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wifi?


colore

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hello!

android has a so marvelous way to connect via wifi: you simple click a button, it scans for available networks and you choose to connect

while i consider myself pc advanced literate, i still cannot figure out how to do it in win7

maybe i expected it to be simple

any hint?

thanks!

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Windows won't show you the wireless icon in the systray if you are already connected to a wired connection.

Here is a picture of the wireless icon:

http://ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com/images/art_soper_win7wireless/elementLinks/soper_fig06.jpg

A = wireless connections available

B = connected to wireless network (shows signal strength)

When you click on it in the "A" state, you will see a list of available networks, including whether or not they are open or secured.

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Windows won't show you the wireless icon in the systray if you are already connected to a wired connection.

Here is a picture of the wireless icon:

http://ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com/images/art_soper_win7wireless/elementLinks/soper_fig06.jpg

A = wireless connections available

B = connected to wireless network (shows signal strength)

When you click on it in the "A" state, you will see a list of available networks, including whether or not they are open or secured.

the problem is that somehow that icon doesnt appear in traybar (I probably disabled it)

isnt there any other way to bring up the window with the available wireless networks?

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Interesting... I see a "Active Network" that states "Public Network" of type "Local Area Connection". Are you connected by WIRED? Tripredacus specifically stated

Windows won't show you the wireless icon in the systray if you are already connected to a wired connection.
You will see HOW you are connected (at this time) by clicking "See Full Map". This will more than likely SPECIFICALLY show that you're connected via a WIRED NETWORK. Betcha! You will HAVE to disconnect the WIRE to use WIRELESS (see quote, dude)!
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You will HAVE to disconnect the WIRE to use WIRELESS (see quote, dude)!

indeed i am wired atm, but i still wanted to see other wireless networks! i should be able to also connect to some else wireless network, should I ?

or would like to see the available wireless connections, without having to unplug

okay, i understand i cant do it, i give up :/

Edited by colore
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Windows won't let you connect to a wireless network if you are connected to a wired one. The reason is because you cannot have 2 default gateways. You will need to find a third-party "site survey" software to see what networks are available. I have none to recommend, as I log into my router to use the built-in site survey function.

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Not true, as I found out today on my wife's laptop. (Win7 x64 as supplied straight from Dell and kept up to date from MU)

110y8ph.png

Both networks were connected simultaneously. Disconnect from either one and any internet activity continued on the other one.

(It just so happened that I did not want this behavior. I wanted it set so that if the LAN was plugged in the wireless network was disconnected. I couldn't figure out how to do this automatically when I quickly looked, so I just disconnected the wireless network and left it to NOT automatically re-connect. If it's needed, I just have to select it and click "connect" so that's easy enough.)

Cheers and Regards

Edited by bphlpt
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Windows 8 will let you connect to as many networks as you have devices for, but it's only going to use one *long term*. It will disable any it isn't using within a short time, as connections that may be active on it get FIN'd (or some other disconnect, of course. There can be a decent amount of time where multiple connections are active, though.

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You will see HOW you are connected (at this time) by clicking "See Full Map". This will more than likely SPECIFICALLY show that you're connected via a WIRED NETWORK. Betcha! You will HAVE to disconnect the WIRE to use WIRELESS (see quote, dude)!

This was not true in my wife's laptop's case. The pic I showed above is the one that showed most clearly that she was indeed connected though both connections, LAN and wireless, at the same time. When I clicked the "See Full Map", it just showed one "leg" at a time, based on the pulldown box selection. But it did show that she was connected through both connections. That screen also had options to show other "legs" that she was not connected through, such as Bluetooth.

I think the reason the OP is having problems is because of something he disabled or removed:

the problem is that somehow that icon doesnt appear in traybar (I probably disabled it)

He probably disabled/removed more than just the icon in the traybar, probably something key in the wireless system itself. My desktop doesn't have that icon or the "Manage Wireless Networks" option, but my desktop doesn't have any wireless card or driver installed. The "See Full Map" option dropdown box might show the OP whether there is a wireless connection installed, just not active, available to be connected to, but I'm not sure.

@colore, assuming you have a wireless card and driver installed in your computer and a wireless router or whatever properly set up and the two appear to be talking to each other, (you sometimes have to set the wireless side of the router up through the wired connection), what happens when you click "Connect to a network" and try to establish a connection through that wireless card? And is this a home wireless connection you are trying to establish or at an Internet cafe or hotspot or something?

Cheers and Regards

Edited by bphlpt
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The pic I showed above is the one that showed most clearly that she was indeed connected though both connections, LAN and wireless, at the same time.

I wonder if your wireless software has something to do with it. I see those two Intel Wireless options in your picture as well. Even so, if you are able to connect to more than 1 network at a time, you only will get one default gateway, thus internet access can be used on only one and not the other. The only potential reason I can see why you would want to connect to more than one is to use the wireless for internet, and use the physical lan to connect to network shares in a private LAN. I figured it was possible using static IPs or with other wireless software, but I typically don't even install those things and let Windows manage the wireless connections.

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