So I was just going through my Device Manager and came across my wireless adapter. I clicked on Advanced and it has a bunch of options. I don't know what they all do, and was wondering what settings they should be on. I've googled these for awhile now without much success.



Adhoc support has the options enable and disable (currently disable)

Country Region (2.4GHz) has #0 (1 - 11), #1 (1 - 13), #2 (10 - 11), #3 (10 - 13), #4 (14), #5 (1 - 14), #6 (3 - 9), #7 (5 - 13) (currently #0 (1 - 11))

Country Region (5GHz) has a shitton of options, default is #9 (36 - 116, 132 - 165)

IEEE802.1h has enable and disable (currently disable)

Multimedia/gaming environment has enable and disable (currently disable)

Power saving mode has CAM and Max_PSP (currently Max_PSP)

Radio On/Off has enable and disable (currently enable)

Also how do I check if I have an internal bluetooth adapter? Drivers seem to be preinstalled, but I don't know and am sorta confused.

Thanks for the help!

- Adhoc: That's like a network of wireless connections. Each computer talks to the other(s) directly.
The more common mode is via access point (AP). All computers communicate with that AP which routes the connections. Like a control center.

- Country Region: Not sure, but I'd assume that's which channels the adapter may use on the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands. Channels usable by public are determined by the respective governments.

- IEEE802.1h is only recommended if your wireless adapter works in bridging mode. (Connects 2 networks, which is most certainly not the case ==> leave it off)

- This mode tries to reserve bandwidth for applications demanding QoS (= quality of service). Usually used to stream videos or telephone fluently. This however limits bandwidth for other uses (e.g. surfing, email checking, etc.)

- CAM (Continuously Aware Mode) = Always on ==> full strain on battery life. Recommended for Desktops since they don't depend on battery power.
PSP (Power Save Polling) is a mode which requires coordination with your AP. Basically this puts your adapter into suspend for fractions of a seconds and is only woken up to receive/answer a poll. If there's no events it goes back to sleep.

- Radio: Turn On/Off your antenna. Effectively disables WLAN if Off.

I've also seem CAM described as Constantly Awake Mode.

Country region probably only applies to when it is running in access point mode. On your wireless router or access point, it may be illegal to use channels not designated as being available in your region, if the device allows it. I don't know anything about 5 GHz, but for 2.4 GHz in the USA, only channels 1 - 11 are allowed, IIRC. Also, modes that use more than one channel at once in the 2.4 GHz band for 802.11g are not allowed either (there are non-standard modes for higher speeds that are different for each maker of wireless chipsets). I think 802.11n can also use two channels at once in certain modes of operation, but there might not be any restrictions on it.

Post has been edited 4 time(s), last time on Jan 16 2010, 7:32 am by ShadowFlare.