About your Computer About your Computer Thank you for purchasing a VAIO® computer! Your new computer combines state-of-the-art hardware and software to bring you unparalleled wireless connectivity. Contents Your computer may not be equipped with all of these hardware features or accessories. The location of the controls, ports, and jacks may vary from the illustrations shown in this section. See your computer’s specification sheet for details on your computer’s supplied accessories.
VAIO® Computer Wireless Information About Wireless Connectivity and Technlogy Your computer is equipped with the new Evolution Data Optimized (EV-DO) technology, by Sprint®. With built-in EV-DO Wireless WAN capabilities, your computer can connect wirelessly to your e-mail, the Internet, and any intranet networks with which you may be associated with, in a secured mobile environment.
To Activate Your Sprint Account Sprint Activation Screen By Phone (without an internet connection) To activate your Sprint account without using an existing internet connection, follow these steps: 1 Call Sony Customer support at 1-888-604-VAIO (8246). You will receive Activation Code, MSID, and MDN by email within 48 hours. After you receive the email, start the “enter activation code" procedure beginning with step 2 below.
VAIO® Computer Wireless Information Activation Status Screen 4
About SmartWi Connection Utility About SmartWi Connection Utility The SmartWi Connection Utility functions largely as a switch manager between the various forms of wireless connectivity: Bluetooth®, WLAN, and WWAN using Sprint® Wireless software. You can click one of the three wireless options at a time. The SmartWi Connection Utility allows you to switch between the three options.
VAIO® Computer Wireless Information 1 Make sure your computer is turned on. 2 Make sure the wireless switch is turned on. If it is not, locate the switch on the front left portion of your computer and slide the switch up to the ON position. Wireless switch and indicators Bluetooth WIRELESS LAN WWAN OFF WIRELESS ON ✍ Once you slide the wireless switch to the on position, the SmartWi Connection Utility window appears automatically.
Starting SmartWi Connection Utility SmartWi Connection Utility icons Bluetooth WWAN WWAN and Bluetooth WLAN WLAN and Bluetooth Wireless device is turned off (no WWAN or WLAN) ✍ Note that WWAN and WLAN cannot coexist simultaneously. When one is selected, the other is automatically deselected. 4 Alternately, press Start, select All Programs, select the VAIO SmartWi Connection Utility folder, and click SmartWi Connection Utility. The SmartWi Connection Utility dialog box displays.
VAIO® Computer Wireless Information About the Wireless Switching Window The Wireless Switching Window is a utility that allows you to switch between wireless modes. You can easitly switch between Bluetooth®, WLAN, and WWAN by pressing keyboard buttons instead of using the touch pad (or a separately available USB mouse). Using the Wireless Switching Window To start the Wireless Switching Window utility, press Fn + F to bring up the window.
Using the Wireless Connection Utility Using the Wireless Connection Utility To use the wireless connectivity features and begin using e-mail or connecting to the Internet, simply click the desired button: Sprint® Wireless (for WAN connectivity), WLAN, or Bluetooth®.
VAIO® Computer Wireless Information Using the Sprint Wireless WAN connection To use Sprint Wireless WAN (WWAN) connectivity, do the following: 1 Click the Sprint button on the SmartWi Connection Utility main screen. A Sprint WWAN launch area display appears below the button. Sprint WWAN launch area 2 Click anywhere in the Sprint WWAN launch area. The Sprint WAN Setup screen displays.
Using the Sprint Wireless WAN connection Sprint WAN Setup screen 3 By default, your connection to theSprint service initiates. For FCC Radio Frequency Exposure (RF) safety reasons, please keep the device at least 20cm distance from your body when the WWAN is operating.
VAIO® Computer Wireless Information Using the Wireless LAN connection To use Wireless LAN (WLAN) connectivity, do the following: 1 Click the WLAN button on the SmartWi Connection Utility main screen. A status display appears below the button. 2 Click the status display below the WLAN button. The screen enlarges to display WLAN Settings. ✍ The first time you connect with the WLAN, the Wireless Help Utility will launch automatically and guide you through the initial setup.
Using the Wireless LAN connection By default, WLAN uses the IEEE802.11a/b/g standard technology for WLAN connectivity. The standard includes the Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption method, which is a security protocol and WiFi Protected Access. To use IEEE802.11b or IEEE802.11g WLAN connectivity standard only, select them from the Mode field drop-down box. ✍ Wireless LAN devices using the IEEE802.11a standard and the ones using the IEEE802.
VAIO® Computer Wireless Information Sony Access Point. The Access Point bridges the wireless and wired LAN and acts as a central controller for the Wireless LAN. The Access Point coordinates transmission and reception from multiple wireless devices within a specific range. ❑ To configure your computer to communicate without an access point device (ad-hoc), follow these steps: 1 On the WLAN Settings dialog box, click the Configure WLAN button. The Wireless Network Connection Properties window displays.
Using the Wireless LAN connection 12 Click Advanced. The Advanced window displays. 13 Select the Computer-to-computer (ad hoc) networks only option button. 14 Click Close. 15 Click OK. Your computer is ready to communicate with other computers. To disconnect from a computer-to-computer (ad-hoc) network, click Configure WLAN on the WLAN Settings dialog box, select the Network Name in the Preferred networks area, click Remove, and then click OK.
