Share WIFI from PC over USB

Question

All the questions with similar titles are the inverse of what I want. I would like to connect my tablet (that is "blocked" on the Wifi) to my Windows 10 computer over a USB cable and have the computer "share" the Wifi. Is this possible?

EX: My tablet is blocked from the internet (home policy) but you can get Wifi by asking and staying in the main rooms, I want to have my tablet access the internet by having the computer "share" the internet with the tablet. I don't know if this is possible and if it is would like to know how.

I have a Nexus 7 2013 32GB Wifi on 6.0

Answer 1

Different ways of sharing interet connection from Windows to other devices

Nowadays there is a lot of ways to share internet connection to other devices and each method has its pros and cons.

Here is a breakdown of methods:

1. Using Windows 10 Mobile Hotspot Feature:

Newer editions of windows 10 (after 1607 anniversary update) have a built in mobile hotspot feature which allows internet sharing to other devices

pros

• easy to use as its built-in

• no extra tools needed

• internet is shared over Wi-Fi (no need for cables)

cons

• some network types are not recognised e.g 3g dongles.

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2. Using 3rd party tools

   Nifty tools such as mhotspot, or Connectify provide the ability to share internet to other devices by making use of Microsoft Virtual Wi-Fi Adapters

pros

• provide many additional tools to monitor and customising created networks

• improved encryption

• internet shared over Wi-Fi

cons

• some of these are commercial softwares and are relatively expensive

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3a. USB Reverse tethering

Reverse tetherng is a relatively newer method of sharing internet especially from devices that do not have a wireless adapter. It uses the USB cable to share internet from the computer to the target device and oftern requires 3rd party tools and drivers as well as system modification of target devices.

• Reverse Tethering (root) Requires the target devices to be rooted prior to connection and a USB server application or server to be installed on android. For better coverage this method often requires another Xposed module Hack connectivity service to increase internet coverage to most apps if not all.

  • Reverse tethering (no root) Similar to root based method but requires extra programs to be installed on windows

Specific requirements of reverse tethering no root:

• Java runtime environment (JRE)
• PC server application
• Android server application

pros - can provide faster connections usually with low latency - reverse tethering (no root) works on windows, linux and mac

cons

• requires usb cable
• installs additional apps on PC and phone
• connections can be difficult to establish
• some of these workarounds only work for some apps and not every app is guaranteed to have internet access, but from my experience browser, Gmail, google play were working just fine

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Update

3b. Using adb to reverse tether

Using bash script

alias t='r && sz $tether && r && sz $n'
tether='am start -n com.android.settings/com.android.settings.TetherSettings && input keyevent 66 && input keyevent 66'
n='netcfg rndis0 dhcp'
alias sz='ad shell'
alias de='ad devices -l'
alias r='ad kill-server && ad start-server'
alias ad='adb'
alias pu='adb push'

Special thanks to user42276 for this script

Pros

• One good thing about scripting is that it eliminates the need for third party apps which may bloat the device/PC

Cons

• Pretty much similar to method 3a above

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4. Using Windows ICS

Another way is to just use ICS in Windows with no third party software involved:

Requirements:

• Terminal Emulator on your Android

• Alternatively using adb shell commands (to use adb, you need to enable "USB debugging" on your Android).

• Optional, BusyBox on your Android.

Instructions

• Connect your Android to PC by USB cable and enable "USB tethering". You are still allowed to enable this option even when your 3g/wifi on your Android is off.
• Windows will automatically search Windows Update and install driver for you.

• Open "Network Connections" in Control Panel. Right click on an Internet connection that you have i.e WiFi connection (other connections like LAN also work), so right click on WLAN connection with Internet, and select "Properties".

  

  • In tab "Sharing" click "Allow other network users to connect through...", then select the USB connection in dropdown list below.

• Click OK. Windows will automatically setup your USB network connection and assign to it an IP address (usually 192.168.xxx.xxx or similar; for Win 7 and later its 192.168.137.1)
• Your Internet connection is now "Shared" and your USB connection is now "Unidentified network".

Type the following command in Terminal Emulator:

netcfg rndis0 dhcp

The name for usb interface inside Android may vary. It is usually rndis0 or usb0. Type busybox ifconfig to identify the name.

It can happen that automatic dhcp method does not work. In this case we have to do it manually:

Type these following commands in Terminal Emulator:

ifconfig rndis0 192.168.137.2 netmask 255.255.2 route add default gw 192.168.137.1 dev rndis0

If route fails, try: busybox route add default gw 192.168.137.1 dev

Some applications (download in Google Play, Gmail, Facebook...) don't recognize the internet connection. You can try this way:

• Enable temporarily 3G connection on your Android

• Type: ifconfig rmnet0 0.0.0.0 The name for 3G interface inside Android may vary: ppp0, rmnet0... (Type busybox ifconfig to identify the name).

This will make applications see your Internet connection via USB as 3G/4G

Well its up to user to know which method suites them best. Hope it helps