NirSoft has released HostedNetworkStarter, a free tool which turns your wifi-enabled PC or laptop into a wireless hotspot.

There’s no installation required, no network drivers or anything else involved: the program is just a simple front end for the standard Windows wifi hosted network feature.

Getting started can be as easy as entering a network name and key.

Optional settings include choosing an internet connection to share, and setting the maximum number of clients that you’ll accept.

While this works much like many other tools, HostedNetworkStarter stands out for the details it displays about your hotspot.

A simple monitor keeps you up-to-date with your network performance

A table lists your network GUID, name, connection name, MAC address, channel number, link speeds, sent and received packet totals, and – useful for troubleshooting – any error messages or codes returned by Windows when setting up your hotspot.

Everything is displayed in the usual NirSoft way, which means you can sort the table by any field, and save the details on demand as a text or HTML report.

HostedNetworkStarter is a freeware tool for Windows 7 and later.