Wireless Home Networking - Index of

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Part IV: Using a Wireless Network
2. In the Network browser, select Network and Sharing Center from the
upper bar.
The upper bar is like the familiar toolbar in most Microsoft applications.
The difference is that the upper bar appears only in the Vista Explorer
window. It’s always located below the standard menu bar — the one that
has menu options such a File and Edit — and it changes based on what
you’ve selected in Vista Explorer. The Network and Sharing Center is
where you’ll see all your network adapters.
3. If your wireless adapter is set up correctly, you’ll see it in the list
of adapters. Click the Customize link on your wireless network
connection.
4. If you have Windows Vista Home Premium or above, you must choose
the network location type the first time you connect your PC to the
network. (The network location type determines your Microsoft Vista
firewall settings.)
• Public: If you’re connecting to a network in a public place, such as
a coffee shop or an airport, choose a Public location type. Choosing
Public will keep your computer from being visible to others on the
network. Public offers the most security.
• Private: Use this option for a home, small office, or work network.
Choosing Private automatically configures the firewall settings to
allow for communication
If you want to enable communication between your PCs and other network
devices, such as a printer, you need to choose the Private location.
If you decide to use the Private location type, you’re all set to start sharing
resources from your Vista machine.
If you’re running a mix of XP and Vista on your home network, you could run
into problems as soon as you turn on your Vista computer and let it announce
itself to the network. When Vista starts broadcasting across your network, it
can hide the rest of the computers on the network from each other. You won’t
be able to see any computers in the Map view in Vista or My Network Places
in XP — although you can still access the computers and devices. The reason
for this is that Microsoft introduced a new protocol to Windows Vista that XP
might not be set up to support. The Link Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD)
protocol is a licensed data link layer protocol for network topology discovery
and quality of service diagnostics, developed by Microsoft as part of their
Windows Rally set of technologies. Windows Vista has this protocol installed
by default, but Windows XP does not. If you are going to run both XP and
Vista on your network and share between them, you need to install the LLTD
responder for Windows XP. You can download this from the Microsoft site by
searching (at search.microsoft.com) for KB922120. Or go to the following URL:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=4
F01A31D-EE46-481E-
BA11-37F485FA34EA&displaylang=en