WiFi software Access Point and Hosted network

Soft AP is an abbreviated term for "software-enabled access point". This is software enabling a computer that has not been specifically made to be a router into a wireless access point. It is often used interchangeably with the term "virtual router".

There are two types of software access points: the legacy hosted network that is supported starting from Windows 7 and the modern WiFi Direct Soft AP. The WiFi Framework supports both types of the Soft AP. The other feature that is supported by the WiFi Framework starting from Windows 10 is the mobile hotspot.

The wireless hosted network is a WLAN feature supported on Windows since Windows 7. This feature implements two major functions:

• The virtualization of a physical wireless adapter into more than one virtual wireless adapter is sometimes referred to as Virtual WiFi.
• A software-based wireless access point (AP), sometimes referred to as a SoftAP, that uses a designated virtual wireless adapter.

These two functions coexist in a Windows system together. Enabling or disabling the wireless hosted network enables or disables both virtual WiFi and SoftAP. It is not possible to enable or disable these two functions separately in Windows.

The WiFi Framework implements the hosted network support in the wclWiFiHostedNetwork class. The class provides full control on creating the hosted network Soft AP. Please note that Windows does not support the open network configuration (the WiFi network without a password). If the network name or password were not provided by the application during the network creation, the system will generate the random name and password. The WiFi Framework allows your application to get the list of connected devices (peers), the network name and password, and some other information, such as peer IPs. You can also add the proximity service discovery (PSD) information elements (IE) data. To find more hosted network usage details, please refer to the HostedNetwork sample application.

The WiFi Direct Soft AP is a modern way to create a software access point. WiFi Direct is the WiFi standard enabling devices to easily connect with each other without requiring a wireless access point. WiFi Direct allows two devices to establish a direct WiFi connection without requiring a wireless router. Hence, WiFi Direct is single radio hop communication, not multihop wireless communications, unlike wireless ad hoc networks and mobile ad hoc networks. WiFi ad hoc mode, however, supports multi-hop radio communications, with intermediate WiFi nodes as packet relays.

The WiFi Framework includes the wclWiFiSoftAp class that implements the modem WiFi Direct Soft AP features. Compared to the legacy hosted network, this new technology provides more control on the connected devices (peers). With the wclWiFiSoftAp class, your application can receive notifications when a remote device connects to your software-enabled access point and when the device disconnects from the access point. Also, using the WiFi Framework wclWiFiSoftAp class, your application can accept or reject any connection as well as disconnect already connected devices. As the legacy hosted network, the modern WiFi Direct Soft AP can not create the open network. If the network name or password were not provided by the application, the system creates random ones. To find more details about WiFi Direct Soft AP usage, please refer to the WiFiDirectSoftAP sample application.

The supported Soft AP feature depends on your WiFi hardware: it can support only the legacy hosted network, or only the modern WiFi Direct Soft AP, or both. If your application needs to create a Soft AP and runs on Windows 10 and above, it is a good idea to start with the modern WiFi Direct Soft AP using the wclWiFiSoftAp class. If it returns an error, then your application can switch to the legacy hosted network technology using the wclWiFiHostedNetwork class. If your application runs on previous Windows versions, use the legacy hosted network and the wclWiFiHostedNetwork class to create a software-enabled access point.

In Windows 10 and above, you can broadcast your WiFi, Ethernet, or cellular data connection as a WiFi hotspot. This allows other devices to connect to it and to share the PC Internet connection with those devices. The WiFi Framework includes the wclMobileHotspot that allows your application to control this Windows feature. It can be useful when you need to disable the Internet connection sharing when your application needs to start the Soft AP. Take a look at the MobileHotspot sample application to find more information about the mobile hotspot support in the WiFi Framework.