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Network connections enable computers to access resources on the
network and the Internet. One network connection is created
automatically for each network adapter installed on a computer. This
section examines techniques that you can use to manage these
connections.
Enabling and Disabling Network Connections
Network connections are created and enabled automatically. If you
want to disable a connection so that it cannot be used, complete the
following steps:
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In Control Panel, tap or click Network And Internet, and then tap or click Network And Sharing Center. -
In Network And Sharing Center, in the left pane, tap or click Change Adapter Settings. -
In Network Connections, press and hold or right-click the connection, and then tap or click Disable. -
Later, if you want to enable the connection, press and hold or right-click the connection, and then tap or click Enable.
If you want to disconnect from a network or start another connection, complete the following steps:
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In Control Panel, tap or click Network And Internet, and then tap or click Network And Sharing Center. -
In Network And Sharing Center, in the left pane, tap or click Change Adapter Settings. -
In Network Connections, press and hold or right-click the connection, and then tap or click Disconnect. Typically, only remote access connections have a Disconnect option. -
Later, if you want to activate the connection, press and hold or right-click the connection in Network Connections, and then tap or click Connect.
Checking the Status, Speed, and Activity for Network Connections
To check the status of a network connection, follow these steps:
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In Control Panel, tap or click Network And Internet, and then tap or click Network And Sharing Center. -
In Network And Sharing Center, under View Your Active Networks, tap or click the link for the network connection. -
This displays the Status dialog box for the network connection. If
the connection is disabled or the media is unplugged, you won’t be able
to access this dialog box. Enable the connection or connect the network
cable to resolve the problem, and then try to display the Status dialog
box again.
The General tab of the Status dialog box for the network connection, as shown in Figure 1, provides useful information about the following:
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IPv4 Connectivity
The current IPv4 connection state and type. You typically see the status
identified as Local when you are connected to an internal network,
Internet when a computer can access the Internet, or No Internet Access
when not connected to a network. -
IPv6 Connectivity
The current IPv6 connection state and type. You typically see the status
identified as Local when you are connected to an internal network,
Internet when a computer can access the Internet, or No Internet Access
when not connected to a network. -
Media State The
state of the media. Because the Status dialog box is available only when
the connection is enabled, you usually see this as Enabled. -
Duration The
amount of time the connection has been established. If the duration is
fairly short, the user either recently connected to the network or the
connection was recently reset. -
Speed The speed of
the connection. This should read 10.0 Mbps for 10-Mbps connections,
100.0 Mbps for 100-Mbps connections, and 1.0 Gbps for 1-Gbps
connections. An incorrect setting can affect the computer’s performance. -
Bytes The number
of bytes sent and the number received by the connection. As the computer
sends or receives packets, you’ll see the computer icons indicate the
flow of traffic.
Viewing Network Configuration Information
In Windows 8, you can view the current configuration for network
adapters in several ways. To view configuration settings using the
Status dialog box, follow these steps:
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In Control Panel, tap or click Network And Internet, and then tap or click Network And Sharing Center. -
In Network And Sharing Center, in the left pane, tap or click Change Adapter Settings. -
In Network Connections, tap or click the connection. This displays
the Status dialog box for the network connection. If the connection is
disabled or the media is unplugged, you won’t be able to access this
dialog box. Enable the connection or connect the network cable to
resolve the problem, and then try to display the Status dialog box
again. -
Tap or click Details to view detailed information about the IP address configuration, including the following:
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Physical Address The machine or media access control (MAC) address of the network adapter. This address is unique for each network adapter. -
IPv4 Address The IPv4 address assigned for IPv4 networking. -
IPv4 Subnet Mask The subnet mask used for IPv4 networking. -
IPv4 Default Gateway The IPv4 address of the default gateway used for IPv4 networking. -
IPv4 DNS Servers IP addresses for DNS servers used with IPv4 networking. -
IPv4 WINS Server IP addresses for WINS server used with IPv4 networking. -
IPv4 DHCP Server The IP address of the DHCPv4 server from which the current lease was obtained (DHCPv4 only). -
Lease Obtained A date and time stamp for when the DHCPv4 lease was obtained (DHCPv4 only). -
Lease Expires A date and time stamp for when the DHCPv4 lease expires (DHCPv4 only).
You can also use the Ipconfig command to view advanced configuration settings. To do so, follow these steps:
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Open a command prompt. One way to do this is to type cmd in the Apps Search box and then press Enter. -
At the command line, type ipconfig /all to see detailed configuration information for all network adapters configured on the computer.
Note
The command prompt is started in standard user mode. This is not an elevated command prompt.
Renaming Network Connections
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