Manual

Chapter1.Overview
AccessConnectionsisaconnectivityassistantprogramwhichhelpstoconfigurevariousnetwork
connectionsincludingwirelessLANs.Userscancreateandmanagelocationprofilesthatstoresthenetwork
andInternetconfigurationsettingsneededtoconnectaclientcomputertoanetworkfromaspecificlocation,
suchashomeoratwork.Thenetworkconnectioncanbemadeusingamodem,awirednetworkadapter,
abroadbanddevice(DSL,cablemodem,orISDN),wirelessWAN,WiMax,orawirelessnetworkadapter.
Virtualprivatenetwork(VPN)connectionsarealsosupported.Byswitchingbetweenlocationprofilesasyou
moveyourcomputerfromplacetoplace,AccessConnectionscanquicklyandeasilyhelpusersconnectto
anetworkwithouthavingtoreconfigurenetworksettingsmanually.Alocationprofilesupportsadvanced
securitysettings,defaultprinter,proxysettings,webbrowserhomepageandautomaticapplicationlaunch.
AccessConnectionshastheabilitytosupportautomaticlocationswitchingbetweenEthernet,wirelessLAN,
wirelessWANandWiMaxconnections.
Features
AccessConnectionshasfeaturesthatenableyoutofindwirelessandnetworkconnectionsquicklyand
effortlessly.Thesefeaturesincreasetheportabilityofyourwirelessactivity.AccessConnectionsincludes
thefollowingfunctions:
•Createnewlocationprofiles
AccessConnectionsprovidesawizardthathelpsyoucreatelocationprofilesthatdefinethesettings
requiredtoconnecttovarioustypesofnetworks.TheConnecttoInternetviewisopenedbydefault
whenAccessConnectionsisstarted.
•Viewlocationprofileandconnectionstatus
TheConnecttotheInternetviewallowsyoutoviewavailablenetworksforeachconnectiontypeandthe
statusofthenetworkconnectionassociatedwitheachlocationprofile.
•Switchbetweenlocationprofiles
AccessConnectionsallowsyoutochangelocationprofiles.Y oucansimplychooseanotherlocation
profilefromthelistandconnecttoit.Aprogressindicatorwindowshowsthestateoftheconnection.If
theconnectionfails,abuttonappearstohelpyoufixtheconnection.
•WirelessConnectivity
AccessConnectionssoftwareaccommodateswirelesswideareanetworking(WAN)andBluetooth
Technology.Withtheintroductionof3Gcellulartechnologies,wirelessWANservicesareemerging
aseffectivealternativesforhigh-speedwirelessaccesstonetworks.AccessConnectionsprovides
portabilitywhenusersareawayfromtheofficeandnotnearapublicWLANhotspot.
•Findwirelessnetworks
AccessConnectionscansearchforwirelessnetworksthatareinrangeofyourwirelessadapter.This
featureisusefulwhenyouaretravelingorinapublicplace,andyouarenotsureaboutwhat,ifany,
wirelessnetworksareavailabletoyou.Youcanattempttoconnecttoanywirelessnetworksthatare
found.Iftheconnectionattemptissuccessful,anewwirelesslocationprofilewillbecreatedusingthe
detectedwirelessnetworknameanddefaultsettings.Youcanalsomanuallycreatealocationprofilefor
adetectedwirelessnetworkifyouknowtheappropriatesettings.
•Automaticswitchingoflocationprofiles
Ifanetworkassociatedwithyourcurrentlyappliedlocationprofilebecomesunavailable,Access
Connectioncansearchforavailablenetworksandautomaticallyswitchtoamatchinglocationprofile.
Youcanautomaticallyswitchbetweenwirelesslocationprofiles,andEthernetlocationprofiles.Youcan
establishawirelessprioritylistthatallowsyoutodefinewhichwirelesslocationprofilewillbemadeactive
whenyourcomputerisinrangeofmultiplewirelessnetworks,orwhenmorethanonelocationprofile
usesthesamewirelessnetworkname.
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