As we know, a mobile hotspot is a great feature of the Windows operating system that enables you to share your network connection with other devices. But some Windows users are reporting that they are unable to enable the mobile hotspot. When trying to enable Mobile hotspots on their systems, they get the following error message.
We can’t set up mobile hotspot because your PC doesn’t have an Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or cellular data connection.
Fix We can’t set up a mobile hotspot because your PC doesn’t have an ethernet
If you are unable to connect to the mobile hotspot because your PC doesn’t have an ethernet connection, follow the solutions mentioned below to resolve the issue.
- Check whether Network Sharing is enabled or not
- Run Network Adapter Troubleshooter
- Select a different driver
- Re-enable the Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter
- Reset the Network adapter
- Update Network Adapter Driver
Let us start troubleshooting from the first solution.
1] Check whether Network Sharing is enabled or not
You will fail to enable the mobile hotspot on your computer if network sharing is disabled. Network Sharing is what allows your system to share the Internet with other computers in its proximity. More often than not, it will be enabled by default, but due to some update or misconfiguration, the feature gets disabled. In that case, we need to manually enable the feature using the following steps.
- Open the Control Panel from the Start Menu.
- Change the View by to Large icons.
- Click on Network and Sharing Center > Change adapter settings.
- Right-click on your hotspot network adapter, it would be named Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter or Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter.
- Select Properties.
- Go to the Sharing tab and then tick the box next to Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection.
Finally, check if the issue is resolved.
2] Run Network Adapter Troubleshooter
In Windows, the network adapter troubleshooter is a built-in utility that will automatically diagnose and resolve common network problems. This utility will verify incorrect network settings and conflicts with other devices on the network. If this utility finds any issue with the network adapter, it will resolve it automatically.
Follow the prescribed instructions to run the network adapter troubleshooter:
- Press Windows + R to open the run dialog box.
- Type ms-settings: troubleshoot and press the Enter button.
- Once the troubleshooting window opens, click on Other Troubleshooters or Additional Troubleshooters.
- Windows 11: Click on Run next to Network Adapter.
- Windows 10: Select Network Adapter and click on Run the troubleshooter.
- Wait for a while until the scan is complete and now select the required network adapter from the list and click on the Next button.
- If it finds any issue, it will show you this message “Apply this fix”. Click on it to fix the network adapter issue.
Finally, restart the computer and see if the issue is fixed.
3] Select a different driver
Mobile Hotspot will fail to turn on if you have selected the driver with a bug. We don’t manually select the faulty driver, but during an update, it replaces the actual driver and causes issues. We need to switch to the driver that’s working fine in order to resolve the issue. Follow the steps mentioned below to do the same.
- Press Windows + X key and select the Device Manager.
- Select the Show hidden devices option on the View menu option.
- Expand network adapters and right-click on Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter and select Update driver on the adapter’s context menu.
- Select the Browse my computer for driver option.
- Here, select the Let me pick from a list of available drivers option, then Microsoft Hosted Network Adapter (you may have a different driver, so, just select the one other than the previously selected one), and then click on the Next button to update the driver.
Finally, close the Device Manager and check if you are able to set up Ethernet.
4] Re-enable the Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter
As soon as you enable the hotspot, a virtual adapter is added to the network connection options named Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual adapter. And this adapter provides internet to the users. But sometimes, users are not able to access the internet even if this adapter is enabled. In this case, we need to disable and then re-enable the Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter to resolve temporary glitches.
- Press Windows + R key to open the run dialog box.
- Type devmgmt.msc and press Enter button.
- Once you enter into the Device Manager, click on the View tab, and from there select Show Hidden Devices.
- Now expand the Network adapters and select Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter.
- Right-click on Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Visual Adapter and choose Disable from the menu.
- Once it is disabled, again right-click on this Virtual adapter and select enable.
Hopefully, after disabling and enabling this adapter, the issue will be resolved.
5] Reset the Network adapter
Sometimes users are unable to connect to the hotspot due to network adapter glitches and misconfigured network settings. Resetting the network adapter will allow networking to reconfigure itself and remedy the situation.
- Hit Windows + R key to open the run dialog box.
- Type devmgmt.msc and press Enter to open Device Manager.
- Once the Device Manager opens, expand the Network adapters and right-click the required network adapter and choose Uninstall.
- Once the network adapter is successfully uninstalled, close the Device Manager and restart the computer.
- When the computer restarts, it will install the network adapter which is previously uninstalled.
Now, users can connect to the hotspot and can access the internet on his or her device.
6] Update Network Adapter Driver
Last but not least, if nothing worked, our last resort is updating the network drivers. In case, the issue is a result of some bug, updating the driver will do the trick for you. So, go ahead and update your network driver and finally check if the issue is resolved.
Hopefully, your issue will be resolved.
Read: Mobile hotspot not working in Windows
Do mobile hotspots have an Ethernet connection?
Yes, Mobile hotspots can be used on Ethernet connections as well. If we have an Ethernet cable connected to your system, just enable Mobile Hotspot, and you will be able to share the Internet.
Read: Mobile Hotspot not showing up or detected on laptop
How do I setup my mobile hotspot for Ethernet?
First of all, connect an Ethernet cable and make sure that Network Adapter for Ethernet is enabled. You can go to Network and Internet > Network Connections in Control Panel, right-click on the option and then select Enable. You can then open Settings, go to Network & internet, and then enable the toggle of Mobile Hotspot. Hopefully, this will do the job for you.
Read: Fix Mobile Tethering Internet keeps disconnecting on Windows.
