The MCTS Certification To Improve Your IT Career
Your computer will automatically connect to the network that is highest on the list. To change the network priority, select the wireless network and click Move Up or Move Down. Clicking Adapter Properties will bring up the Wireless Adapter Properties dialog box, as shown previously in Figure 8.20. The Profile Types option is used to specify whether wireless connections should be configured for all users or only for the user who creates the connection. Finally, Network and Sharing Center will take you back to the Network and Sharing Center dialog box. If a user configures a wireless network connection on a shared computer, the wireless mcsa certification connection may not be available to other users. To make the connec- tion available to all users, click Profile Types and selecting Use All-User Pro- files Only. Selecting the Use All-User and Per-User Profiles option allows users to create wireless connections that only they can access. Double-clicking on a wireless network will bring up the Wireless Network Properties dialog box, as shown in Figure 8.26. The Connection tab shows the network name and SSID, the net- work type, the network availability, and other connectivity options. To ensure that your computer connects automatically when the wireless network is in range, be sure that you select the check box next to Connect Automatically When This Net- work Is in Range. If you select Connect to a More Preferred Network if Available, then your computer will first try to connect to wireless networks that are higher in priority (shown in Figure 8.25) before connecting to this network. To be sure that you can connect to a network that is not broadcasting its SSID, select Con- nect Even if the Network Is Not Broadcasting.The Security tab of the Wireless Network Properties dialog box is shown in Figure 8.27. Here, you can modify the security mcitp server administrator type, the encryption type, and the security key or passphrase. Even in a small wireless network, you should still configure network security. There are three things that you can do to increase the security of a wireless network:Disable broadcast of the SSID, which is the name of the wireless network. When SSID broadcast is disabled, the wireless network cannot be detected automatically until you manually configure your wireless network card to connect to that SSID. Create a Media Access Control (MAC) address filter list so that only wireless devices with specific hard-coded MAC addresses are allowed to connect. Enable encryption, such as Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), and WPA2. Use WPA or, preferably, WPA2 whenever possible. WEP encryption is extremely easy for intruders to decrypt.