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UW Technology Wireless Logo Windows XP Configuration for 802.11b/g Wireless Networking

To configure your 802.11b/g card to attach to the UW network (other vendor's 802.11b/g cards should be similar):

  1. Insert your Orinoco/WaveLAN card.
  2. From the Start menu (usually bottom left of the screen) select Settings, then Control Panels and then open the Network Connections control panel.
  3. Select the Wireless Network Connection (e.g., ORiNOCO PC Card) in the list of installed network components.
    Now the Network Control Panel should look similar to the picture below:
    pcxp002
  4. If there is no red X through the "Wireless Network Connection" your computer has automatically connected to the wireless network.
  5. Double-click Wireless Network Connection
    Now the Network Control Panel should look similar to the picture below:
    pcxp003
  6. Make sure "Allow me to connect to the selected wireless network, even though it is not secure" is checked and click "Connect".

To switch to the UW Wireless network after using other network connections (e.g., dial-in or wired Ethernet):

  1. Check that the 802.11b/g PC(MCIA) card is installed in the slot.
  2. Open the Network Connections control panel.
  3. Right click "Wireless Network Connection" and select "Properties" from the menu.
  4. Click on the "Wireless Networks" tab. This dialog box should appear:
    pcxp004
  5. In the "Preferred networks:" box is a list of networks that you have connected to in the past. These networks will be automatically connected to if they are detected by your computer. If more than one is available your computer will connect to the network that appears first in the list.

If you haven't changed the network settings since configuring as described above, you should now have a working wireless connection to the Internet. If you have adjusted those settings then again perform the steps above to configure your card to attach to the UW network. With Windows XP once you have connected to a network, it is added to your preferred networks and will automatically be connected to in the future.

When done using the wireless connection you can shut down your computer and remove the 802.11b/g card. Some laptops provide a "card manager" that can be used to turn off and remove the PC(MCIA) card without shutting down the computer completely.

To switch to another network (e.g., dial-in or wired Ethernet) after using the UW Wireless network:

  1. For best results, start with the system off, the 802.11b/g PC(MCIA) card not installed in the slot, and no Ethernet wire connected.
  2. If using Ethernet, insert the PC(MCIA) adapter (if required) and connect the Ethernet cable to the computer and wall jack.
  3. Start your computer. It should automatically start using an Ethernet connection, or allow you to run dial-in networking to make a dial-in connection.

HINT! If you have trouble using the network (e.g., browers won't open Web pages) then select Start->Run and at the command line enter:

ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /renew

To get help or make comments about the information on this page, use the Send a Question to UW Technology Web site.