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Summary: It's possible to accidentally connect to wireless networks you didn't expect. We'll look at how to make sure you get the connection you expect.
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In my neighborhood there are several wireless networks. All of these are unsecured. As the signal of one of these is stronger than that of my own router, my laptop sometimes attempts to connect to this other network. I am running Vista and have repeatedly deleted all the neighboring networks from the list in the network center. Nevertheless, it reappears the next time I start up the laptop. Are there other ways to remove this competing network than just deleting it from the list? |
Deleting it might well be exactly the wrong thing to do.
I believe what you really want to do is leave it in the list, but tell Vista not to use it.
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The list of wireless networks we want is in Control Panel, Network and Sharing Center, in the task Manage Wireless Networks:
In this example from my laptop, you can see that I have several wireless networks listed.
There are two things to note for this discussion: the order of this list and the last column which lists manual and automatic connection type (if you don't see this column you may need to widen the window).
When looking for a wireless network to connect to, Windows starts at the top of this list and tries to connect to each network marked "automatic" until it finds one that it can connect to.
To prevent accidental connections we need to do two things:
change the order of the list so that your network appears first
change the "other" network to a manual connection type
Changing the order is simple: just click and hold on the network name in the list and drag it into the position you want it to have and release.
To change from automatic to manual, right click on the network's icon:
As you can see, you can remove the network, and also use this menu to move the network up and down in the list, but we'll click on properties:
The key is to make sure that "Connect automatically when this network is in range" is not checked. You can still connect to these networks if you want to, but you'll need to do so manually. That's done by right clicking on Windows Vista's networking icon in the task bar and selecting "Connect to a Network".
As an aside, I've not found a way to make absolutely sure that newly discovered open networks aren't set to "connect automatic" by default. You'll need to keep an eye out for this, and, if that happens, make sure to set that network to manual.
This example shows the wireless connection used by a local coffee house, and as you can see, I've got it set to connect manually. Sometimes I simply don't want to connect when I'm there, for security or other reasons, and at a minimum, I want to be in control. At home, the top connection on my list, connections can happen automatically.
And as for the various hotel connections you see on my list, there's no reason for me to keep them, so I deleted them shortly after writing this article.
As a final aside to the extremely watchful: yes, my home network is
unsecured (no password or encryption). This is intentional and a mater
of convenience. I live in a remote enough area that the WiFi signal
doesn't travel far enough for others to see - or they'd have to be
sitting in my driveway where I'd notice. 
If you're not positive that others aren't in range, then
absolutely, you should be using WPA encryption on your wireless network.
Since you can see the wireless networks of others, they can just as
easily see yours; make sure you encrypt.
Related:
How can I block neighboring wireless networks? Accidentally connecting to someone's nearby wireless network can be a serious security risk. We'll look at some steps to prevent it.
How do I stay safe in an internet cafe? When connecting to the internet in an internet cafe, hotspot or other public connection you could be opening yourself up to serious security issues.
Wireless Encryption: do I need it? Wireless Encryption is somewhat mysterious. Wireless encryption is something you likely need to keep your network, and your data, secure.
Article C3449 - July 19, 2008
Thank you Leo for lesson ,for me i thank God that i didn't use vista.
Posted by: peter at July 20, 2008 10:11 PMhttp://www.fosdir.com
This isn't really a comment, although I appreciate your articles and read them often. I have done all that your article suggests, but I have a connection that won't leave. It's for another home that I have a wireless connection at and it will only remain on the wireless list in first position which although it is nowhere in range, I believe is messing with my current wireless connection. When it is on there, my connection just goes in and out as it tries to connect, find an IP and so on. I've even tried to delete the instalan program that the second cable provider installed on this computer with no luck as it says that it can't be uninstalled because it is currently running. This is driving me nuts! Any advice would be most welcome. Thanks.
Posted by: Mary Donnelli at September 3, 2008 5:45 AMIs there any way to prevent non-admin users from changing the wireless connection in Vista (i.e. set it to always use some predefined SSID)?
Posted by: James at October 31, 2008 10:32 AMI'm unaable to delete one spesific wireless connection in Vista. I'm only able to view the properties. I'm logged on as the administrator.
The connection can only be view and cannot be modified.
Posted by: Mannes at November 10, 2008 2:30 AMPlease assist
Interestingly, I have a problem that many others have described elsewhere: the UP/DOWN options in the context menu will NOT move the network connection up or down in the list. What I haven't found is how to fix this issue. Any ideas?
Posted by: Mike at November 19, 2008 9:56 PMI have done everything that you say to.. But I seem to be getting more and more networks, with the same name as mine. I can't get rid of any of them. I want to delete all the networks, not just remove them from my list. It is really frustruating and to top it off, my extender has now stopped working.. eh.. but that is the second problem.. how can I delete the networks and start fresh..???? PLease help.
Posted by: Em at February 2, 2009 1:53 AM