How to Add a Preferred Airport Network

With an Apple Airport wireless card, Mac users can connect to any visible wireless network. But it if you regularly connect to the same Wi-Fi network, it is wise to add it to your list of preferred Airport networks. That way, your computer will automatically connect to your favorite networks before searching for other ones, which gets you to the Internet faster. This article explains how to add and organize preferred wireless networks with Apple Airport.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Mac running OS X 10.5 or later
• Airport wireless card

1. Enable your Airport wireless card by going to the Airport icon in the top menu bar and selecting "Turn Airport On."

2. Open System Preferences by clicking on the icon in the dock.

3. Choose the "Network" control panel underneath the "Internet and Network" category.

4. Select "Airport" from the list of available network connections on the left side of the control panel window. Then click "Advanced" in the lower-right corner of the window.

5. Choose the "Airport" tab at the top of the pop-up window.

6. Click the plus sign under the "Preferred Networks" list and then enter the name, security type and password of the wireless network you want to save. Hit "Add" to save this network to the list.

7. Drag individual network names in the "Preferred Networks" list to rearrange the connection order. Airport will attempt to connect to all of the networks in your list, starting from the top.