Thursday 12 April 2012

For Wi-Fi Only Devices: StarTech USB2 to Gigabit Ethernet Network Adapter

We have been in a situation where certain devices that have built-in Wi-Fi but no physical Ethernet connection would not initialize the Wi-Fi for changes to be made after the use has either locked the device in Windows or logged out.

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On Windows 8 one needs to head into the Device Manager and run the driver update via Windows Update to get it installed. So, one of the first things we do when the OS gets laid down is to install the StarTech.

On Windows 7 the adapter also installs via Windows Update:

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The product Web site also has a driver download on it for those situations where a Wi-Fi connection cannot be made.

In the end it is a good idea to have one of these around just in case a new profile needs to be set up on a device and something inhibits the Wi-Fi from initializing.

NOTE: The Intel Wi-Fi management software and driver setup _does_ inhibit Wi-Fi connections when no one is logged into the device. Keep this in mind if there is a need to set up profiles on a Wi-Fi only system.

The built-in Windows Wi-Fi driver configuration does not inhibit a Wi-Fi connection but it does not hurt to be prepared.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

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