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When I try to run netsh wlan start hostednetwork, I get the following message:

C:\Windows\system32>netsh wlan start hostednetwork
The hosted network couldn't be started.
The group or resource is not in the correct state to perform the requested operation.

I'm running this with admin privileges, so it's not the notorious

C:\Users\Kevin>netsh wlan start hostednetwork
You must run this command from a command prompt with administrator privilege.

How do I get the hosted network "in the correct state"?

KevinOrr
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  • Well, if the error is correct, it's not a resources issue. It says that the group or resource is not in the correct state. My bet would be it's talking about 'hostenetwork'. See if you can get it in a 'ready' state, or whatever state it needs to be in before it is started. Does it need stopped first? Probably before you set anything? – James K Aug 12 '13 at 22:55
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    @JamesK That was a great idea, so I tried `netsh wlan stop hostednetwork`, it said that it was successfully stopped, and then I ran `netsh wlan start hostednetwork`, but it gave me the same error. http://pastebin.com/TqDwrvMj – KevinOrr Aug 15 '13 at 06:13
  • I had the same issue and found out the reason was my network adapter doesn’t support this feature :(. Then I have set up a hotspot using an alternative way as explained here https://devreads.xyz/hosted-network-supported-no-how-to-setup-a-hotspot-in-windows-10/ – DinushaNT Feb 03 '20 at 06:00

11 Answers11

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This happen after you disable via Control Panel -> network adapters -> right click button on the virtual connection -> disable

To fix that go to Device Manager (Windows-key + x + m on windows 8, Windows-key + x then m on windows 10), then open the network adapters tree , right click button on Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter and click on enable.

Try now with the command netsh wlan start hostednetwork with admin privileges. It should work.

Note: If you don't see the network adapter with name 'Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter' try on menu -> view -> show hidden devices in the Device Manager window.

masinger
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    Thanks, this solved my case (I had disabled the virtual connection). – Rafael Chaves Dec 10 '13 at 16:39
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    Yes, I got message from device manager as `Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)`. And I think disabling-enabling operation resets all settings. – cagcak May 24 '14 at 02:31
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    You may have to go to `View -> Show hidden devices` in the device manager to see Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter – Zach Saucier May 30 '14 at 23:34
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    Yes isn't it silly that the GUI removes the virtual network from sight after disabling it. I wanted to reset the ad-hoc WLAN for some other reason but then it disappeared and even if the GUI is rubbish I expected the command line should bring it back. – Tony Wall May 17 '15 at 20:52
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    This is not the right answer. Only the right answer above fixed my problem. Enable/disabling didnt do anything. I guess it depends from case to case – Millemila Jul 24 '15 at 14:55
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    What if dont see hosted network even when i ask to show hidden devices – sr01853 Jun 20 '17 at 16:38
  • I did not see "enable" or "disable" options! And when I was trying to update the driver, it said "it is up-to-date"! Any other suggestion? – Say OL Aug 16 '17 at 05:25
  • @SayOL I had this issue as well. It helped to go to the device manager, in there to "Network adapters", and then _disable_ and _reenable_ your actual WiFi adapter. Then the "Enable" option for "Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter" appears again. – sigalor Sep 06 '17 at 17:03
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    @sigalor I followed you instruction, however, I still have no "Mocrosoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter" available. Note: I am using Window 10. – Say OL Sep 07 '17 at 09:23
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    under windows 10 this does all not work for me, but just turning on the "mobile hotspot" from windows 10 (search for hotspot in windows search) just works fine. you can enable the hosted network support also: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-networking-winpc/why-does-mobile-hotspot-work-but-not-the-netsh/5f62ad54-09df-4dcc-a68d-b2d1527ea3f3 – cyptus Dec 07 '17 at 10:44
  • For me, it was already enabled but had a yellow warning sign. disabling and then re-enabling fixed it for me. – Moax6629 Jun 22 '18 at 05:45
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Let alone enabling the network adapter under Device Manager may not help. The following helped me resolved the issue.

I tried Disabling and Enabling the Wifi Adapter (i.e. the actual Wifi device adapter not the virtual adapters) in Control Panel -> Network and Internet -> Network Connections altogether worked for me. The same can be done from the Device Manager too. This surely resets the adapter settings and for the Wifi Adapter and the Virtual Miniport adapters.

