Editing Your Preferred Network List

The preferred network list is a prioritized list of networks you would like to connect to. You can add networks to the list, which saves time, especially when you are using encrypted wireless networks. Your wireless adapter automatically connects to networks in the preferred list, which avoids the need to enter encryption keys on secure networks.

Accessing the Preferred Network List

Follow these steps to get to the preferred network list:


Step 1.	Right-click the wireless adapter system tray icon, and click the View Available Wireless Networks option, as shown in Figure 13-11. Figure 13-11. Clicking the View Available Wireless Networks Option
Step 2.	Click the Change the order of preferred networks option, in the Related Tasks selection, as shown in Figure 13-12. Figure 13-12. Clicking the Change the Order of Preferred Networks Option [View full size image]

Changing the Preferred Order

You can move the order of your wireless networks by selecting a network and clicking the Move up or Move down buttons, as shown in Figure 13-13.

Figure 13-13. Changing the Priority of a Preferred Network

Adding a Preferred Network

If you need to add a network to the preferred list, do so by following these steps:

Step 1.	Click the Add button.
Step 2.	Enter the applicable information about the wireless network you want to add to your preferred list. See Figure 13-14 for an example. Figure 13-14. Wireless Network Properties

Step 3.	If the network does not have encryption enabled, such as might be the case with public hotspots, select Open authentication, and set data encryption to Disabled.
Step 4.	If you are trying to add an ad-hoc or peer-to-peer network to your preferred list, mark the appropriate check box on the bottom of the window. With hotspots, you do not choose ad-hoc or peer-to-peer. These types of networks allow wireless computers to communicate directly with each other without a wireless router or access point.
Step 5.	Select the Authentication tab, as shown in Figure 13-15, and make any necessary changes. Most likely you will not need to with a hotspot. Figure 13-15. Authentication Settings of the Wireless Network

Step 6.	Select the Connection tab, as shown in Figure 13-16. If you want to automatically connect to the network when it is available, mark the check box. This is not always suggested. See the Caution and Note following Figure 13-16 for more information. Figure 13-16. Connection Settings of the Wireless Network
Step 7.	Click OK to apply the changes.

Note

If you add a preferred ad-hoc or peer-to-peer network to your preferred list, and either it is higher priority than other networks on the list or no other preferred networks are nearby, the wireless adapter automatically starts accepting other nearby ad-hoc clients based on the ad-hoc network information that you added to the preferred list. Therefore, others can freely connect to the ad-hoc network and view any shared files on your computer. If the peer-to-peer network you added has encryption enabled, other users need to know the network key to connect. However, for better security, you should not set the network to automatically connect when available. For more information, see Step 4 in the preceding list.

Caution

Remember that when you are setting a preferred network to automatically connect when available, it basically connects to any network with that same network name (or SSID). Therefore, you should not set to automatically connect to networks with common or default names, such as "default" and "linksys."

Advanced Options

Review and make any applicable changes to the Advanced options:

Step 1.	Click the Advanced button.
Step 2.	Make any desired changes. See Figure 13-17 for an example. Figure 13-17. Advanced Settings
Step 3.	Remember that infrastructure networks are those with wireless routers or access points, such as hotspot networks.
Step 4.	The Any available network (access point preferred) option is usually recommended. It automatically connects only to access points and computer-to-computer networks that are listed in your preferred list.
Step 5.	If you want to automatically connect to any available wireless network when it becomes available, mark the appropriate check box. For security reasons, this is not recommended, because you will automatically be connected to networks even if they are not in your preferred list.
Step 6.	Click Close to apply the changes.

Editing Your Preferred Network List