Virtual Router Plus: Virtual Router Plus cannot start. Turning a laptop into an access point

Imagine a situation where you have a laptop and you decide to use it as wifi router, with the ability to connect various mobile devices to it. To do this, you can use the virtual router plus application.

The program is small and easily customizable. Let's look at its purpose, capabilities and necessary settings.

Why is this necessary?

Let's say you have several mobile devices with Wi-Fi that urgently need to be connected to the Internet. And as sometimes happens, this “cherished” Internet comes to you via cable and only to your laptop, but you don’t have a Wi-Fi router at hand. This is where it comes in handy this application. With its help, you can force your laptop to receive Internet via a cable connection or USB modem and distribute it via Wi-Fi. In this case, the laptop will act as an access point.

Internet distribution option

There are other ways to organize distribution: using the command line or Connectify programs Hotspot. But the virtual router plus program is simple and easy to use, and it is also free to use.

What will you need for this?

Everything here is pretty banal:

A laptop, maybe a netbook or a PC with a Wi-Fi adapter.
Availability of the Internet, connected via cable or USB modem.
Virtual router plus application.
Devices for connection.

Distribution setup

Please note that your laptop must be connected to the Internet using a cable connection and not via Wi-Fi, otherwise nothing will work.

Internet connection

Your laptop should have a connection status like the picture below.

Connection status

If everything is so, then move on to setting up the program.

Setting up virtual router plus

Download the archive with the program, unpack it and run it using the executable file.

Executive file

You see a window with three fields:

Network Name – enter the future name of the network.
Password – create a password that will be needed to access your network.
Shared Connection – select the type of connection from which the Internet will be available. If it is connected using a cable, then leave “Connect via local network».

Program menu

After filling out all the fields, click Start Virtual Router Plus.

Program operation

After this, all fields will become inactive, only the Stop Virtual Router Plus button can be activated; by clicking it, you can stop the operation of the virtual router. For convenience, you can minimize the program and it will go to the notification panel.

Connecting mobile devices

Now we take any mobile device, launch Wi-Fi and search for a network with the name we previously specified. Click on this network, log in using the password we set and click on connect.

You can try to access the Internet from your mobile device. It also happens that there is a connection, but there is no Internet. To do this, you need to make some more settings.

Turn on the Internet

Go to your laptop and stop the program. Then go to your connection status and go to Network and Sharing Center.

Select the menu item – Change adapter parameters. Click right click mouse on your adapter - Local Area Connection, select - Properties and go to the tab - Access.

Set the checkboxes as seen in the image below. In the column – Connection home network select an adapter. It may be referred to as – Wireless network connection 2 or 3. You can choose the second, then the third, don’t be afraid to experiment.

Distribution setup

Let's run the program again. Now our mobile device should automatic mode connect to laptop. The internet should now work.

For convenience, you can add the virtual router plus application to the startup menu and you will not have to start it manually every time you reboot the system.

In general, if possible, it is better to buy a full-fledged router. Any, even the most inexpensive router model will do an excellent job of distributing the Internet to several mobile devices. But there are times when the router is not always at hand, for example at the dacha, but the network needs to be “expanded”, and this is where this little program comes to the rescue.

Firewall problems

If you start distributing the Internet through a laptop, a problem with the firewall may arise. It often happens that when you “deploy” a wireless network, the built-in firewall begins to interfere with this. The network can be created, but there is no access to it.

The problem can be resolved by disabling the firewall or changing its settings.

To change the settings you need to do a number of actions:

In the Control Panel, go to the System and Security menu, then Windows Firewall.
Here we go to Advanced settings, Overview section, go to Windows Firewall Properties.
Looking for tabs General profile and Domain Profile, in the Status section, click on the Configure button.
We look for our connection and uncheck it (you need to do this in both profiles).

After completing these steps, the Internet should begin to be distributed. If it didn't happen. Then pay attention to your antivirus software, because it also has a built-in firewall. Try setting it up or disabling it (disabling it is not very advisable, since the computer will be susceptible to attacks by various virus programs).

virtual router for windows

Hello friends! I recently wrote an article in which I talked about . But as it turned out, the method I wrote about in that article is not suitable for connecting mobile devices such as phones, smartphones, tablets, etc.

And if we take into account the fact that a lot of people want to set up a laptop for Wi-Fi distribution and connect a mobile device to it, then I decided to correct the situation. This article can be considered a continuation of the previous article.

In order to make the laptop turn into a router and connect a mobile device to it, we will use the program Virtual Router Plus. It's small simple program, which is very easy to set up, which is what we will do now.

If you do not understand what we are going to do now and have not read the article linked above, then I will quickly explain.