However, please make sure that the mode is set to allow as in the below example before you run the start command.

netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=ssidOfUrChoice key=keyOfUrChoice

and after that run the command netsh wlan start hostednetwork.

Also once the usage is over with the Miniport adapter connection, it is a good practice to stop it using the following command.

netsh wlan stop hostednetwork

Hope it helps.

Uresh K
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  • Sorry it took me so very long to accept your answer. My old laptop went completely kaput (GParted and GDDrescue don't even recognize my drive), so I couldn't test this out for a while. But it works flawlessly on my new machine. – KevinOrr Nov 29 '13 at 16:53
  • Up to the Device Manager. – Amos Apr 29 '14 at 12:54
  • Still didn't work for me on win8.1 though. In addition, I had to enable a new network device in the device manager. – Yann Jul 10 '14 at 10:17
  • Did you enable your Wireless Adapter? I mentioned about disabling and enabling the Wireless Adapter before executing the commands. Without enabling the Wireless (or WiFi) Adapter, the commands would not work. – Uresh K Jul 17 '14 at 20:37
  • @UreshKuruhuri yes. Although your solution is the one that worked for me, it seems that for most people, juanfezero's solution is what fixed their problems. Being on a public Q+A site, and since this question seems to be relatively popular, I believe that the most helpful solution for the community should be displayed first. However, you still have my upvote. – KevinOrr May 16 '16 at 14:35
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First off, when I went into cmd and typed "netsh wlan show drivers", I had a NO for hosted network support too. Doesn't matter, you can still do it. Just not in cmd.

I think this problem happens because they changed the way hosted networks work in windows 10. Don't use command line.

Just go on your pc to settings>Network>Mobile Hotspot and you should see all the necessary settings there. Turn it on, set up your network.

If it's still not working, go to Control panel>Network and Internet>Network and Sharing Center>Change Adapter Options> and then click on the properties of the network adapter that you want to share. Go to the sharing tab, and share that internet connection, selecting the name of the adapter you want to use to share it with.

Ajay Kumar
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    This should be the best answer for Win 10 related question – Vipul Hadiya Jan 06 '18 at 16:15
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    what if when I go to **settings>Network>Mobile Hotspot** there is a yellow sign which reads: *we can't setup mobile hotspot because your pc doesn't have an Ethernet, WiFi or mobile data connection*? – Scaramouche Mar 31 '18 at 01:06
  • I think *Windows 10 * users should directly check this answer. Worked like a charm. No CMD needed. – Sagar Khatri Feb 06 '19 at 13:08
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I encountered this problem on my laptop. I found the solution for this problem.

  1. Test this command in the command prompt "netsh wlan show driver".
  2. See Hosted network supported.
  3. If it is no,

Then do this

  1. Go to device manager.
  2. Click on view and press on "show hidden devices".
  3. Go down to the list of devices and expand the node "Network Devices" .
  4. Find an adapter with the name "Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter" and then right click on it.
  5. Select Enable
  6. This will enable the AdHoc created connection, it should appear in the network connections in Network and Sharing Center, if the AdHoc network connection is not appear then open elevated command prompt and apply this command "netsh wlan stop hostednetwork" without quotations.
  7. After this, the connection should appear. Then try starting your connection. It should work fine.
Inba
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aLIEz
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  • Thanks, my card driver does support HostedNetwork (I also know because [Connectify Hotspot](http://www.connectify.me/hotspot/) works on my laptop), so this isn't the problem for me, though this may be an issue for other visitors to this question. – KevinOrr Nov 29 '13 at 16:19
  • In my case, my driver did not support Hosted Network on Windows 10. By following a tip from another site, I installed the version for windows 8.1 and it worked like a charm. – Caio Cunha Feb 28 '16 at 00:43
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    C:\WINDOWS\system32>netsh wlan start hostednetwork The hosted network couldn't be started. The group or resource is not in the correct state to perform the requested operation. – Ashish Karpe Dec 15 '16 at 12:45
  • C:\WINDOWS\system32>NETSH WLAN set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=Compu1-5GHz key=12345678 The hosted network mode has been set to allow. The SSID of the hosted network has been successfully changed. The user key passphrase of the hosted network has been successfully changed. – Ashish Karpe Dec 15 '16 at 12:47
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    "Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter" instead of this I have "Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter " & "Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter #2 ". I even tried disabling and enabling it also further both have "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power " options selected. Still no luck for me please help me – Ashish Karpe Dec 15 '16 at 12:59
  • tried Connectify Hotspot tried, it is also not working for me ie I have installed n configured it but not able to see Connectify-me hotspot ssid on client side – Ashish Karpe Dec 15 '16 at 13:03
  • My card (RT3070) says it supports support HostedNetwork but when I try your commands I get this error: The hosted network couldn't be started. The group or resource is not in the correct state to perform the requested operation. And Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter doesn't appear even showing the hidden devices. – skan Feb 13 '18 at 18:08
  • There is no wireless interface on the system. – Tahazzot Nov 25 '20 at 11:59
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First check if your wlan card support hosted network and if no update the card driver. Follow this steps

