Configuring Vista
Microsoft’s Vista operating system came several years after Windows XP, and Microsoft decided that they should build wireless support in from the ground up. As such, wireless configuration is much smoother in Vista than it is in XP.
Rather than choosing between using Windows for configuration or the manufacturer’s utilities, Vista integrates the two. You are free to use either approach because the two integrate with each other. Because of this integration, Microsoft has changed the technology’s name from Wireless Zero Configuration to Native Wi-Fi.
Listing available networks
Start off by displaying the list of available networks. To do so, follow these steps:
1. Click Start and then click Connect To.
You get a familiar-looking window showing the list of available networks, as shown in Figure 6-13.
Figure 6-13:
Vista’s list of wireless networks.
Just like the Windows XP version, you can see the name of the network, a signal strength, and a list of the security measures used on the network.
2. Double-click on the network you want, and if it’s a secure network, you’ll be prompted for the password just as in Figure 6-14.
Note that this time around, you only have to type in the password once. If you select the Display characters button, then everything you type will be echoed to the screen instead of just displaying stars.
Figure 6-14:
Vista’s prompt for a network password
3. Click OK to save the connection and have it start automatically.
Vista introduces more security features, one of which requires you to assign a context to a network connection. After you have connected to a network, you are prompted to assign a location, which you can see in Figure 6-15.
Figure 6-15:
Assign a location to a network.
You have three options:
• Home: You are using this on a private network, such as at home. Your computer can be discovered on the network, and firewall restrictions are somewhat relaxed.
• Work: You are using this connection at work, where your computer is managed by an IT department. This location is virtually identical to the Home location, except that the firewall is further tuned to allow management connections in.
• Public location: You are using your computer in an untrusted network that’s outside your control. The computer will be hidden, and the firewall is very restrictive. The shields are up, and phasers are set to kill!
4. Select the Home option.
Confirming and changing settings
Figure 6-16 shows the Vista system tray. Look at the picture of the two computers with the globe. The icon indicates you are connected to a network (otherwise there would be a red X on top), and the globe indicates that you have a path to the Internet through this connection.
Figure 6-16:
The Vista system tray.
Hovering over this icon gives even more details. From the box that appears, you can see that this computer is connected to the renfrew network and has access to both the local network and the Internet. The house to the left tells you that the security location is Home. Finally, the signal strength is four bars out of five, otherwise known as Very Good.
To the Control Panel!
Launch the Control Panel by choosing StartOControl Panel. Then choose Network and InternetONetwork and Sharing Center. (If you haven’t noticed by now, everything in Vista seems much cleaner than before, just harder to find!)
The Network and Sharing Center is shown in Figure 6-17. Along the top you can see the same information you learned from the icon in the system tray. The bottom half shows you all the security settings. In Figure 6-17, you can see that this machine is configured for very limited sharing. You may click on each row to change the setting.
Figure 6-17:
The Network and Sharing Center.
To the left are several tasks, the most important of which is the Manage Wireless Networks task. Clicking this takes you to a menu that does much the same as the Wireless Network Properties from Windows XP. Figure 6-18 shows this menu.
Figure 6-18:
Managing Wireless Networks in Vista.
The Manage Wireless Networks menu shows a list of all the currently configured networks; in the example above, there is only one. If you need to reorder the networks, so that one is tried before another, then click and drag the network to the place in the list you want (Windows XP had Up and Down buttons to achieve the same thing). The Add button adds a network in much the same way that Windows XP does it.
But what’s my address?
Our final stop in the Vista configuration is to find your network information, which is helpful to know if you ever call your service provider for help. From the Network Sharing Center, choose the Manage Network Connections option. Double-click the wireless adapter, and you see Figure 6-19.
Figure 6-19:
Viewing the adapter status.
This dialog box is almost exactly like the Windows XP counterpart. You can see that this adapter has access to the Internet through IPv4 but has limited IPv6 connectivity (this is nothing to worry about, as most of the Internet uses the IPv4 connections, and Vista’s trying to get ahead of the curve by setting IP version 6),
Again, just like Windows XP, you can see the connection timer, speed, strength, and packet counters.
The Details button shows the exact IP addresses involved.
Pushing Boundaries
At some point, you’re going to venture out of your house and connect to another network, such as one in a hotel, airport, coffee shop, or another building.
Your computer is perfectly capable of keeping track of multiple configurations, so connecting to a new network won’t cause any problems when you return home.
Most public networks are wide open and have no security. They employ a captive portal, which lets you connect to the network but immediately redirects you to a login screen where you must log in, pay, or otherwise identify yourself before getting on the Internet. Remember that your wireless session is available for anyone else to capture, so be careful about typing in credit card numbers and passwords unless the Web site is protected with Secure Sockets Layer or Transport Layer Security (you see a lock in your browser window if this is the case, and the address bar might even change, depending on which browser you use).
Also, pay attention to which network you are connecting to. If you are at a hotel, you may want to check with the front desk to find the SSID of the network you should connect to. There may be other open networks you can connect to, but you’d be using someone else’s network, and you can’t be sure what they’re doing to your traffic.
