Configure Wake on Wireless LAN (WoWLAN)
Note
This content applies to Windows 7. For Windows 8 content, see Windows Deployment with the Windows ADK.
In Windows® 7, to enable support for Wake on Wireless LAN (WoWLAN) Group Temporal Key (GTK) Rekey, and Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) power-management scenarios, you must modify a registry key. GTK is used to encrypt and decrypt network traffic. EAP is an authentication framework that can be used over wired and wireless networks.
GTK Rekey and EAP wakeup are disabled by default, because not all devices support these options. A computer that is currently sleeping will not wake up on GTK or EAP actions, even if the network adapter supports them.
Warning
Support for Wake on Wireless LAN in Windows 7 drivers is optional and some drivers might not support this functionality. If you follow the process and the option to enable this is still grayed out, then your driver does not support this functionality. Follow up with your hardware manufacturer for support information.
To enable WoWLAN support for GTK and EAP scenarios
To enable WoWLAN support for GTK and EAP scenarios, create or modify the following registry key:
Key Name: EnableWoWLAN
Type: DWORD
Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NativeWifiP\Parameters
Value: 1
In addition to modifying this registry key, you must also configure the network device in the Device Manager.
Open Device Manager.
Right-click the network card you want to configure and select Device Properties.
In the Power Management tab, select the Allow this device to wake up the computer check box.
After configuring this registry key, the computer will respond to requests on GTK rekeying and to an EAP request-identity packet.