Limitation of Access Connections' automatic location switching

Hi there,
The automatic location switching feature in Access Connections on my Lenovo T61p seemed a great idea as it allowed me to automatically switch from wired to wireless connectivity as my laptop got taken in and out of its docking station.
However I have now turned it off for Ethernet (wired) connections because it disconnects me from the internet whenever I plug in my phone to sync it with my laptop. Apparently the phone sets up a LAN connection over USB which triggers an unwanted location switch.
This means I must now manually turn on and off wireless connectivity as I take my laptop in and out of its docking station which is inconvenient.
If Ethernet location switching could be set up to ignore (i.e. not switch to) a particular MAC address without blocking its connectivity my problem would be solved.
BR,
Mark

I found from another bulletin board that ethernet location switching seemed to work OK with Access Connections 3.82, but stopped working with releases after that, and from my experience still does not work with 5.97
http://www.thinkpads.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=38514
Two questions:
1. Does anyone know if Access Connections 3.82 works with Windows 7?
2. If so, where could I get a copy? The oldest version on the Lenovo website appears to be 5.50
I will refrain from commenting on the necessity of going back to such an old version to recover basic functionality for this utility......

Similar Messages

Access Connections Ethernet Location Switching only saves one port at a time

Like many other people, I cannot get automatic location switching between two Ethernet networks to work properly.
I have two stored network locations; one for home and one for work. Both of these are set up as Best Available Network with both Ethernet and Wireless.
Under Tools - Location Switching, both networks are listed, and "Include Ethernet connections in automatic switching and prompt me to save Ethernet ports" is checked. However, in the details column, the current location has 1 saved port(s), and the other has 0 saved ports. The saved port is always the one most recently connected.
If I go to Edit Saved Ports, only one location is listed, with the correct IP address and MAC address for the router. If I connect at the other location, only that location is listed, again with the correct IP address and MAC address.
The router IP addresses are different (work is 192.168.0.1, and home is 192.168.1.254), and obviously the MAC addresses are different, so it should be possible for Access Connections to distinguish them. Unfortunately the only "editing" that is possible is to delete the saved port. I would be happy to add a saved port manually, but that is not an option. In addtion, despite the "...prompt me to save Ethernet ports" being checked, I have never received a prompt. Even if I delete the saved port, it resaves automatically next time without any prompt.
I have also tried setting up both locations as Ethernet only, but have exactly the same problem.
My T520 was supplied with Access Connections 5.85 preinstalled. I tried upgrading to 5.97 in the hope that it had been fixed in the meantime. Unfortunately it has not.
Access Connections is still marginally useful to me for automatic switching between Wireless and Ethernet, and for a simple manual switch of settings such as default printer, home page, and file sharing. However, it would be very useful for the home and work locations to be autodetected and switched.
From the number of unresolved questions on this board on the same topic, it appears that this is a long standing deficiency with Access Connections. Is there any chance of this being fixed?

I found from another bulletin board that ethernet location switching seemed to work OK with Access Connections 3.82, but stopped working with releases after that, and from my experience still does not work with 5.97
http://www.thinkpads.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=38514
Two questions:
1. Does anyone know if Access Connections 3.82 works with Windows 7?
2. If so, where could I get a copy? The oldest version on the Lenovo website appears to be 5.50
I will refrain from commenting on the necessity of going back to such an old version to recover basic functionality for this utility......

