How to get the most out of
wireless network on Windows 8
Connecting
to a wireless network in Windows 8 is far less painful than it was in Windows
7. However, a few things that should be easy and obvious are in fact a bit
tricky.
You may
be having problems connecting to a wireless network in Windows 8, or find that
you're regularly entering PEAP credentials each time you want to get online.
You might find that your device connects to the wrong wireless network, or
simply want to use it as a wireless hotspot.
While
none of these things are clearday to day use of Windows 8, they are, however,
easily done - once you know how.
Connecting
to a wireless network in Windows 8
We'll
start with the basics - how do you connect to a wireless network in Windows 8?
By
default, most new Windows 8 computers will be set to connect to wireless
networks automatically as the operating system boots. As such, you should see
an alert informing you that a network has been found; an open network will be
connected to, with Windows asking you how you wish to treat the connection (as
a trusted, "home" network or as a less secure option,
"work"). Secure networks will require authentication, of
course.
What if
Wi-Fi isn't already enabled in Windows 8?
Begin by
swiping inthe right to open thems bar and Settings. Here you should see an icon
labelled Unavailable, with a red circle and cross accompanying a typical
wireless network symbol. Tap this, and switch Wi-Fi to On in order to prompt
the computer to check the nearby network connections. When you're ready to go
online, tap a network name and then Connect, adding any further information
(such as WEP, WPA or PEAP authentication) when prompted.
If you would
rather do things the old-fashioned way, open the desktop view and browse to
Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center >
Setup a new connection or network > Manually connect to a wireless
network.
Changing
the priority of Wi-Fi networks natively
As you
may have noticed, there are various thingsWindows 7 that didn't make it through
to Windows 8. One of these was a wireless network manager, enabling you to
prioritise a particular wireless network to connect to if several were listed.
In Windows 8 this isn't possible within the user interface (neither the mouse
driven traditional desktop view, nor the "Modern" touch menu), so the
default action is to skip tapping the Connect automatically, making the whole
connection process a lot more manual.
Fortunately,
there is a way around this that doesn't rely on third party tools (although
some are available).
Begin by
switching to the Start screen and typing command to search for the Command
Prompt tool (simpler to use than you might think); in Windows 8, this will be
listed twice, Command Prompt and Command Prompt as Administrator. Choose the
second option, agreeing with the user access warning. In Windows 8.1, the
search results will simply list Command Prompt once - you'll need to
right-click and Run as administrator to continue.
At the
prompt, enter: netsh wlan show profiles
The
resulting list will showwireless networks detected to date by your Windows 8
machine, those you've connected to and some you have not. You'll probably also
notice that your preferred network isn't at the top of the list.
Using the
interface and profile names, you can resolve this.netsh wlan set profileorder
name="[WIRELESS_NETWORK_NAME]" interface="Wi-Fi"
priority=1For instance, if I wanted "citadel" to be my preferred
connection, I would enter: netsh wlan set profile order
name="citadel" interface="Wi-Fi" priority=1Note the use of
the "priority" condition, which can be used throughout the list to
specify a preferred second, third and fourth connection; as many as are
required.
To
confirm your change has worked, use the netsh wlan show profiles command again.
You should now see that your preferred network is listed first.
Use third
party tools to set preferred wireless networks
If the
steps above seem too muchthe dark arts to you, then you might prefer the Wi-Fi
Profile Manager 8 donationware app, available free onlineThe Windows Club. If
you're not sure what donationware is, our guide to researching free software
should explain.
Wi-Fi
Profile Manager 8 offers tools that allow you to:
View the
preferred network profiles, change list order, export to XML, importXML and
remove profiles.
This
useful app is an executable and can be quickly run (as opposed to installed),
enabling you to set a primary wireless profile by right-clicking and selecting
Make Default. Other profiles can be repositioned in the list using the Move Up
and Move Down options in the same menu, and older profiles discarded with
Remove.
Remember
PEAP authentication in Windows 8
Protected
Extensible Authentication Protocol is a modern wireless networking protocol
that offers improved security over WEP and WPA. It is supported in Windows 8,
but unlike the more widely used WEP and WPA, connecting to a wireless network
using PEAP requires you to enter your username and password and the intended
domain each time you connect.
This is,
of course, inconvenient. Fortunately, Windows 8 can be configured to save your
PEAP Wi-Fi connection details.
Open
thems menu to begin, the PEAP network connection and right-click to display the
context menu; choose View connection properties to continue, displaying
Wireless Network Properties.here, open Security > Advanced Settings.
On the
802.1x tab, put a check in the box to activate Specify authentication mode and
ensure that the User authentication option is selected, followed by
Replace/Save credentials. Following this, enter the network credentials, click
OK and then reconnect - you won't need to update these details again!
Turn
Windows 8 into a wireless hotspot
What
about sharing your Windows 8 computer's Internet connection? Can you turn a
Windows 8 device into a wireless hotspot?
Well, as
a matter of fact, yes you can. Using Connectify - availablewww.connectify.me/download
in free and premium ($25/year, $40/lifetime) versions - you can set up your
Windows 8 computer as a wireless hotspot, sharing Ethernet, Wi-Fi or even
connectionsa 3G/4G dongle!
Once
installed (you'll need to reboot your PC afterwards),you need to do is create a
name for the hotspot, specify the connection you're sharing and generate a
password, before clicking Start Hotspot. Anyone nearby will then be able to use
your computer as a wireless hotspot to gain access to the Internet. You can
also use Connectify to create ad hoc local networks for file sharing between
computers!
Note that
there are other tools; however, Connectify is the best option we've found for
this so far.
Maximise
Windows 8's wireless networking capabilities
Some of
you reading this might be thinking "why doesn't Microsoft includeof these
tools and features as standard within the desktop or modern user
interface?" After all, mobile devices can be turned into wireless hotspots
with native software, so why not PCs?
The
answer, of course, lies somewhere between "don't know" and
"Microsoft provide a platform for developers to fill in the gaps."
However, the fact that Windows 7 includes the ability to easily prioritise a
particular wireless network over others, while the same feature in Windows 8
can only be accessed via the command line, is one that can leave you perplexed.
Source: http://www.techgig.com/tech-news