Managing Preferred Networks
You also can make an available network a preferred network. This gives some networks priority over other networks in case Windows has several from which to choose. It also lets you save custom configuration settings so you don’t need to make them twice for the same network. When you find yourself in an area covered by a particular wireless network you used in the past, you’ll be all set to connect.
In Windows XP, there was actually a dialog box called Preferred Networks. Now it’s handled from the Manage Wireless Networks page. Here’s what you can do from this page:
♦ Add a network
♦ Remove a network
♦ View a network’s properties
♦ Reorder a preferred network’s position
Each time you connect to an available network, the network is added to the list of preferred networks. But just because a network appears under Available Networks does not mean it’s automatically added to the Preferred Networks list.
Connecting with your peers
Most wireless networks are called access point, or infrastructure, networks. That means your computer connects to the Internet through a wireless router or other access point. Chances are, this is how you’ll set up your wireless network.
But there’s another way (isn’t there always?) you can create a wireless network by connecting two or more computers together. A computer-to-computer network lets you skip wireless network routers and other access points. Instead, PCs talk directly with one another, transmitting and receiving data through their network adapters.
A computer-to-computer network is also known as a peer-to-peer or ad hoc network.
One name wasn’t enough, so the Lords of Geekdom bestowed it with three names.
The obvious advantage is cost: You don’t pay for as much networking hardware. One computer usually serves as the gateway to your Internet connection, assuming some of the duties of a dedicated hardware router. Peer-to-peer networking also is handy for connecting a PC to a wireless print server, or networking two TiVo units.
If all you want is to wirelessly connect to PCs in your home, it may be the answer.
Of course, the Add a network feature lets you do more than just add your own network. For example, let’s say that you’ve been using a new wireless connection that is available to you, but your computer insists on always looking for, and connecting to, an older wireless connection. You can add this network while it’s in range, and it adds it to the list of preferred wireless connections. From there, you can use the Move up and Move down buttons to rank its priority. You can also create an ad hoc connection (computer-to-computer) from the Add a network feature in this page.
Adding a preferred network
Follow these steps to add a preferred network:
1. Click the Add button.
A Wireless Network Properties dialog box opens, as shown in Figure 2-7.
2. Enter the network’s name and other details.
3. Click OK.
You’re done. That’s all there is to adding a preferred network.
Figure 2-7:
You can manually add your own preferred network from scratch.
Removing a preferred network
This is how you remove a preferred network:
1. Select the network you want to remove.
2. Click the Remove button.
Viewing a network’s properties
You can view a preferred network’s properties by following these steps:
1. Select a preferred network.
2. Click Properties.
That now-familiar Wireless Network Properties dialog box appears. Make whatever changes, additions, or deletions you like to properties.
3. Click OK to finish.
Reordering preferred networks
Windows (XP, Vista, and 7) starts with the first network and moves down, so you’ll want your most-used networks toward the top of the list. Here’s how to move preferred networks on the list:
1. Select a preferred network.
2. Click either Move Up or Move Down. You can also drag-and-drop a network from the list to its preferred location in Vista.
The preferred network is reordered in the Preferred Networks list.
3. Repeat as many times as necessary to rearrange the order of preferred networks.
Now you’ve reordered your life — or at least your list of preferred networks. It’s a good start, though!
Viewing an Available Network’s Signal Strength
You’ll be happy to know there’s a simple way to view the strength of your wireless network’s signal. It doesn’t provide a great deal of information, but it’s enough to know whether you ought to, say, move your wireless router closer to your computers.
A good time to check your network’s signal strength is when you first set it up and anytime you move your PCs or other network hardware. By moving components just a few feet from their original positions, you might find that the signal strength drops. In that case, you can scurry about, putting everything back in place.
Then, with thinking cap firmly applied, you can reconsider where you’ll move your equipment.
There are other software and hardware tools for viewing your network’s signal strength. I’ll discuss them in a later topic.
To view a simple but helpful visual graphic showing your network’s signal strength, just follow these steps:
1. Mouse-over the network icon in the Window notification area.
A pop-up menu appears.
2. Look at your computer’s connections; the strength is displayed next to your network’s name.
A small bar graph provides a quick look at the strength of your wireless network’s signal, as shown in Figure 2-8. If four or five bars are highlighted, you’re enjoying strong, robust signal reception.
Figure 2-8:
With four bars highlighted, this network is cranking.
If three or fewer bars are highlighted, you have a pretty weak wireless connection.
On the road again
Many of the topics tackled in this topic also apply to mobile computing. When you’re in an airport, for example, you hopefully see one or more wireless networks available for your use — although some or all may require payment.
When you’re in an airport or other public area (or even in one of your company’s offices) where you expect to return on a future trip, you can add the network to the list of preferred networks. If you need to make any special configurations for accessing a particular network, you can save them for the next time you connect to the same network.
Monitoring signal strength becomes even more important on the road. Here are some examples:
✓ By moving just 50 feet to a new location, your airport connection may grow stronger.
✓ If you’re in a strange office, you may not know that the steel walls are blocking a nearby network. By moving around and checking signal strength on your laptop, you find the best spot for (wireless) networking.