Lenovo TVAC Automatic Location Switching

Hello All,
I am in the process of creating a global image for our company and we are completely lenovo migrated.
We install TVAC 5.31 as a software in the image deployment process and used the Profile manager to export and import profiles. But the Automatic Location Switching Priority for profiles seems to be not constant or not as it when we exported the profile. the image is already deployed in more than 500 machines now and we want the priority order of the profiles to be as we designed...
I tried Changing the priority from registry "HKLM\SOFTWARE\LENOVO\Access Connections\Roaming\WLPriorityList" but nothing works...the moment I click location switching, the settings are revised..
Is there any way I can change these priority of profiles from registry or any scripts?
Thanks for your help in advance !!!
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Hi,
I have just now tested the change of the list in Location switching and it's working like a charm.
There is one situation, where the changes, that I made to the location switching were not saved and that was, when during I changed the registry was AC GUI started.
Here is what I have done:
- Closed AC GUI
- started registry
- go to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Lenovo\Access Connections\Roaming\WLPriorityList]
- changed the dword:000000xx entries, as I want to have it
- close the registry <just to be sure I press F5 >
- start AC and the Location Switching list is configured as I have changed it in the registry.
I have tested this situation also using a .reg file where I have used the same procedure as above and it worked too.
Maybe this might help.
Let me know, wheter this make any change to your situation.
If possible, post here your steps, that you performed with the registry
Rgrds
Message Edited by Herik on 07-21-2009 01:24 PM

Access Connections Failure to roam/switch

I am running a T43-2668-84M.
Recently I ordered a complete set of original recovery CD set from IBM and re-built the entire system.
I also ensured that I had been to the Lenovo support site, downloaded all the latest updates as well as the "latest" Access Connections software (which I noticed has changed considerably from the old IBM Connections software).
Anyhow, whereas before I would be able to hybernate my T43 at the office, drive home, power up the T43 and it would automatically find my home wi-fi and connect, this is no longer the case.
It seems that "Access Connections" is not capable of auto-switching ie roaming. I have checked all settings including the obvious "enable automatic location switching".
Has anybody experienced this and found any answers ?
Appreciate your comments. Many thanks in advance.

I have a post on this forum for the exact thing. I thinkt it may be the newest version of access connections. It's very frustrating that I have to manually select where I am.
Thinkpad T400 6474-R2U
Windows 7 Ultimate x64

Switching from custom DNS suffix at work to no suffix at home with Access Connections

I have 2 profiles defined in Access Connections: (1) Home, (2) Work.
At work, I need to have custom DNS suffixes defined to help find certain servers, e.g., development.int and marketing.int. Notice that the TLD is "int", meaning it only resolves using our company's internal DNS servers. In the Work profile, I selected the Override TCP/IP settings option and entered the suffixes in the Advanced DNS Settings dialog.
However, at home, I do not have a need for these work related private DNS suffixes, and I don't want the system to try to append these 2 suffixes to the search order. I tried the following Advanced DNS Settings: (1) Use current advanced DNS settings, (2) Use the following advanced DNS settings / Append primary and connection specific DNS suffixes.
When I come home from work, Access Connections automatically connects to the Home profile, detecting my Home WiFi network's SSID.
However, when I try to login to a server at home, e.g., media_server, using PuTTY, the system tries to connect to media_server.development.int instead of *just* media_server. I, then, need to go to the TCP/IP settings manually and remove the DNS suffixes.
How would I configure Access Connections so that when I come home from work, it doesn't keep appending the work related custom DNS suffxes?

Could not find what you mentioned above.
I can go to "Additional Settings" tab, click "Settings" next to Override TCP/IP and DNS settings, click "Add Advanced DNS Settings".
At this point, I have 2 choices: (1) Use current settings, and (2) Use the following advanced DNS settings.
(1) would not work, since "current" would refer to my Work setup that *already* has the DNS suffixes entered in the search order. If I choose, (2) and just leave it at "Append primary and connection specific DNS suffixes", this DOES NOT remove the existing list of suffixes from the TCP/IP stack configuration.
Other than going into the Windows network adapter configuration UI for TCP/IPv4 and removing the sufixes manually, there is NO other solution at this point in time.
The other solution that you propose of using a script doesn't work in an automated way, as in using it in the "Start an application automatically" setting, since these types of operations require Admin privileges, and I get an "Access denied" error back at the console session that runs my script (pasted below for reference):
noDNSSuffix.cmd
===============
cscript "c:\Users\JohnDoe\Documents\Scripts\noDNSsuffix.vbs"
noDNSSuffix.vbs
===============
strComputer = "."
Set objNicConfig = GetObject("winmgmts:" & "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2").Get("Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration")
intSetSuffixes = objNicConfig.SetDNSSuffixSearchOrder([""])
WScript.Echo VbCrLf & "intSetSuffixes: " & intSetSuffixes
It'd be nice if I could ask Access Connections to explicitly REMOVE any DNS suffixes defined. In doing this, it would need Admin privileges, so you may need to use something else in the ThinkVantage toolset (UACSdk.exe ?) to give it the Admin privileges WITHOUT prompting the user to click the "Yes" button.