1) open cmd with administrative rights
2) on the black screen type: netsh wlan show driver | findstr Hosted
3) See Hosted network supported, if No then update drivers

enter image description here

Bilo
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Seven
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    I tried to update drivers it say's it's updated still not able to start Hosted network support – Ashish Karpe Dec 15 '16 at 12:09
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    I am using windows 10 – Ashish Karpe Dec 15 '16 at 12:43
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    In my case the drivers are already the latest version. Still I see that the hosted network support : No. What can I do – Shameel Mohamed Mar 11 '17 at 17:31
  • Ashish Karpe On windows 10 install a win 8.1 wireless network driver then it will work – Ashish Gaikwad Jul 28 '17 at 16:47
  • If hostednetwork isn’t supported you can try my “Wifi Direct Access Point” app available in Microsoft Store. It use WiFi Direct to create an Access Point and works with the new driver of Windows 10 (Wireless Card should support WiFi Direct). – gram Nov 13 '17 at 17:16
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Symptoms
You install an application that uses Microsoft Virtual WiFi technology on a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2. However, the application does not work after the computer restarts. Additionally, you receive an error message that resembles the following:

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

Cause
This issue occurs because the Virtual Wi-Fi filter driver does not create the Virtual Wi-Fi Adapter correctly when a PNP resource rebalance occurs during the startup process.

Notes
1.This issue may occur when a Plug and Play (PNP) resource rebalance occurs during the startup process. The PNP resource rebalance is usually triggered by a change to the hardware configuration.
2.If you open Device Manager when this issue occurs, you notice that the Virtual WiFi Adapter is not created.

If you can't restart your hostednetwork after rebooting the OS ,just Try this hotfix .It fixed my problem. Or try to figure it out by yourself according to the Symptoms and Cause mentioned at the start of my answer.

wangkaibule
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Often, I've found that the solution to this problem can be fixed by disabling and then enabling the Wifi hardware. I've made a script to do this automatically instead of doing it manually by going to the device manager. You can find it here

Kiran Rajmohan
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Some fixes I've used for this problem:

  1. Check if the connection you want to share is shareable.

    a. Press Win-key + r and run ncpa.cpl

    b. Right click on the connection you want to share and go to properties

    c. Go to sharing tab and check if sharing is enabled

  2. Run devmgmt.msc from the run console.

    a. Expand the network adapters list

    b. Right click -> properties on the adapter of the connection you want to share

    c. Go to power management tab and enable allow this computer to turn off this device to save power. Restart your laptop if you've made changes.

  3. Check if airplane mode is disabled. You can enable airplane mode and then turn on the wi-fi, you can never know. Do disable airplane mode if it is on.

  4. Use admin command prompt to run this command.

Nitin Labhishetty
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If none of the above answers worked for you, You can try the following solution which worked for me.

Go to Services manager(services.msc) and enable the below services and try again.
  1. WLAN AutoConfig
  2. Wi-Fi Direct Services Connection Manager Service

Hope this solved your problem.

Siva Manasan
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The hosted network won't start if there are other active wifi adapters.

Disable the others whilst you're starting the hosted network.

smirkingman
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Fixed by installing "Wifi Direct Access Point". HostedNetwork is not well supported by some Windows 10 drivers.

gram
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