Wireless networking is more secure, with enhanced support for the latest wireless security protocols which includes Wi-Fi Protected Access 2, or WPA2. It is good that Microsoft is using the latest wireless network encrpytion standards. Instead of showing multiple pop-up notifications, Windows Vista shows a system tray on the lower right side of the screen with a single icon indicating when a wireless network is available. Now creating direct PC-to-PC wireless connections to enable sharing and peer-to-peer programs is easier than before; this even includes when you're not connected to the Internet.
Wireless networking at home
You can create ad-hoc (PC-to-PC) wireless networks using a simple wizard. When the wizard presents a list of available networks, Windows Vista clearly marks any wireless networks that are not secure.
The Network and Sharing Center in Windows Vista puts you in control of your network. It can check your connection status, show you a visual representation of your network, and troubleshoot any connection problems.
In addition, Windows Vista examines the capabilities of your computer's wireless interface card and chooses the highest security available for that card when connecting to a wireless network.
Windows Vista now actively probes for fewer networks than earlier versions of Windows—and it probes only when you tell it to. In addition, your PC will automatically connect only to networks that you've explicitly requested or identified as preferred networks, and it warns you if you're about to connect to an unsecured network. This is great. In previous Windows XP, the OS connected to the wireless access point with the strongest signal. There are times when this is not appropriate.
Wireless networking on mobile PCs
Windows Mobility Center puts the most frequently used mobile PC settings, including those for wireless networking, in a single location: Windows Mobility Center. No more hunting through the Control Panel or icons in the notification area to find what you need. All of the important mobile settings are right in the Windows Mobility Center.
The Connect to a Network Projector Wizard helps you connect to any Windows-compatible network projector over a wireless or wired network. A network projector is a shared resource that you can access from your mobile PC—much like a printer on a network. When the wizard displays available projectors, an icon appears next to each projector to indicate whether it's secure or unsecure. The wizard will automatically optimize your presentation settings for network performance.
You can also use this feature in Windows Meeting Space, which enables you to stream content to a projector and to a Windows Meeting Space session simultaneously.
Wireless networking for business and enterprise
Wireless networks are increasingly common in the network infrastructures of many companies and organizations. Beyond the office, roaming users frequently find themselves trying to connect to the Internet or to the corporate network via wireless networks at hotels, coffee shops, conference centers, and airports. It's imperative that IT staff or other decision-makers choose security tools that help protect data without imposing undue strain on users and administrators.
Windows Vista Ultimate includes a native wireless networking architecture called Native WiFi as part of its core networking stack. Among other things, the architecture fosters flexible PC deployment across many brands and models, consistent user experiences regardless of user hardware, and more reliable drivers for third-party wireless network interface cards (NICs). When you create a wireless network, Windows Vista defaults to the most secure options supported by an NIC.
An issue common to wireless networking is the difficulty of managing configuration options on multiple PCs. Organizations must maintain a consistent configuration across various desktop environments to help ensure greater supportability, lower administrative costs, and increased user productivity.
Wireless networking improvements in Windows Vista include:
* Better methods for discovering, creating, and connecting to wireless networks through the Network and Sharing Center.
* Wireless Single Sign-On to help ensure that a wireless network is available before the user authenticates to an Active Directory domain.
* Support for the latest security protocols from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards body, including Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2).
* Mitigation of common attacks on wireless networks.
* Heightened manageability through Group Policy objects (GPOs) for wireless networking and command lines for configuration and troubleshooting.
* New diagnostic tools to aid in troubleshooting and repair of wireless connectivity problems.
In Windows Vista, wireless networks are logically equivalent to their wired-network counterparts and can be managed in much the same way. New Group Policy settings enable administrators to configure policies for wireless PC behavior. In addition, the command-line interface in Windows Vista enables full management of wireless networks from a command prompt.
Using the Group Policy snap-in for the Microsoft Management Console (MMC), administrators can define how wireless clients connect to and operate on wireless networks. For example, a company can define a policy that limits all wireless connections to a certain protocol, a certain wireless network, or only secured networks. Group Policy can prevent users from changing these settings.
Windows Vista includes an enhanced network command-line interface called Netsh (rip off of original SH?) that enables automation and scripting and helps troubleshoot wireless network connections. Using this command-line interface, administrators can verify, change, or remove a PC's wireless network configuration profiles. These profiles can be exported to or imported from other computers to expedite the provisioning of multiple computers.
There are UI inconsistencies and confusion. When you're connected via wired connection and a wireless connection is also available, Windows still nags you that wireless connections are available. In fact, most of the time when you have both wired and wireless connections, the wireless connection still takes precedence. Let's face it, the opposite should be true. Wired connections are almost always faster, safer and more reliable. The way Windows XP works now is just wrong. And it appears that, from Vista Beta 2 at least, Vista doesn't address this issue.
Since the advent of Windows XP Service Pack 2, XP's wireless networking features improved dramatically. But one thing has always been problematic. When you use several access points all with the same SSID name, but running on different channels (to prevent signal cancellation or hunting), Windows' wireless networking management tools don't let you see or manipulate which channel you're connected to. While the problem only manifests in certain settings, it's still a problem. Microsoft's wireless networking control software is the only software I've ever tested that lacks this feature.
Finally, while there's lots of help for wireless connections, why have wired connections been ignored? You can't name and save wired connections with specific configurations. This is a feature provided often inelegantly by many OEM hardware makers with PCs or networking hardware. It's time that Microsoft provided basic functionality in this area. Vista doesn't.
tags: Windows Vista, Wireless Network, WPA2, Adhoc Network, software