Simultaneous multiple networks under access connections?

I have two networks at home, one of which uses an ADSL internet connection the 2nd of which serves Network attached storage devices. Each network has a router. I want to use the wireless connection to connect to one network, and the ethernet con, for the other. I've looked through the settings carefully in the Access connections application. I've set profiles for the wired and wireless network adapters. I've unselected the tab to "disconnect from the connection when switching to a different network" but I cannot be connected wirelessly and wired simulatneously. If the wifi adapter is running, I'm working on network #1 with the internet connection I use, and if i pop the ethernet cable in from the second network, instead of having access to my Network attached storage devices, and retaining the wireless connection it seems to disconnect from the wireless connection and just retrieve an IP from the router network #2. I thought about setting up static IP's but that shouldnt be necessary. The adapters should work independently of one another. So whats the deal here? I cant move the NAS's from one network to the other, but I shouldn't need to either.

Take a look to the option "Switching location".
Open AC -> Configure -> Switching location.
Try this: Disable the automatic location switching option.
Regards.

Access connections problem

I am trying to use Access Connections to automatically switch my location profiles, i have 2 problems though:
1. every time I plug in my computer to the lan, first I receive an IP properly, then access connections seems to be siwtching profiles and the result is a 169.254 IP and therefore no connectivity, so access connection shortly thereafter switches on wifi and connects with that.
I have tried removing the profile and creating it again (while connected on the ethernet and also disconnected) but no use, same happens.
2. my company pushes a wlan profile which access connections realizes nicely and offers me to use that in the profile and takes me to the wireless settings page. on this page everything is grayed out (wlan settings come from a policy, so nothing to override) and clicking next just says: "enter wireless settings" which I cannot do as everything is grayed out...
Any ideas how can I fix thexe two problems?
thanks

Thanks for your reply!
If AC needs to manipulate the profile, I understand your reasoning, I can accept it.
The thing I don't get then is the following prompt:
"New profile(s) deployed by active directory have been found. Do you want to select a profile and apply it to this location profile?"
If it's deployed by ad - and therefore not supported by AC - then why can I "apply" it if I won't be able to get past the next screen? This is somewhat misleading - not nice UX .
Q1. Is there any other use for this prompt?
Q2. If the ad deployed WZC profile was set to no authentication - so that there's no need to "enter wireless settings", I would succeed, I guess?
My understanding was so far that AC doesn't manipulate directly (can create profiles though) the way Windows connects to the Wireless networks it just notices changes in connectivity and applies necessary settings (proxy, printers, etc. - which are not part of the domain policy WZC settings).
Q3. Am I getting this wrong?
If AC doesn't support domain policy WZC profiles at the moment, what is the process of suggesting features for a later version?
Thanks for your time,
Andras

Access Connection 5.5: Max Number of Saved Ports? 3?

Hi,
It appears that Access Connections can only save 3 ethernet ports? Is this by design or is this a bug? If by design, why such a low number? If a bug, please fix this ASAP.
Cheers,
RocketDude
RocketDude
T400s 2801-CTO

LANOgre,
Thank you.
While you're at it, will you also please ask for clarification why you can only set priority for the first 4 locations under "automatic location switching"? Locations greater than 4 do not have a priority number, and you can not increase / decrease their priority.
Cheers,
RocketDude
RocketDude
T400s 2801-CTO

