Paul Thurrott - Windows 8 Secrets

Figure 13-10:Cellular data connections receive their own special area in the Networks pane.

To set up a cellular data connection in Windows 8, you use the same Networks pane that is used for wired and wireless (Wi-Fi) connections. This is accessed from Settings (Winkey + I), Network, or by clicking the Network icon in the Notification Area in the desktop environment. Either way, you’ll see a Mobile broadband area in the Networks pane, as shown in Figure 13-10, with an entry representing your cellular data connection.

When you select the cellular data connection, the Networks display expands to show additional options. As you can see in Figure 13-11, these include View my account, Connect automatically, and Roam automatically.

Figure 13-11:Options associated with a cellular data connection

We’ll look at these options in a moment. For now, the goal is to get this connection set up. So click Connect to continue.

After a bit of configuration, you’ll be connected to the wireless carrier’s custom Metro-style experience where you can create a (or connect to an existing) account, determine which data plan you would like to use, and so on. This experience will vary by wireless carrier, but in Figure 13-12, you can see an AT&T account portal for a pay-as-you-go data plan.

Meanwhile, back in the Networks pane, the cellular data connection will note that it’s connected. You will need to disconnect from that network to configure the two other options noted previously. These include the following:

• Connect automatically:If selected, your cellular data connection will attempt to connect anytime you are otherwise not connected to the Internet via a wired or Wi-Fi connection. Most users with 2 GB of more of monthly data allowance are probably safe with this option enabled, though you’ll want to monitor it and ensure that it’s configured as a metered connection; both of these options are discussed in the next section.

• Roam automatically:If selected, your cellular data connection will attempt to connect anytime you are otherwise not connected to the Internet, even if you’re outside of your own wireless carrier’s network. This is not recommended unless your carrier explicitly allows this and doesn’t charge extra for the privilege; such connections often come with additional charges. Check with your wireless carrier to be sure.

Figure 13-12:AT&T Wireless has adopted the Metro design style for its own Windows 8 connectivity experience.

As with a wireless (Wi-Fi) connection, you can right-click (or tap on and hold) a cellular data connection to view additional options. These include the following:

We’re not sure why this isn’t enabled by default for a cellular data connection, since it is such useful information. Our advice is to enable it and, especially on connections with a limited data allowance, keep an eye on usage.

• Show/Hide estimated data usage:This option is actually a toggle. When it’s enabled, you’ll see a data usage estimate whenever you select the connection.

• Set as metered/non-metered connection:This option is enabled by default for cellular data connections, meaning that Windows 8 correctly treats such networks as metered. A metered connection is one that is limited to a certain amount of bandwidth for a certain period of time, typically a month. Most wireless carriers offer tiers of service, with monthly allotments of 250 MB, 2 GB, 5 GB, and so on. So most users will want to ensure that their device isn’t sopping up the available bandwidth each month. And this is where Windows 8 provides some interesting functionality.

When you’re connected to the Internet with just a metered connection, Windows 8 changes its behavior to be less data hungry. For example, Windows Update will not automatically download updates in the background, even if you have Auto Updates enabled (as you should). There’s no exception to this: If Microsoft feels that a security update is particularly important, it will enable the downloading of that fix regardless of the connection type.

And just in case it’s not clear why this ability to configure a connection as metered is important, consider this example: In the writing of this book, your authors of course spent a lot of time testing things—a process that involves reinstalling Windows 8 again and again and reconfiguring the OS from scratch to ensure that the behaviors we see and describe aren’t colored by other user or application configurations. While doing that for this chapter, the process of updating the OS and the bundled Metro-style apps (through Windows Store) consumed an entire 250 MB monthly cellular allotment in about half an hour. The ability to configure a metered connection isn’t just useful, it’s necessary.

• Forget/Remember this network:Cellular data networks are configured to be remembered by default. If you’d like to forget the network for some reason, you can do so.

• View connection properties:Choosing this option displays an old-school desktop-type configuration window, as it does for wireless networks. However, there is one useful option in this window when used with a cellular data connection: You can enable a PIN for the PC or device’s SIM card to help protect against theft.

Comparing this list to that of a wireless network, you may have noticed that the Turn sharing on or off option is unavailable. This makes sense since a cellular data connection, by definition, cannot connect you to your local network. It is instead used to connect to the Internet directly and thus will always be public.

Like a smartphone, Windows 8 actually supports a useful Airplane Mode toggle that instantly disables all of the wireless (Wi-Fi and cellular data) connections in your PC or device without requiring you to fumble with multiple interfaces, as you did in previous Windows versions.

You access Airplane Mode from two different locations. The easiest is the Networks pane (Winkey + I, Network). As you can see in Figure 13-13, it’s the toggle right at the top of the pane. So if you’re on an airplane, literally, or wish to otherwise disengage the various antennas in the device to preserve battery life, this is your go-to toggle.

Figure 13-13:Airplane mode is available from Networks.

You can also access Airplane Mode from PC Settings under the Wireless entry. As shown in Figure 13-14, this interface lets you toggle Airplane Mode as you would from the Networks pane, but you can also individually toggle the availability of specific wireless (Wi-Fi plus cellular data) connections.

This is dramatically simpler than with previous Windows versions. Before, you had to find the Network Connections explorer and then manually disable each device individually.

Figure 13-14:From PC Settings, you can enable Airplane Mode or configure individual wireless connections.