Wireless Networking Overview The purpose of this document is to give you an overview for connecting to wireless networks and removing

yourself from wireless networks which have been saved on your computer. This document will not go into details of

mobile and tablet infrastructure as that platform is so varied it would be exhaustive to try to have step by step

instructions for each manufacturer’s hardware and different versions. For help with those please contact us and we can

help you with those on an individual basis as needed.

This document will be divided into two distinct sections: “Connecting to Wireless Networks” & “Disconnecting

from Wireless Networks”. There will be links to each section below. Within each section there will be links to

instructions for each major Operating System and Version.

Below is an overview of some basic wireless network information

Some Barton College services accessed from your office computer may not function when “off

campus”. These services typically are services which are hosted internally on our network. Some examples

include the library research databases, which require a login when off campus, such as EBSCO and SAGE. Some

locally hosted services such as institutional advancement software and many others which may be department

specific. If you are logging into your computer using your “Barton Active Directory” or “AD” account, and

better known by the more commonly heard “Barton Domain Account”, you would have to be connected to a

Barton internal wireless provider for your computer to login successfully. Because of these challenges it is

important to know which wireless network you are connected to.

A little about wireless: Some terms you should know include SSID and Signal Strength.

SSID stands for Service Set Identifier, this is the name of the wireless provider you are connecting to.

Signal Strength is the amount of signal you have while connected to a wireless network. Your distance

from the AP (Access Point) and the number of concurrent users affect your signal strength and your

wireless network connection speed.

If you have ever connected to a wireless access point in any building on campus, outside on center

campus which is outside, at home, on a business trip, vacation or at a coffee shop, your computer will save the

connection on your computer. The next time you are within range of that SSID, if it is still available and the

password hasn’t changed, you will be re-connected to it automatically. This sometimes poses problems, for

example, you want to pull up an internal Barton College service which is only accessible via the internal SSID

but you are connected to the outside center campus wireless network provider. This connection outside is

hosted by greenlight and is the same as being downtown. It is considered external and does not have access to

internal Barton services. If you are trying to login to your computer through Active Directory but you are

connected to a coffee shop wireless, or your home wireless network, it will not allow you to login to your

computer.

To prevent issues like these, we will show you how to connect to and how to disconnect from wireless

SSID’s in the sections following.

Jump to Instructions for Connecting or Disconnecting to Wireless Networks below

Connecting to Wireless Networks Disconnecting from Wireless Networks

Connecting to Wireless Networks Jump to the instructions for the Operating System you are using by clicking the link below

Windows XP Windows 7 Windows 8 Mac OSX

Windows XP

From Windows XP to connect to a wireless network do the following:

Click the wireless icon in the taskbar, it will open the wireless network connection page, notice since you are

not connected it has an x through the wireless icon.

On the wireless network connection page click the network you wish to connect to and click connect.

This will open the authentication page. Enter the network key, then enter it a second time and then click

Connect.

When connected it will say Connected beside the wireless network in the connection list of available

networks. Notice the icon now has radio waves and no red x.

Windows 7

From Windows 7 to connect to wireless networks do the following:

Click the wireless icon in the taskbar, it will open the wireless network connection page. Notice it has a star to

let you know wireless networks are available.

Click the wireless network you wish to connect to

It is now highlighted, click connect.

Enter the network password and click “OK”.

If you get a prompt for which homegroup, select “Work network”.

Once connected the icon in the taskbar for wireless status will now not have a star and will reflect your signal

strength with bars varying from 1 to 5.

Windows 8

From Windows 8 to connect to wireless networks do the following:

Click the wireless icon in the taskbar. Notice it has a star to indicate there are wireless networks available.

Click on the wireless network you wish to connect to.

Click connect.

Enter the network password and then click next.

Click No to the sharing question.

After clicking No the connection is complete and will indicate so beside the network name.

Mac OSX

From Mac OSX click on the light grey wireless icon in the top right bar of Mac OSX and select the wireless

network you wish to connect to.

On the Wi-Fi dialogue page enter your password and click Join.

Once connected the wireless icon in the top right bar of your mac will indicate connection signal strength by

highlighting the number of bars of signal strength as black from weakest to strongest signal and a checkmark

will be next to the currently connected to network.

Disconnecting from Wireless Networks Jump to the instructions for the Operating System you are using by clicking the link below

Windows XP Windows 7 Windows 8 Mac OSX

Windows XP

From Windows XP to view and manage saved wireless networks do the following:

Double click the wireless icon in the taskbar, it will open the wireless network connection status page

On the wireless network connection status page click the properties button

This will open the properties of the wireless network adapter. Click the tab for wireless networks

Highlight the network you would like to remove. Notice the antenna with the circle to the left of the SSID

name is the one I am connected to, the ones with a red x is a saved SSID that I am not connected to.

Click the remove button, this will remove it from your saved list so that the next time you are near the

selected SSID it will not automatically connect to it. If you wish to reconnect just go through the normal

connection process.

Windows 7

From Windows 7 to view and manage saved wireless networks do the following:

Left click the wireless icon in the taskbar, it will open the wireless network connection status page

On the wireless network connection status page click the “Open Network and Sharing Center” link

This will open the Network and Sharing Center page. Click the “Manage wireless networks” link.

On the dialogue page select the SSID you would like to remove.

Click the remove button, this will remove it from your saved list so that the next time you are near the

selected SSID it will not automatically connect to it. If you wish to reconnect just go through the normal

connection process.

When prompted if you are sure you want to remove this network, click yes.

Windows 8

From Windows 8 to view and manage saved wireless networks do the following:

Move your mouse into either the top right or bottom right corner of your screen to display the charms menu.

Click on the settings charm.

On the settings dialogue page click on the wireless icon

On the networks dialogue page right click the network you wish to remove.

After right clicking you will be presented with a few options, click on “Forget this network”.

Windows 8 removed the list view for previous saved networks so you will have to do these steps when you are

in an area and you notice you are connected to a non-preferred wireless network. One additional option is to

download and install a third party software such as “WiFi Profile Manager 8” which gives you the same

functionality as Windows 7.

Mac OSX

From Mac OSX click on the wireless icon in the top right bar of Mac OSX

On the Wi-Fi dialogue page click on “Open Network Preferences…”

On the Networks Preferences dialogue page click to highlight the wireless adapter then click the settings gear

on the bottom left of the dialogue page.

On the wireless settings page highlight the preferred network you wish to remove and click the minus.