Owner's Manual

24 Dell ControlPoint Connection Manager
Location Profiles, Network Connections, and
Network-Related Settings
Location Profiles
Location Profiles is a useful feature for automating your network connections
and network-related settings when roaming between physical locations where
your Dell laptop is frequently used. Common Location Profiles might include
Work, Home, and Travel. For example, you may use your Dell notebook in
multiple locations at work and use your laptop at home. Each location utilizes
different networks and network types, printers, shared folders, etc. DCP
Connection Manager allows you to define a Location Profile for each of these
locations that combines applicable network connections and network-related
settings, and applies them automatically when you either manually select the
Location Profile or when Location Profiles automatically activate.
Below is the sequence of how the DCP Connection Manager works with
Location Profiles and Network Connections.
1
When you power on your Dell laptop, DCP Connection Manager searches
for available networks to connect to according to the order of Network Types
and Network Connections defined from the
Profiles
screen.
2
When the first Network Type is located (Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Dial-up, etc.), DCP
Connection Manager determines if the Network Type and its Network
Connections are associated with any Location Profiles.
If DCP Connection Manager determines that a
network connection
is
associated with one Location Profile, a connection is made automatically
and the Location Profile's Network-related settings are applied.
If the Location Profile has several associated Network Types, DCP
Connection Manager identifies the highest-ranking, available
network
connection
to start. If during a networking session a connection link
fails, the Connection Manager can re-establish a link with the next
highest available
network connection
.
If DCP Connection Manager determines that a
network connection
is
associated with more than one Location Profile, a pop-up box appears
informing the user to manually decide which Location Profile to apply.
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