Let's say you have a laptop and some other mobile devices that have Wi-Fi. And your Internet is connected, say, via cable and only to your laptop. There is no Wi-Fi router. Do you want to connect your phone or tablet to the Internet? So, we will force the laptop to take the Internet via cable (or in another way, for example via a USB modem. Just not via Wi-Fi) and distribute it via Wi-Fi. The laptop will be the access point.

There are several ways to set up distribution. You can use special programs, such as VirtualRouter Plus, Connectify Hotspot, or via the command line. I really liked the free VirtualRouter Plus program, so I’ll show you how to set it up. With her help, everything worked out the first time.

What do we need?

We will need a laptop (netbook, desktop computer with adapter) which has Wi-Fi. Internet that connects using network cable, or USB modem. VirtualRouter Plus program (I'll give you a link later) and the device that we will connect to the Internet (phone, tablet, etc.).

Is everything there? Then let's start :).

Setting up Wi-Fi distribution from a laptop

Let me remind you once again that the laptop must be connected to the Internet using a cable and not via a wireless network. Something like this:

And the connection status should be like this:

If everything is connected, we can continue.

Setting up the VirtualRouter Plus program

First download VirtualRouter Plus you can download version 2.1.0 (on which I configured) via the link, or . Links have been verified.

Download the archive and extract it to a folder. Run the file in the folder VirtualRouterPlus.exe.

A window will open in which we need to fill in only three fields.

Network Name (SSID)– in this field, write a name for your wireless network.

Password- password. The password that will be used to connect to your network. Specify a minimum of 8 characters, in English.

Well, on the contrary Shared Connection select the connection from which the Internet will be distributed. My Internet connection is via cable, so I left “Local Area Connection” as is.

That's it, press the button. Start Virtual Router Plus.

All windows will become inactive and the Stop Virtual Router Plus button will appear (you can use it to turn off virtual Wi-Fi). You can minimize programs and it will hide in the notification panel (bottom, right).

Connecting the device to Wi-Fi

Now take your phone, tablet, or whatever you want to connect (for example, I have HTC phone on Android), turn on Wi-Fi on it and look for it in the list available network with the name that we set in the Virtual Router Plus program.

I have this network:

Click on this network, enter the password (which we specified when setting up the program) and press Connect. It should look something like this:

You can already try to access sites from your phone (or other device), which receives the Internet via Wi-Fi from a laptop. But the connection is there, but the Internet may not work. This is true:). Just some more tweaking to do.

The device connects to Wi-Fi, but the Internet does not work

Return to your laptop, open the program in which we configured the distribution and press the button Stop Virtual Router Plus. Then right click on the connection status and select Network and Sharing Center.

On the left select Changing adapter settings. Right click on the adapter Local network connection and select Properties. Go to the tab Access.

Check the boxes like I have in the screenshot below. In the field Connecting your home network you need to select an adapter. Everything works fine for me when installed Wireless network connection 3 (You may also have a Wireless network connection 2, or another). Experiment.

Then in the Virtual Router Plus program we launch our network again. The phone should now connect automatically. The Internet should already be working. Everything worked for me, the sites opened!

Converting a laptop into a router was successful :).

Advice! You can add the Virtual Router Plus program to startup so as not to constantly launch it manually. I wrote about how to do this in the article.

Afterword

Of course, if possible, I would advise buying a router. Even some simple, inexpensive model, for example, will do an excellent job of distributing Wi-Fi to several devices. And you won’t have to torture your laptop :). In addition, the laptop itself will be able to connect via a wireless network, rather than distribute it.

But this method is also good. You can quickly set up a wireless network, even without a router.

If you have any problems, leave questions in the comments, or even better, on our forum. We'll figure it out. Best wishes!

Also on the site:

How to configure a laptop to distribute Wi-Fi and connect a mobile device to it? Setting up VirtualRouter Plus updated: February 7, 2018 by: admin

Today almost everything modern computers, laptops or mobile devices are equipped with Internet access. However, they are far from willing to bother setting up connections, since this causes some difficulties. Even fewer users understand the question of how, for example, to distribute Wi-Fi from their terminal. To simplify such actions, a unique application called Switch Virtual Router is used (by the way, a Russian development). You will have to delve into the settings in any case, but this will take much less time and effort than doing similar things in the operating system with hardware equipment.

Switch Virtual Router: what is this program?

You can understand what kind of utility this is quite simply by translating its name from English into Russian. In fact, this is a real one that allows you, through built-in tools, to turn your terminal into a distribution device, to which others can subsequently connect computer systems or users of mobile gadgets.

On at the moment You can download the version of Switch Virtual Router in Russian (in this form the program is released initially), and the distribution kit for release 3.3 itself will “weigh” something like 720 KB.

