- Types of Wireless Access
- What's Down the Road
- Wireless Network Adapters
- Connect to an Existing Wireless Network
- Additional Wireless Connection Considerations
- Connect Automatically
- Connect to a Secure Network
- Connect to an "Unseen" Network
- Disable the Existing Network Connection
- Secure the Wireless Connection with 802.1x Authentication
- Secure the Wireless Access Point
- Infrared Communication
- Wrap Up
Connect to an Existing Wireless Network
Once the proper hardware is in place, connecting to an existing WAP, or infrastructure network, is a breeze. All you have to do is follow these steps:
- Access the properties of the wireless network card. You could do so in one of the following ways:
- Right-click the My Network Places icon on the desktop and choose Properties. Then right-click the wireless device and choose Properties.
- Right-click the networking icon in the System Tray (lower-right side of the Taskbar) and choose Open Network Connections. Right-click the wireless device and choose Properties.
- Open the Control Panel, then open the Network Connections applet. Right-click the wireless device and choose Properties.
- Choose the Wireless Networks tab, as shown in Figure 10-3. To connect to an Available wireless network, click the View Wireless Networks button.
Figure 10-3 Choosing an available network.
You will only see the next dialog box if you're running XP Service Pack 2. (Refer back to Chapter 1 for instructions and an overview of Service Pack 2.) It's called the Wireless Network Connection dialog box, and it presents a list of available wireless networks. This list doesn't necessarily mean you can connect to the wireless network; it just means that the network card has detected a network and will try and connect if you wish. To connect to one of the networks on the list (sometimes there's only one), simply choose the network first with a mouse-click (it will have a shaded background), and then click the Connect button.
You should then see the dialog box in Figure 10-4 as the network card tries to obtain an IP address from the wireless access point.
Figure 10-4 The wireless card is trying to connect.