Lenovo 114155U, E520, E420 manual Making wireless LAN connections, Using wireless WAN connections

Making wireless LAN connections

Your computer comes with a built-in wireless networking card and a configuration utility to help you make wireless connections and monitor the status of your connection, so that you can stay connected to your network while you are in the office, in a meeting room, or at home, with no need for a wired connection.

Attention:

•If you carry your computer with the wireless LAN feature into an airplane, check the services with the airline before boarding the airplane.

•If there are restrictions on the use of computers on an airplane with the wireless feature, you need to disable it before boarding. To disable it, refer to the instructions in “Enabling or disabling the wireless feature” on page 47.

Note: You can purchase a wireless networking card as an option. For more information, refer to “Finding ThinkPad options” on page 105.

Tips for using the wireless LAN feature

•Place your computer so that there are as few obstacles as possible between the wireless LAN access point and the computer.

•For the best connection of the wireless LAN feature, open your computer display to an angle of slightly more than 90 degrees.

•If you use the wireless feature (the 802.11 standard) of your computer simultaneously with a Bluetooth option, data transmission speed can be delayed and the performance of the wireless feature can be degraded.

Wireless networking setup

To use the built-in wireless networking card (the 802.11 standard) to communicate, start Access Connections.

Note: Before you start setting up wireless networking connections by using Access Connections, obtain a Network Name (SSID) and your encryption information from your network administrator.

Access Connections, a connectivity assistant program, can easily enable one network adapter and disable the other adapters on demand. After setting up your wireless networking connection, you can use the program to quickly switch the network settings.

Using wireless WAN connections

Wireless Wide Area Network (wireless WAN) enables you to establish wireless connections over remote public or private networks. These connections can be maintained over a large geographical area, such as a city or an entire country, by use of multiple antenna sites or satellite systems maintained by wireless service providers.

Some ThinkPad notebooks come with a built-in wireless WAN card integrating some wireless WAN technologies, such as 1xEV-DO, HSPA, 3G or GPRS. You can connect to the Internet or your company network with the built-in wireless WAN card and the configuration utility to make a wireless WAN connection and monitor its status.

Note: Wireless WAN service is provided by authorized service providers in some countries.

To find the location of the wireless WAN antenna on your computer, refer to “Location of the UltraConnect wireless antennas” on page 164.

To use the wireless WAN feature, start Access Connections.

Chapter 2. Using your computer 41