Lenovo Access Connections Program Dead

Hi, and thanks in advance for any suggestions.
I'm running Vista Business on a T500. I've always used the Lenovo Access Connections program to switch wifi locations. Access Connections now doesn't appear to work. The program opens normally but there is now (hadn't noticed it before) a location profile named "Windows Wireless Service," and when I click the "Find" button Access Connections doesn't find anything the list and graphic screen show no networks even if there are a dozen WiFi routers.
When I FnF5 the Wireless Radio window opens indicating that my Bluetooth is "on" and the 802.11 is "off." If I click the "Power On" button nothing happens.
But my internet works normally and it's even switching WiFi locations automatically! Somehow the machine has switched to using the Windows WiFi manager - the only thing I can think of that could have precipitated this is that I plugged into my work ethernet. First time in about a year that I've done this and these problems with Access Connection seemed to start shortly after that (no indication at the time - Access Connections seemed to work).
If I go Control Panel > Network & Sharing > Connect to a Network I see a "find" window similar to the Access Connections list, but on this Windows program the routers are all "found." I see in a few places that two network connection managers can't be running at the same time. I tried turning off the service "WLAN AutoConfig" but that did not allow Access Connections to run. Maybe I didn't shut off the right thing or maybe I didn't turn it off correctly. Since Access Connections doesn't work I turned WLAN AutoConfig back on, but it would be nice to have Access Connections functioning. I've looked everywhere and can't find an answer. Any suggestions appreciated!
Ben

I have Access Connections working in Windows 7 and had it working in Vista before that. I use it to change between wireless connections as well.
If you want it working, try the following:
1. Document your profiles (SSID, WEP or WPA, security key) in a small Notepad file.
2. Download the latest copy (5.85 if I remember correctly).
3. Uninstall Access Connections. When it asks, delete the profiles as part of the uninstall.
4. Go to Windows Wireless Manager. Delete any left over profiles in it.
5. Restart.
6. Install Access Connections (use a wired connection first if you can).
7. Now install the first wireless connection and ensure that it works.
8. Assuming so, install the remaining wireless profiles.
Good luck.

Access Connection - proxy settings

Since one of the last updates, access connections do not switch proxy setings (IE ans FF). All other network settings will switch correct, but not proxy...
Why is'nt lenovo/ibm able to convert proxy exceptions for Firefox? As it proxy settings was changed (before the latest update), in access connections used thy ";" as separator also in firefox, this can not work. ff need ",".
Please make access connections woking as soon as possible. Its one of the main features i loved/need at my thinkpad...

Noone working with access connection with the same problem?

Location Switching - Access Connections 5.02

Okay here's my problem, I have 4 profiles set up in Access Connections because I travel between these 4 locations daily. For some reason, A/C will not automatically switch to the correct profile. It will start up with the last profile I used and try to associate to an access point that is not there. I've tried many of the options including Location Switchng. Am I doing something wrong? I also have an x60 that has has the same issue (running XP Pro). Any help will be appreciated.
Thinkpad T400 6474-R2U
Windows 7 Ultimate x64

Yes, one of my main complaints with Access Connections is that it does not appear to recognize when a location is no longer active. The recommendation from the help desk was to disconnect before you leave a location, but I'm usually in too much of a hurry to disconnect. Ended up shutting off the Location Switching feature, because even when I connected manually it would disconnect and attempt to connect at the previous location. I've never had this issue with my older ThinkPad (T42), which would automatically recognize that I switched locations and connect successfully.
Full disclosure: Not a Lenovo employee, just someone with a X61 running Win XP SP2

Location Switching and Access Connections 5.62

Under Location Switching, I enable the "Include Ethernet connections..." option. I then see my profiles for LAN connections at the bottom of the list and I can checkmark them. I can't however select them and change the order in the list. Is there a reason for this?

Hi,
in your situation, could you please make sure, that following Windows Services are started:
- Windows Zero Configuration
- Windows Presentation Foundation
- Terminal Services
There are the services, that are fully needed for the correct workflow of Access Connection.
Also please make sure, that you are using the latest version of following apps/drivers, which are also needed for AC to work correctly:
- Power Manager
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=MIGR-70602
- Power Management driver
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=MIGR-4GXPEG
- Hotkey features
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=MIGR-74261
- .NET 2.0 + SP2
Can you also tell me which exact AC service is taking the most CPU ?
Cheers

