MakingwirelessLANconnections
Yourcomputercomeswithabuilt-inwirelessnetworkingcardandacongurationutilitytohelpyoumake
wirelessconnectionsandmonitorthestatusofyourconnection,sothatyoucanstayconnectedtoyour
networkwhileyouareintheofce,inameetingroom,orathome,withnoneedforawiredconnection.
Attention:
•IfyoucarryyourcomputerwiththewirelessLANfeatureintoanairplane,checktheserviceswiththe
airlinebeforeboardingtheairplane.
•Iftherearerestrictionsontheuseofcomputersonanairplanewiththewirelessfeature,youneedto
disableitbeforeboar ding.Todisableit,refertotheinstructionsin“Enablingordisablingthewir eless
feature”onpage47.
Note:Youcanpur chaseawirelessnetworkingcardasanoption.Formoreinformation,referto“Finding
ThinkPadoptions”onpage105.
TipsforusingthewirelessLANfeature
•PlaceyourcomputersothatthereareasfewobstaclesaspossiblebetweenthewirelessLANaccess
pointandthecomputer.
•ForthebestconnectionofthewirelessLANfeature,openyourcomputerdisplaytoanangleofslightly
morethan90degrees.
•Ifyouusethewirelessfeature(the802.11standard)ofyourcomputersimultaneouslywithaBluetooth
option,datatransmissionspeedcanbedelayedandtheperformanceofthewirelessfeaturecanbe
degraded.
Wirelessnetworkingsetup
Tousethebuilt-inwirelessnetworkingcard(the802.11standard)tocommunicate,startAccessConnections.
Note:BeforeyoustartsettingupwirelessnetworkingconnectionsbyusingAccessConnections,obtaina
NetworkName(SSID)andyourencryptioninformationfromyournetworkadministrator.
AccessConnections,aconnectivityassistantprogram,caneasilyenableonenetworkadapteranddisable
theotheradaptersondemand.Aftersettingupyourwirelessnetworkingconnection,youcanusethe
programtoquicklyswitchthenetworksettings.
UsingwirelessWANconnections
WirelessWideAreaNetwork(wirelessWAN)enablesyoutoestablishwirelessconnectionsoverremote
publicorprivatenetworks.Theseconnectionscanbemaintainedoveralargegeographicalarea,suchas
acityoranentirecountry,byuseofmultipleantennasitesorsatellitesystemsmaintainedbywireless
serviceproviders.
SomeThinkPadnotebookscomewithabuilt-inwirelessWANcardintegratingsomewirelessWAN
technologies,suchas1xEV-DO,HSPA,3GorGPRS.Youcanconnectt otheInternetoryourcompany
networkwiththebuilt-inwirelessWANcar dandthecongurationutilitytomakeawirelessWANconnection
andmonitoritsstatus.
Note:WirelessWANserviceisprovidedbyauthorizedserviceprovidersinsomecountries.
Tondthelocationofthewir elessWANantennaonyourcomputer,referto“LocationoftheUltraConnect
wirelessantennas”onpage166.
TousethewirelessWANfeature,startAccessConnections.
Chapter2.Usingyourcomputer41