EstablishingwirelessLANconnections
Yourcomputercomeswithabuilt-inwirelessnetworkcardandacongurationutilitytohelpyoumake
wirelessconnectionsandmonitorthestatusofyourconnection,sothatyoucanstayconnectedtoyour
networkwhileyouareintheofce,inameetingroom,orathome,withnoneedforawiredconnection.
Attention:
•IfyoucarryyourcomputerwiththewirelessLANfeatureintoanairplane,checktheserviceswiththe
airlinebeforeboardingtheairplane.
•Iftherearerestrictionsontheuseofcomputersonanairplanewiththewirelessfeatur e,youneed
todisableitbeforeboar ding.
Note:YoucanpurchaseawirelessnetworkcardasanoptionfromLenovoat
http://www.lenovo.com/accessories/services/index.html.
TipsforusingthewirelessLANfeature
•PlaceyourcomputersothatthereareasfewobstaclesaspossiblebetweenthewirelessLANaccess
pointandthecomputer.
•Toachievethebestwirelessconnection,openyourcomputerdisplaytoanangleslightlygreaterthan
90degrees.
•Ifyouusethewirelessfeature(the802.11standard)ofyourcomputersimultaneouslywithaBluetooth
option,datatransmissionspeedcanbedelayedandtheperformanceofthewirelessfeaturecanbe
degraded.
Wirelessnetworksetup
Tousethebuilt-inwirelessnetworkcard(the802.11standard)tocommunicate,starttheAccess
Connectionsprogram.See“AccessingThinkVantageapplications”onpage14.
Note:BeforeyoustartsettingupwirelessnetworkconnectionsbyusingtheAccessConnectionsprogram,
obtainaNetworkName(SSID)andyourencryptioninformationfromyournetworkadministrator.
WirelessupgradeableThinkPadmodels
Yourcomputercanbewirelessupgradeable.Thismeansthatyourcomputerhasanantennathatcan
supportwirelessLANaccesswhenwirelessLANaccesspointsareavailable.Wirelessdevicesareavailable
fromLenovo.Formoreinformation,referto“FindingThinkPadoptions”onpage97.
EstablishingwirelessWANconnections
WirelessWideAreaNetwork(wirelessWAN)enablesyoutoestablishwirelessconnectionsoverremote
publicorprivatenetworks.Theseconnectionscanbemaintainedoveralargegeographicalarea,suchas
acityoranentirecountry,byuseofmultipleantennasitesorsatellitesystemsmaintainedbywireless
serviceproviders.
SomeThinkPadnotebookcomputerscomewithabuilt-inwirelessWANcardintegratingsomewireless
WANtechnologies,suchas1xEV-DO,HSPA,3G,GPRSorLTE.YoucanconnecttotheInternetoryour
companynetworkwiththebuilt-inwirelessWANcardandthecongurationutilitytomakeawireless
WANconnectionandmonitoritsstatus.
Note:WirelessWANserviceisprovidedbyauthorizedserviceprovidersinsomecountries.
TolocatethewirelessWANantennaonyourcomputer,see“LocationoftheUltraConnectwirelessantennas”
onpage160.
TousethewirelessWANfeature,starttheAccessConnectionsprogram.Forinformationonhowtostartthe
AccessConnectionsprogram,see“AccessingThinkVantageapplications”onpage14.
Chapter2.Usingyourcomputer33