TheAccessConnectionsprogramisaconnectivityassistantprogramforcreatingandmanaginglocation
proles.EachlocationprolestoresallthenetworkandInternetcongurationsettingsneededforconnecting
toanetworkinfrastructurefromaspeciclocationsuchasahomeoranofce.
Ethernetconnections
Youcanconnecttoyournetworkorabroadbandconnection,suchasDSLorCATV,byuseoftheEthernet
featurebuiltintoyourcomputer.Thisfeatureenablesyoutodo1Gbpshalforfullduplexdatatransmission.
ToconnecttoanetworkviaEthernet,youcanuseAccessConnections.
Wirelessconnections
Wirelessconnectionisthetransferofdatawithouttheuseofcablesbymeansofradiowavesonly.
Dependingonthefrequencyusedfordatatransmission,theareacovered,orthetypeofthedeviceusedfor
datatransfer,thefollowingcategoriesofwirelessnetworksmaybeavailabletoyou:
WirelessLAN
Awirelesslocalareanetworkcoversarelativelysmallgeographicarea,suchasanofcebuildingorahouse.
Devicesbasedonthe802.11standardscanconnecttothisnetwork.
WirelessWAN
Awirelesswideareanetworkcoversabroadergeographicarea.Cellularnetworksar eusedfordata
transmission,andaccessisprovidedbyawirelessservicecarrier.
Bluetooth
Oneofanumberoftechnologiesusedtocreateawirelesspersonalareanetwork.Bluetoothcanconnect
devicesashortdistancefromoneanother,andiscommonlyusedforconnectingperipheraldevicestoa
computer,transferringdatabetweenhand-helddevicesandPC,orremotelycontrollingandcommunicating
withdevicessuchasmobilephones.
WiMAX(WorldwideInteroperabilityforMicrowaveAccess)
Thislong-rangewirelessdatatransmissiontechnologybasedonthe802.16standardisexpectedtoprovide
theusera“lastmile”broadbandconnectivitysimilartothatprovidedbycableorADSL,butwithouttheneed
tophysicallyconnectacabletothePC.

MakingwirelessLANconnections

Yourcomputercomeswithabuilt-inwirelessnetworkingcardandacongurationutilitytohelpyoumake
wirelessconnectionsandmonitorthestatusofyourconnection,sothatyoucanstayconnect edtoyour
networkwhileyouareintheofce,inameetingroom,orathome,withnoneedforawiredconnection.
Attention:
•IfyoucarryyourcomputerwiththewirelessLANfeatureintoanairplane,checktheserviceswiththe
airlinebeforeboar dingtheairplane.
•Iftherearerestrictionsontheuseofcomputersonanairplanewiththewirelessfeature,youneedto
disableitbeforeboarding.Todisableit,refertotheinstructionsinEnablingordisablingthewireless
feature.
Note:Y oucanpurchaseawirelessnetworkingcardasanoption.Formoreinformation,refertoFinding
ThinkPadoptions.
Chapter2.Usingyourcomputer35