VAIO® Computer Wireless Information 1 On the Proxy tab, select whether to use the Internet Explorer proxy settings or not, or to use a proxy server of your choice for your WLAN connection. If you want to use a specified proxy server, you must identify its address and port. 2 ❑ Click Apply and proceed to configure IP Settings or click OK. To configure your IP Settings: 1 On the IP Settings tab, select whether to obtain the IP address and DNS server address automatically or not.
Using the Bluetooth technology connection Using the Bluetooth technology connection Bluetooth® technology enables you to establish wireless communication between your computer and other Bluetooth devices such as another computer or a mobile phone. You can transfer data between these devices without cables and up to 33 feet range in open space. To use Bluetooth® technology connectivity, do the following: 1 Click the Bluetooth button on the Wireless Connection Utility dialog box.
VAIO® Computer Wireless Information already configured. If there are no previous Bluetooth devices configured or if you are using the Bluetooth function for the first time, the Add New Connection Wizard displays. The Add New Connection Wizard allows you to set up and establish a new Bluetooth device connection. Follow the on-screen instructions.
Using the Bluetooth technology connection 5 Click New Connection to start the Add Bluetooth Device Wizard for searching and locating additional Bluetooth® devices in the vicinity of your computer. Follow the on-screen instructions. When completed, click OK.
VAIO® Computer Wireless Information General Information SmartWi Connection Utility supports the following Wireless WAN-related functionality: ❑ Network Systems 850 and 1900 ❑ Network Services CDMA/EV-DO Note: Speech services are not supported ❑ Speed Maximum continuous speed and FTP download speeds to 160 kbytes or more.
Software Upgrades Software Upgrades You can upgrade your PC Card firmware/software from the Internet Web site http://esupport.sony.com/EN/VAIO.
VAIO® Computer Wireless Information FAQ and Troubleshooting This section provides answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ) and possible operating workaround information for the SmartWi Connection Utility (SWCU). In addition, this information can help to clarify issues encountered when using the SmartWi, Cingular Connection Manager and its associated features.
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions Answers to Frequently Asked Questions ❑ General Question: What is the SmartWi Connection Utility? Answer: SWCU is a wireless connection utility that is designed to switch and manage wireless connection modes between Bluetooth, 802.11, and Cingular GPRS/EDGE. Question: Can I connect to two separate types of wireless connections simultaneously (for example, GPRS and 802.11b/g)? Answer: No.
VAIO® Computer Wireless Information and how do I bring back the application to the desktop? Answer: The SmartWi application was minimized into the Task-tray, which shows the “SWCU” icon and not into the “Taskbar”. Depending on the type of connection and combination, if any, the SWCU icon will reflect the current connection. For example, if the SmartWi connects simultaneously with the Bluetooth device, the icon will reflect the connection type with a Bluetooth emblem.
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions ❑ Sprint Launch Area TBD 25
VAIO® Computer Wireless Information ❑ SMS Question: What does “Load” do and why does it not prompt for options or input? Answer: The SMS help file indicates this is useful in case of accidental deletion of messages. The “Load” feature would be a way to recover the deleted messages, however, this option provides no notification that the task completed successfully.
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions Question: When I select a message from a folder, and then scroll right, all previously existing messages appear to be gone when I scroll back to the original folder position. Answer: Click out of the folder, and then back in to refresh the screen. Question: I clicked on the Cingular Connection Manager minimize button and noticed that the CCM icon was not in the taskbar.
VAIO® Computer Wireless Information ❑ GPRS Network Question: Why do I see a network connection speed rate of 214.4 Kbs, but when I try to access a website that requires a minimum of 128 Kbs, I am told that I do not have the required minimum rate. Answer: The network speed indicator provides the capacity of the wireless device which is 214.4 Kbs but the actual speed depends on network throughput. To work around this, try changing the network settings to optimize the GPRS/EDGE value.
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions 3 If you are still having trouble, contact your network administrator. Question: I am seeing a message in Windows taskbar stating; “GPRS a Network Cable is Unplugged”. What does this mean? Answer: Typically, this message appears if your VAIO PC is connected to the Cingular GPRS network and is allowed to go into hibernation. Upon resuming, Cingular has terminated the connection.
VAIO® Computer Wireless Information Store using Sonic Stage. Question: Sonic stage appears to lock up indefinitely (displays a spinning ‘LOADING’ logo) when attempting to select “Radio Connect” (streaming) from Sony Connect™ site. Answer: This is related to the issue of streaming audio over low bandwidth connections as referenced above under “GPRS Networking”. Connecting to Music Store over a wired or broadband connection will usually resolve this issue.
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions Question: How do I reinstall the SmartWi or Cingular connection manager? Answer: Use the following instructions: 1 From the Windows taskbar click Start > Control Panel >VAIO Recovery >Reinstall Application or drivers 2 Click Next. Select Wireless Connection Utility and then click Next. Question: I do not see a repair option for the SmartWi from the control panel.
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For customer support information, go to: http://www.esupport.sony.com/EN/VAIO VAIO Homepage http://www.sony.com/vaiopc © 2006 Sony Electronics Inc.
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