Automatically picking network settings based on the wifi network

Question

Whenever I bring my laptop to office, to connect to the wireless network, I have to set the static IP address assigned to the laptop manually, and when I take it home, I have to change it to DHCP. Is there a way to associate a particular setting with a particular wifi network?

Answer 1

Windows allows you to setup an "Alternate Configuration" in the IP settings. The default behavior is to look for DHCP, however if DHCP is not available, Wiindows will default to the alternate configuration. To set this up (for XP should be similar for Vista & 7):

1. Edit your IP settings and select "Obtain an IP address automatically"
2. Select the "Alternate Configuration" tab at the top
3. Setup your static IP information in the alternate configuration

The one thing to remember is that when you are at the office with a static IP, it may take a few seconds after connecting to network since it has to wait for DHCP to time out.