Pressed Windows + R,
typed in cmd, in the command prompt entered “netsh wlan start hosted
network”, took your smartphone, scanning for available hotspots, but
cannot find your WiFi hotspot, goes back to the command prompt window
and sees the error message ” the hosted network couldn’t be started. The
group or resource is not in the correct state to perform the requested
operation.” error. Looking for a fix? Here is how to do it.
Now to turn on the Wireless hosted
network all you have to do is enter “netsh wlan start hostenetwork”
command and hit enter after creating a new hosted network. Most of the
times, you will see “the hosted network started message”, but at times
you may end up with a “the hosted network couldn’t be started. The group
or resource is not in the correct state to perform the requested
operation.” error message, which means the hosted network cannot be
started due to technical reasons.
The “the hosted network couldn’t be
started. The group or resource is not in the correct state to perform
the requested operation” error can occur because you haven’t turned on
your Wireless adapter or if you have disabled the Microsoft virtual
network adapter. It can also occur due to the misconfiguration in
network adapter settings.
I have had this error several times,
because of several reasons. So, here is all the fixes that I came across
while solving the ” the hosted network couldn’t be started. The group
or resource is not in the correct state to perform the requested
operation.” error.
Note: The error is
identical on all the version of Windows including Windows 7, Windows 8.1
and Windows 10. For this tutorial, I will be using Windows 10, but the
steps are similar for all the Windows versions.
Fix the hosted network couldn’t be started error
Fix 1: Turn on WiFi
If you are on a laptop, you may have a
dedicated key on your keyboard to turn on and turn off WiFi and
Bluetooth. At times while pressing other keys, you may accidentally
press the WiFi key and disable or turn off wireless adapter. So make
sure that you have wireless connectivity turned on and try to start the
hosted network.
Also, check if you have enabled the Airplane Mode. Try to disable it and try again if enabled.
Also, restart your PC once before attempting any other fixes as a temporary error can be resolved with a simple restart.
Fix 2: Enable Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter
The hosted couldn’t be started error can
also occur if the Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter has been
disabled. To enable it, do the following.
1. Go to Control Panel – Open control
panel by pressing Windows Key + R and type in control panel and hit
enter. Alternatively you can also open it from start, type in Control
Panel and click on the icon to open it.
2. Click on Network and Internet and
then click on Network and Sharing Center. From the left pane click on
Change adapter settings. Now click on Wireless Network Connection and
select disable.
3. Now right-click on Wireless Network Connection again and select Enable. Once successfully enabled, open device manager.
4. To open Device Manager, press Windows Key + R and type in devmgmt.msc and hit enter. You can also open it from Start, search for Device Manager and open it.
5. Scroll down and expand the Network adapters section. Right click on Microsoft Hosted Network Virtual Adapter and enable it.
6. Close the device manager and open the
command prompt. In the command prompt, type “netsh wlan start
hostednetwork” and hit enter. Your hosted network should start
successfully.
Note that, you may need to create a new hosted network before starting it. To create a new hosted network enter the following:
netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=Yourwifiname key=yourpassword
In the above command replace
“yourwifiname” with any name and “yourpassword” with the password you
want to set for hosted network or WiFi hotspot.
To start the Hosted network, enter the following command:
neths wlan start hostednetwork
Fix 3: Change Settings in Power Management Tab
Open device manager. To do this press Windows Key + R, and type devmgmt.msc and hit enter. Or open device manager by searching from Start > search.
In the Device Manager window, expand the
Network adapters section. From the list of devices, right-click on your
wireless network adapter and select Properties.
Next, click on Power Management tab and check the option saying “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power“.
Click on OK to save the settings and close the “Device Manager”. Now reboot your PC and try to start the hosted network.
This should fix “the hosted network couldn’t be started” error in Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 PC.