Basic operating modes

The application itself does not have many features (by and large, they are not needed here). However, the Switch Virtual Router program offers two main operating modes:

two user terminals are connected through one access point in point-to-point mode (only information and data exchange is possible);
the virtual router is configured as a point to which many users connect, and provides general access on the Internet.

There's another one interesting point. One of the “tricks” of the program is that if you disable the application, the created point, as if nothing had happened, will still work in an active state. The same applies to putting the distribution terminal into hibernation mode after disconnecting all previously connected devices. Undoubtedly, it is very convenient.

Please note: the application does not support legacy XP and Vista systems and can only function correctly in versions 7 and higher, regardless of architecture.

How to use Switch Virtual Router: preliminary setup

Installation of the application is carried out using the appropriate “Wizard”, in which you just need to follow the instructions.

On at this stage There should be no problems or difficulties. After installation is complete, launch the application. The first thing you should do is go to the settings menu. Opens them special button with an image of a gear in the lower right corner of the program window.

On the tab general parameters you need to set the router name to English(it will be applied to both the name of the access point and the name of the network), password (preferably at least eight characters) and its confirmation, then save the changes. Also, if you wish, you can check the box opposite the launch of WiFi (Switch Virtual Router - respectively) when the system starts.

Activate device sharing

Now you need to enable sharing of the virtual device. To do this, in the main window you need to click on the line for changing network adapter parameters or go to this section from the Network and Sharing Center in the standard “Control Panel”.

On the menu available connections another one appeared wireless connection(until the access point is configured, it will display a cross on a red background). By right-clicking on it, use the properties line in the drop-down menu and go to the access tab. Here we will use both present permissions (except for installing telephone connection, if it is present in the list) and select the type of connection to your home network. Then we simply save the changes.

First connection start

Now all that remains to be done in the Switch Virtual Router program is just a little. There is a start button in the main window.

Click it and wait until the connection is established. If everything is fine, the corresponding icon will appear in the tray, and in the settings network connections previously used name like " wireless connection“such and such number” will change to the one that was assigned to the virtual router at the initial stage.

Setting up distribution if the connection is not activated for other devices

In the tray, use the connections icon and select the adapter you are using from the list (Ethernet, Wi-Fi, ADSL, 3G, etc.).

Again, in the properties we set general access if in the original version something was done incorrectly or a different adapter was activated.

Possible access problems

As for the problems with virtual device, almost everyone who has used it notes that the Switch Virtual Router program does not always determine IP addresses for connected devices or even the main terminal correctly, although it uses automatic mode for this.

If such a problem occurs, and a notification appears in the system tray requiring you to check and fix the connection, you can try to enter the relevant data manually. The subnet mask remains in standard form(255.255.255.0), and the combination for the IP address is 192.168.137.1.

In some cases, the Switch Virtual Router program may be blocked by an antivirus or firewall. To begin with, you should disable it for a while and check the application for functionality. In the second case, the program must be added to the firewall exclusion list. If in the list of installed Switch programs Virtual Router is not displayed or add an application to it in a standard way not possible, location must be specified executable file programs manually.

Pros and cons of the program

All that remains is to express all the pros and cons. According to reviews from users and specialists, the program has only one drawback - periodically arising problems with automatic detection IP addresses of connected users.

On the other hand, the undoubted advantages of the application include the following:

free distribution of the utility;
small size;
low consumption of system resources;
no need to run additional services;
the ability to switch the distributing terminal to hibernation mode after completing a connection session with other devices;
full control of parameters, monitoring of network connections and information about connected terminals.

Instead of a total

As you can see, there is nothing particularly complicated in setting up the program and additional network adapter parameters here. All this will take a maximum of a couple of minutes after the first start of the application. Of course, problems with the created connection may also arise, but this issue can be resolved quite easily.

But here’s the main thing: the user of the same laptop with a built-in Wi-Fi adapter or the owner of a computer with wired connection or an external USB controller does not need to be purchased additional equipment, which can sometimes be quite expensive. The program will turn the desired terminal into a virtual router without any problems.

Virtual Router Plus, that's what it is great program, which allows you to configure Wi-Fi distribution from a laptop. Works in Windows 7, Windows 8 (8.1), and even in Windows 10. I have not yet written instructions for setting up Internet distribution via Virtual Router Plus, but I want to tell you how to solve one popular error that many encounter when setting up Virtual Router Plus . This is the error: "Virtual Router Plus cannot be started." This is if you have a Russian version of the program. If in English, then the error: "Virtual Router Plus could not be started. Supported hardware may not have been found". She looks like this:

Or like this, in Virtual Router v3.3:

I want to say right away that if Virtual Router Plus does not work and such an error appears, then there is no way to start Internet distribution. You will just see a different error, but the reason is the same. We already have three instructions on our website:

If you want to configure distribution via the command line, you will see the error “The hosted network could not be started. The group or resource is not in the correct state to perform the required operation." This is because the problem is most likely not in the Virtual Router Plus program itself, but in your computer. Main reasons:

Complete absence Wi-Fi adapter.
The driver for the Wi-Fi adapter is not installed.
Adapter/driver does not support startup virtual Wi-Fi networks.
Wi-Fi is simply turned off.
The Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter is not enabled in Device Manager.

