Windows 7 hosted network’s Virtual Wifi Miniport Adapter is missing

windows 7wireless-networking

I think that I should see a Virtual Wifi Miniport Adapter in

  • the Network Connections area of the Control Panel or
  • the Device Manager

but I do not. I'm wondering if there is a way to show it that I have missed…?

My physical wireless card is a ASUS PCE-N13 - Wireless PCI-Express Adapter - 802.11b/g/n. At the command line, it is indicated that this adapter does support use in a hosted network:

C:\Windows\system32>netsh wlan show drivers

Interface name: Wireless Network Connection

    Driver                    : ASUS 802.11n Wireless LAN Card
    Vendor                    : Pegatron corporation
    Provider                  : Ralink Technology, Corp.
    Date                      : 4/19/2011
    Version                   : 3.2.1.0
    INF file                  : C:\Windows\INF\oem115.inf
    Files                     : 3 total
                                C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\netr28x.sys
                                C:\Windows\system32\RaCoInstx.dll
                                C:\Windows\system32\RaCoInst.dat
    Type                      : Native Wi-Fi Driver
    Radio types supported     : 802.11b 802.11g 802.11n
    FIPS 140-2 mode supported : Yes
    Hosted network supported  : Yes
    Authentication and cipher supported in infrastructure mode:
                                Open            None
                                Open            WEP-40bit
                                Open            WEP-104bit
                                Open            WEP
                                Shared          WEP-40bit
                                Shared          WEP-104bit
                                Shared          WEP
                                WPA-Enterprise  TKIP
                                WPA-Enterprise  CCMP
                                WPA-Personal    TKIP
                                WPA-Personal    CCMP
                                WPA2-Enterprise TKIP
                                WPA2-Enterprise CCMP
                                WPA2-Personal   TKIP
                                WPA2-Personal   CCMP
                                Vendor defined  TKIP
                                Vendor defined  CCMP
                                WPA2-Enterprise Vendor defined
                                WPA2-Enterprise Vendor defined
                                Vendor defined  Vendor defined
                                Vendor defined  Vendor defined
                                Vendor defined  Vendor defined
    Authentication and cipher supported in ad-hoc mode:
                                Open            None
                                Open            WEP-40bit
                                Open            WEP-104bit
                                Open            WEP
                                WPA2-Personal   CCMP
                                Vendor defined  Vendor defined

More details that probably don't matter. My end goal is to set up a wifi hotspot from my desktop (which houses the card mentioned above) that I can connect my laptop and Android phone to. I'm using an Ethernet card to connect to the internet, and am attempting to route the internet from there to my wireless card. This works fine for (what Windows calls) an ad hoc network, but my Android phone doesn't seem to see it. As a result, I've been looking into more convoluted alternatives, like this Virtual Wifi stuff.

What I've tried.

  • Disabling and re-enabling my wireless card (to no effect)
  • Showing hidden devices in the Device Manager (to no effect)
  • Going through the console commands as if the Virtual Adapter were there (that is, netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow then netsh wlan start hostednetwork, which tells me The hosted network couldn't be started. The group or resource is not in the correct state to perform the requested operation.)

Best Answer

I know the original question was posted back over a year from now , but anyway I would like to share how I could resolve a similar issue:

You should first verify that the "Virtual WiFi Filter Driver" is running, as if this driver is stopped, then you'll get the msg :

"The hosted network couldn't be started. The group or resource is not in the correct state to perform the requested operation"

whenever you try the command:

netsh wlan start hostednetwork .

So, to solve it, just follow these steps:

-Click "Start" > type devmgmt.msc and hit enter

-Click "View" > "Show hidden devices"

-Expand "Non-Plug and Play Drivers"

-Right click "Virtual WiFi Filter Driver" and select "Properties"

-Click the "Driver" tab

-Verify the "Status" is "Started"

( If not "Started" then click the "Start" button )

and the "Startup Type" is set to "Automatic"

(If not "Automatic" then click the box next to "Startup Type" and select "Automatic" )

-Click "OK"

Regards!

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