Access connections 5.30 Auto location switching problem

Trying to configure AC with 3 profiles. 1.Office wired, 2.wireless and 3.'Out of office wired' The last profile is for use when visiting client sites, makes proxy settings blank, ethernet ip to dhcp etc. I only want the Out of office wired profile to be applied manually so that whenever returning to the office and booting from cold the Office wired profile will be applied. AC doesnt' seem to actually work properly. I untick the 'Out of office wired' profile in Tools>Location Switching. I return from client site the office and plug in and switch on from cold. The first profile automatically applied is 'Out of office wired'. Despite having unticked this profile in auto location switching it still applies. I test in the office with the wireless profile and no cable. I then switch off the wireless adapter and plug in the cable. Result: Profile3. Out of office wired is auto applied. Again it was unticked in Location Switching
Surely this behaviour is wrong and constitues a bug.
Thinkvantage technologies seem to be going down hill.

Yes, ethernet is enabled and the port is saved for profile 1, the office profile.
The Out of office profile, no.3 is unticked for auto location switching - To me this indicates that the port should not be saved.
If I apply the Out of office profile and then return to the office, not only is the unticked profile 3 applied automatically but AC shows it has saved the ethernet port for profile3 and removed it from profile 1.
I have two questions:
- If this is how it's supposed to work, what's the point of being to able to untick the profiles in auto location switching?
- Is the last correctly applied profile saved and applied after - a cold boot? - a disconnection? - a hibernation?

Access Connections - IP doesn't change when switching locations

In my Access Connections setup, I have a mix of profiles; some using DHCP & some using static IPs.
I am experiencing problem when manually switching between profiles, where the IP address is not always changing as expected.
For example:
(all profiles are wired connections)
Home (DHCP)
IP address: Allocated by DHCP
Subnet mask: Allocated by DHCP
Default gateway: 10.0.0.1
DNS servers: Allocated by DHCP
Office 1 (Static)
IP address: 203.18.x.x
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.240
Default gateway: 203.18.y.y
DNS servers: 10.10.140.7, 10.10.140.12, 203.18.z.z
Office 2 (Static)
IP address: 10.10.140.202
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Default gateway: 10.10.140.1
DNS servers: 10.10.140.7, 10.10.140.12, 203.18.z.z
Office 3 (DHCP)
IP address: Allocated by DHCP
Subnet mask: Allocated by DHCP
Default gateway: <blank>
DNS servers: 10.10.140.7, 10.10.140.12, 203.18.z.z
On many occasions when switching from, say, "Office 2" to "Home"; the static IP address for Office 2 (10.10.140.202) is not being replaced by a new IP allocated from my home router (which, by the way is configured to allocate IPs from the pool 10.0.0.2 to 10.0.0.4; so the old IP address should not be valid on that network).
What is even more interesting is when you take DHCP out of the equation, for example when switching from, say, "Office 2" to "Office 1" (both of which are static IP profiles). The IP address 10.10.140.202 (Office 2) should be replaced by the static IP 203.18.x.x (Office 1) in all cases. However on many occasions it is not, and I'm left with the previous IP allocated.
Has anyone else noticed this behaviour?
I've found that by switching back and forth between profiles, it eventually resolves itself (although sometimes up to 3 or 4 switches is required).

AC 4.42 fail to assign a static IP when the OS is in spanish and the wireless device is Intel. In that case the problem was fixed with a patch that the support guys release.
In your case, I don't know my friend.
Have you tried using only Windows, without AC?
Regards

Access Connections 5.x.x doesn't switch proxy settings automatically - NOT SOLVED

As per the post below it is not solved. Is this still being worked on? I looked at reverting back to 4.52 but involves downgrading the driver too and losing some functionality.
http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/message?board.id=Special_Interest_Utilities&thread.id=1529

Check your network adapter priorities: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2526067
Or if you don't need Access Connections itself, uninstall it and let Windows handle it.
W520: i7-2720QM, Q2000M at 1080/688/1376, 21GB RAM, 500GB + 750GB HDD, FHD screen
X61T: L7500, 3GB RAM, 500GB HDD, XGA screen, Ultrabase
Y3P: 5Y70, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, QHD+ screen

Limitation of Access Connections' automatic location switching

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