Renaming Wireless Connections
By default, the local name
that Windows 7 gives to a saved wireless network connection is the same
as the network’s SSID. Because SSIDs can sometimes be generic (for
example, default is a common SSID on
out-of-the-box access points) or obscure, you might want to change a
network connection’s local name to make it easier to work with. Here are
the steps to follow to rename a connection:
1. | Open the Manage Wireless Networks window, as described earlier.
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2. | Select the wireless network you want to rename.
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3. | Press F2. (You can also right-click the wireless network and then click Rename.)
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4. | Type the new name for the wireless network connection.
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5. | Press Enter.
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Note
Note that renaming
the wireless network connection means that you’re only changing the
local connection name used by Windows 7. The network’s SSID is not
affected.
Reordering Wireless Connections
Windows 7
configures a wireless network with an automatic connection so that you
can get on the network as soon as Windows 7 detects it. (This is
assuming that you activated the Connect Automatically check box when you
made the initial connection.) If you have multiple wireless networks,
Windows 7 maintains a priority list, and a network higher in that list
connects before a network lower in that list. (A network higher in the
list is said to be a more preferred
network.) If you are not connecting to the wireless network you want,
it might be that the network is lower on the network priority list. To
work around this problem, you can move the network higher in the list.
Windows 7’s wireless
network priority list is none other than the list of networks in the
Manage Wireless Networks window. Here are the steps to follow to use the
Manage Wireless Networks window to reorder your wireless networks:
1. | Open the Manage Wireless Networks window, as described earlier.
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2. | Select the network you want to move.
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3. | As you can see in Figure 7, the taskbar offers either the Move Up or Move Down command, and you use these commands to prioritize the networks:
- Move Up— Click this
command to move the selected network to a higher priority. (You can also
right-click the network and then click Move Up.)
- Move Down—
Click this command to move the selected network to a lower priority.
(You can also right-click the network and then click Move Down.)
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Note
You
don’t see both Move Up and Move Down for every network. For example, if
you select the network with the highest priority (that is, the network
at the top of the list), you only see the Move Down command. Similarly,
if you select the network with the lowest priority (that is, the network
at the bottom of the list), you only see the Move Up command.
