The Cable Guy - June 2004

The New Wireless Network Setup Wizard in Windows XP Service Pack 2

By The Cable Guy

On This Page

	Introduction
	Using the Wireless Network Setup Wizard to Configure a Wireless Network
	XML Files Stored on the UFD
	For More Information

Introduction

Wireless LAN technologies such as IEEE 802.11a/b/g have become a popular networking alternative to connect multiple computers in a home or small business. Although wireless networks introduce location flexibility, they also introduce security issues that do not exist with conventional wire-based networking technologies such as Ethernet. These security issues include the following:

For a home or small office, there are two recommended choices for authentication and encryption:

You should use open system/WEP only if all of your network devices do not support WPA. Microsoft strongly recommends using WPA-capable wireless devices and WPA-PSK/TKIP. For more information about WPA and TKIP, see Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) Overview, the March 2003 Cable Guy article. WPA support, previously only available as a free download for computers running Windows XP with Service Pack 1 (SP1), is included in Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2).

Because there is typically no central authentication server in the home or small office, someone in the home or small office must do one of the following:

In either case, wireless network setup can be complicated for the novice user because each wireless device has a different method of configuring authentication and encryption settings. For example, a wireless access point (AP) might use a wizard or a set of Web browser pages to configure a specific authentication method, encryption method, and the WEP key or WPA-PSK. For computers running Windows XP with SP2 or Windows XP with SP1, you configure authentication, encryption, and either a WEP key or WPA-PSK on the Wireless network properties dialog box for a specific wireless network, available from Wireless Networks tab for the properties of the wireless LAN adapter in the Network Connections folder.

To make the configuration of a WEP key or WPA-PSK much easier, Windows XP with SP2 supports Windows Connect Now (formerly known as Windows Smart Network Key [WSNK]), a new feature of wireless devices that automates wireless network configuration. Windows XP with SP2 supports Windows Connect Now through updates to the wireless client software and a new Wireless Network Setup Wizard.

The Wireless Network Setup Wizard steps you through the configuration of wireless network settings—a wireless network name, the authentication and encryption method, and a strong WEP key or WPA-PSK—and then writes that configuration as a set of Extensible Markup Language (XML) files on a Universal Serial Bus (USB) flash drive (UFD). You then plug the UFD into other wireless devices in the home or small office that support Windows Connect Now. All of the wireless devices that support Windows Connect Now automatically read the settings from the XML files stored on the UFD and configure themselves with the same settings as the computer on which the Wireless Network Setup Wizard was initially run.

This new feature of Windows XP SP2 and other wireless devices, which have a USB port and support Windows Connect Now, greatly simplifies the configuration of strong security for wireless networks in the home or small office.

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Using the Wireless Network Setup Wizard to Configure a Wireless Network

To run the new Wireless Network Setup Wizard on a computer running Windows XP with SP2, you can do one of the following:

When you run the Wireless Network Setup Wizard, it displays the Welcome to Wireless Network Setup Wizard page, as shown in the following figure.

Click Next. You should see the Create a name for your wireless network page, as shown in the following figure.

On this page, you specify the name of your wireless network (also known as the Service Set Identifier [SSID]), whether or not to have the Wireless Network Setup Wizard automatically create a strong network key, and whether or not to use WPA.

If you want the Wireless Network Setup Wizard to create a strong network key and you clear the Use WPA encryption checkbox, the Wireless Network Setup Wizard creates a strong WEP key. If you want the Wireless Network Setup Wizard to create a strong network key and you select the Use WPA encryption checkbox, the Wireless Network Setup Wizard creates a strong WPA-PSK. Click Next.

Assuming that you want the Wireless Network Setup Wizard to automatically assign a network key, the Wireless Network Setup Wizard displays the How do you want to set up your network? page, as shown in the following figure.

If you select Use a USB flash drive, the Wireless Network Setup Wizard prompts you to insert your UFD so that it can create the XML files for the wireless network configuration, which includes the wireless network name, authentication and encryption methods, and the WEP key or WPA-PSK. If you select Set up a network manually, the Wireless Network Setup Wizard prompts you to print the wireless network settings so that you can take the printed wireless network configuration to each wireless device for manual configuration. Click Next.

Assuming that you want to use a UFD, the Wireless Network Setup Wizard displays the Save settings to your flash drive page, as shown in the following figure.

When you plug your UFD into a USB port of the computer, the Wireless Network Setup Wizard automatically displays the drive letter assigned to the UFD in Flash drive. Click Next.

The Wireless Network Setup Wizard writes the wireless network settings as XML files on the UFD and then displays the Transfer your network settings to your other computers or devices page, as shown in the following figure.

Remove the UFD from the computer and plug it into every other wireless device that supports Windows Connect Now, such as wireless APs and network printers, and other wireless computers running Windows XP with SP2. When you plug the UFD into a Windows Connect Now-capable wireless device, it flashes its status light three times to indicate that it has configured itself with the wireless network settings stored on the UFD. When you plug the UFD into a computer running Windows XP with SP2, the Wireless Network Setup Wizard runs and asks you if you want to join the wireless network. If you accept, the Wireless Network Setup Wizard creates a wireless profile and connects the computer to the home network. As a rule of thumb, you should configure your wireless AP first, then the other computers running Windows XP with SP2 and other wireless devices.

When you are done configuring your other computers and wireless devices with the UFD, plug it back into the computer on which the Wireless Network Setup Wizard was initially run, and then click Next on the Transfer your network settings to your other computers or devices page.

The Wireless Network Setup Wizard displays the The wizard completed successfully page, as shown in the following figure.

Under You have successfully set up the following devices, the Wireless Network Setup Wizard lists the wireless computers and devices that have been configured by the Wireless Network Setup Wizard and the UFD. If you have devices that do not support Windows Connect Now, such as your wireless router, print the wireless network settings as configured by the wizard by clicking Print Network Settings. Use the settings on this printed page to manually configure the wireless devices on your network that do not support Windows Connect Now.

To remove the wireless network settings including the WEP key or WPA-PSK from the UFD, select the For security reasons, remove network settings from my flash drive checkbox. If you want to use the UFD to configure additional wireless computers or devices a later time, clear this checkbox. Click Finish.

This example of the Wireless Network Setup Wizard was used to perform an initial configuration of a wireless network with an automatically assigned WEP key or WPA-PSK. You can also use the Wireless Network Setup Wizard to do the following:

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XML Files Stored on the UFD

Whenever you run the Wireless Network Setup Wizard to create new wireless network settings and click Next on the Save settings to your flash drive page, it writes the following files to the UFD:

As the UFD is plugged into computers and wireless devices, each computer running Windows XP with SP2 and each Windows Connect Now-capable wireless device writes its own device configuration file to the \Smrtntky\Device folder on the UFD. When you click Next on the Transfer your network settings to your other computers or devices page, the Wireless Network Setup Wizard reads the device configuration files from the \Smrtntky\Device for the current wireless network setup and displays the configured wireless devices in the You have successfully set up the following devices list on the The wizard completed successfully page.

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For More Information

For more information about Windows XP Service Pack 2, consult the following resources:

For any feedback regarding the content of this column, please write to Microsoft TechNet. Please be aware that this is not a support alias and a response is not guaranteed.

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