How to share internet connection through Ethernet on Windows 10

On Windows 10, Internet Connection Sharing is a feature that has been around for a long time, and as the name implies, it allows you to share an internet connection with other devices through an Ethernet port.

Although you would typically connect devices to a network switch to access the internet, sometimes, you may not have enough ports or a long enough cable to make the connection. So, the Internet Connection Sharing feature available on Windows 10 lets you extend the internet to other devices.

This is similar to the mobile hotspot feature. However, the difference is that using the Internet Connection Sharing feature, the sharing happens through an Ethernet or WiFi adapter while using the mobile hotspot feature, the sharing happens through a WiFi adapter.

In this guide, you will learn the steps to share an internet connection to other devices using the Internet Connection Sharing built-in to Windows 10. This process requires two network adapters, one that has to be connected to the internet and another to provide other devices access to the connection.

Share internet through Ethernet on Windows 10

To share an internet connection with other devices on Windows 10 via Ethernet, use these steps:

1. Open Settings on Windows 10.

2. Click on Network & Internet.

3. Click on Status.

4. Under the “Advanced network settings” section, click the Change adapter options button.

   

5. Right-click the adapter with the internet connection you want to share on Windows 10 and select the Properties option.

6. Click the Sharing tab.

7. Check the Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s internet connection option.

   

8. Use the “Home networking connection” drop-down menu and select the second Ethernet (or WiFi) network adapter that other devices will use to connect to the internet.

   Quick note: If you select a WiFi adapter, you are then technically enabling a mobile hotspot.

9. (Optional) Clear the Allow other network users to control or disable the shared internet connection option.

10. Click the OK button.

Once you complete the steps, connect the device or network switch to the Ethernet port to provide internet connectivity. Since there is no DHCP server to offer networking configurations, the devices participating in the internet sharing will negotiate an automatic private IP address. If you prefer, you could configure each device with a different static TCP/IP address.

We focus this guide on Windows 10, but this feature is also available on Windows 11 and older versions, including Windows 8.1 and Windows 7.