If we translate the error from English, it says that Virtual Router Plus cannot be launched because the supported hardware was not found on your system. It doesn’t matter whether you have Windows 7 or Windows 10. Everything is the same in this regard.

The tips from this article are suitable for solving problems with launching a virtual Wi-Fi network when using any method: command line, or special programs.

As a rule, the error appears immediately after clicking on the “Run virtual router plus” button. IN English version: "StartVirtual Router Plus".

Let's start solving the problem.

1 Check if there is a "Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter" adapter and if it is enabled. This needs to be done first. You can view it in Device Manager. If you don’t know how to open it, then do this: press the key combination Win+R, copy and paste the line into the window mmc devmgmt.msc, and press Ok.

Or, go to My Computer, right-click on an empty area, select Properties, and select Device Manager on the left.

In the manager, open the tab Network adapters , and see if there is an adapter called "Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter" or something like that. Maybe more" Virtual adapter hosted network (Microsoft)". If there is, and next to it you will see an arrow icon, then right-click on it and select Engage.

After this, the error in Virtual Router Plus should disappear. If you don’t have this adapter at all, and don’t even have a Wi-Fi adapter (usually it has "Wireless" "Wi-Fi" in its name), then look next point, now I’ll tell you what to do.

2 Can't distribute Wi-Fi due to driver problems. This means that if we didn’t find a single wireless adapter in the device manager, but you are sure that your computer/laptop has Wi-Fi, then you just need to install the driver for the wireless adapter.

You can download it from the website of the manufacturer of your laptop/adapter for your model, and for the one installed on your computer operating system. Here detailed instructions: It is also suitable for Windows 10.

What if wifi driver There is an adapter, but there is no Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter, try updating the driver. By right-clicking on it and selecting Update (but most likely the update will not be found), or by downloading the driver and installing it manually.

You can also open "Network and Sharing Center..." and go to "Change adapter settings".

And see if the "Wireless Network Connection" or "Wireless Network" adapter is enabled (in Windows 10). If not, then turn it on.

Once you fix everything and turn on the wireless connection, you can start distribution through Virtual Router Plus.

As practice shows, the driver is always to blame for such errors. More precisely, its absence. It happens that it is installed outdated driver, or just stood crooked.

I hope this article helped you solve the problem of launching a virtual wireless network through Virtual Router Plus, or another method.

Hello! I once wrote an article about how... Popular and useful (judging by the comments). Virtual Router Plus good program, which does its job perfectly. But of course it wasn’t without problems.

For some, everything worked perfectly, but for others, while working with the Virtual Router Plus program, they observed an error. Which appeared immediately after clicking on the “Start Virtual Router Plus” button, that is, at the moment the network was launched.

This error looks like this:

In the comments to the article on setting up Virtual Router Plus (link to which is above), wrote about various errors. For example, the error “Cannot start virtual router plus” appears.

But that doesn't matter. These errors indicate that the program cannot start the network because it did not detect necessary equipment. If we are talking about Wi-Fi distribution, then we can propose that Virtual program Router Plus was unable to detect the wireless adapter. Or for some reason cannot work with it.

Update:

The comments advised running Virtual Router Plus as an administrator. This helped get rid of the error. I think it's worth a try. Just right-click on the Virtual Router Plus icon and select Run as administrator.

1. Your laptop does not have a Wi-Fi adapter at all. This is, of course, unlikely unless your laptop is very old. But it may be that there is an adapter on your laptop, but you simply do not have the driver installed for it. As a result, neither the system nor Virtual Router Plus can work with it. Or Wi-Fi is simply turned off.

It is worth adding that if you successfully connect your laptop to wireless networks, then this option can be excluded (see second point).

2. Recently, this topic was created on our forum: . It just says about the problem with the error “Virtual Router Plus could not be started. Supported hardware may not have been found.”

The author of the topic shared a solution to the problem. Updating the Wi-Fi driver helped. He used the “Slim Drivers” program for this matter. But, you can download and install new driver manually. The link to instructions for updating drivers is above.

Indeed, Virtual Router Plus may not work with certain driver versions, or with certain devices. Therefore, you need to select a driver version that will be able to run the virtual network.

Best wishes!

Also on the site:

Fixing the error: Virtual Router Plus could not be started. Supported hardware may not have been found updated: December 8, 2014 by: admin