Windows 8.1: The Missing Manual

Connection Management

No matter what crazy combination of Internet connections you’ve accumulated on your computer, Windows represents each one as a connection icon. You can view them, rename them, change their settings, or just admire them by opening the window shown at top in Figure 13-2.

To get there, open the Network Connections window. Here’s the quickest way to go about it: Open the Start screen. Type view net and then select Settings. You see “View network connections” in the results; select it.

These icons are handy because their Properties boxes are crammed with useful information. A dial-up connection icon stores your name, password, phone number, and so on; a broadband or wireless icon stores various technical Internet connection details.

In these and other situations, you need a way to make manual changes to your connections. Here, for example, is how you might change the Internet settings for a cable modem, DSL, or wireless connection:

1. Double-click a connection icon.

   You get the dialog box shown in Figure 13-2, lower left.

2. Click Properties.

   Authenticate yourself, if necessary.

3. Double-click the listing that says Internet Protocol Version 4.

   An even more intimidating dialog box now appears (Figure 13-2, lower right).

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