, so you might need to update drivers or tweak settings to get it to work.

Neil
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