Windows Mobile Device Wi-Fi Configuration

  • Article

2/9/2009

Wi-Fi wirelessly connects a device to the Internet through access points that can be up to 30 meters away. Wireless access points may be provided by your service provider, your employer, coffee shops, airports, and other gathering places. Your device must wirelessly connect to these access points—or "hotspots"—before you can use your device to connect to the Internet.

The procedures in this article show you how to enable or disable Wi-Fi on your Windows Mobile device. It will also offer other optional configuration steps that may assist with your MDM 2008 SP1 wireless deployment, including the following:

  • Enabling or disabling Wi-Fi
  • Setting up a Wi-Fi connection
  • Editing a Wi-Fi connection
  • Deleting a Wi-Fi connection
  • Changing Wi-Fi settings
  • Adjusting Wi-Fi power mode settings

Important

With most devices, Wi-Fi is turned off when you first start your device. To minimize drain on the battery, Wi-Fi is turned off automatically every time that you turn off your device. You must turn it on when you want to use it.

To enable or disable Wi-Fi

  1. Choose Start, choose Settings, choose the Connections tab, and then choose Wireless Manager.

  2. Choose the Wi-Fi button. If it is turned off, the button will appear as a lighter color and display an icon marked with an "X".

  3. Choose Done.

To set up a Wi-Fi connection

  1. Choose Start, choose Settings, choose the Connections tab, and then choose Wireless Manager.

  2. Scroll to Wi-Fi and press ENTER. The device will detect available Wi-Fi networks.

  3. Select the network you want to connect to, and then choose OK.

  4. Select Internet or Work, and then choose Connect.

    Note

    If you select a secure network, you may have to enter a network key that is provided by the network administrator.

To edit a Wi-Fi connection

  1. Choose Start, choose Settings, choose the Connections tab, and then choose Wireless Manager.

  2. Choose Menu, and then choose Wi-Fi Settings.

  3. Scroll to the connection that you want to edit, choose Menu, and then choose Edit.

  4. Make changes as needed, and then choose Finish.

To delete a Wi-Fi connection

  1. Choose Start, choose Settings, choose the Connections tab, and then choose Wireless Manager.

  2. Choose Menu, and then choose Wi-Fi Settings.

  3. Scroll to the connection that you want to delete, choose Menu, and then choose Remove Settings.

To change Wi-Fi settings

  1. Choose Start, choose Settings, choose the Connections tab, and then choose Wireless Manager.

  2. Choose Menu, choose Wi-Fi Settings, and then choose the Wireless tab.

  3. Scroll to the connection that has the settings that you want to change, choose Menu, and then choose Edit.

  4. Change any of the following information:

    • In Network name, enter a name for the connection.
    • In Connects to, select The Internet or Work.
    • If the network is a hidden network, which means that it does not broadcast its Service Set Identifier (SSID), select This is a hidden network.
    • If you want to connect directly to another device or computer, and not to a network through an access point, select This is a device to device (ad-hoc) connection.

  5. Choose Next.

  6. On the Configure Network Authentication screen, do the following:

    • Select the authentication and data encryption methods.
    • Enter the network key information or select the The key is automatically provided check box.
      If it is necessary, ask the network administrator for authentication, encryption, and network key information.

  7. Choose Next.

  8. Select or clear the Use IEEE 802.1X network access control check box.

  9. To use Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) or smart card authentication, make the selections appropriate to your choice of authentication.

  10. Choose Finish.

To adjust Wi-Fi power mode settings

  1. Choose Start, choose Settings, tap the Connections tab, and then choose Wireless LAN.

  2. Choose the Power Mode tab.

  3. On the Best Performance-Best Battery scale, do one of the following:

    • To conserve more battery power, drag the slider toward the Best Battery setting. Dragging the slider toward the Best Battery setting reduces signal performance.
    • To improve signal performance, drag the slider toward the Best Performance setting. Dragging the slider toward the Best Performance setting consumes more power and shortens battery life.

    Note

    By default, the Wi-Fi power mode is set to the best compromise between battery conservation and signal performance. You can change this by conserving more battery power or improving signal performance.

  4. Choose OK.