Automatic Switch in Access Connections

[ivan]

Something wierd with Access Connections is happening.

I commute between home and work with my laptop. At home I have an encrypted wireless connection of my own. At work I use another unencrypted wireless connection. Thus I have two location profiles set up.

They both work. The problem is that recently Access Connection refuses to attempt automatic swtiching between them. It doesn't even try to connect to my work one (listed 2nd) after arriving at work from home and having connected at work. I have to manually instruct it to connect to my work locatioin profile, then it does connect fine.

The wierd thing: 1. automatic switching used to work properly and I haven't fiddled with any options. 2. I checked and do have the option of "swith location profiles automatically" selected in the options (and both profiles selected on the list)

My guess is one of the updates I performed screwed this one up.

Anyone had this problem? Any ideas? I appreciate any wisdom on this!

[hkhalil]

Hi Ivan,

I'm not sure that this will fix things for you, but similar things happened to me when I decided to switch off my router's SSID Broadcast.

Sometimes it would switch OK and other times it wouldn't, when I broadcast the SSID again it was all fine.

I can't think of anything else I'm afraid - Lots of luck

hkhalil

[ivan]

thank hkhalil. i guess im not the only one with this problem.

however, it used to work for me before, and I never broadcasted my SSID (since I installed wireless at home I chose not to). so this can't be it.

[WilsonF]

Make sure that in both location (home and work) on the wireless connections tab you have "connection type" set to "automatic." I have found that if I use A at home and G at work, I have to have them both set to automatic or else the Access Connections looks only on the band (A or G or B) to which it was connected when I went into standby or hibernate at one location to go to the other location.

[ivan]

thanks.

they are both set to 'auto'.

-Ivan

[furball4]

I have the same problem. AC doesn't appear to even try to make automatic connections.... except when it does.

I mostly notice this when I have been at work all day, then power my laptop back up after getting home. AC just sits there with the work profile selected. Yet in the morning, after having been connected at home all night, I turn off the machine, take it to work, turn it on, and it automatically connects using the work profile. Automatic Location Switching is on and the home profile is above work in priority. Even the language is odd there, though... it says:

Choose which location profiles to automatically attempt when restoring a lost connection. Profiles will be applied sequentially in decreasing order of priority.

So does it only try this when restoring a lost connection? What about anytime that you a) aren't connected and b) haven't explicitely broken a connection, such as when you first start up the computer? Or when you've just turned on the wireless card? Or when you've just come within range of a new AP?

And why are they applied sequentially? Can't it see what SSID's are available? (Answer: yes, yes it can) And if this is for when a connection was just lost, why would it not try to reconnect to the connection that was just dropped first?

The Windows XP connection tool has, for me, been much faster and much more automatic -- I hardly ever think about wireless when running the Windows tool. I keep trying AC because I like the location settings so much... printers, etc.

[hishamh]

Count me in as well - same problem.

I've also noticed something else. I use an ad-hoc connection occasionally, and after disconnecting from that and attempting to connect to any other AP the IP address stays on the ad-hoc IP (169.xxx.xxx.xxx) rather than going for DHCP (for home 192.168.xxx.xxx) with the result that I can't access the network.

I have to disconnect and reconnect at least once to get the correct IP applied.

[krcmd]

Is there a way to specify which profile is launched at boot?

Thanks
Ken Cohen