How to Change the Location for Your Broadband Connection

Setting a network location for your broadband Internet connection in the Windows operating system is very important. The share settings that your computer automatically uses while you’re connected to the Web are dictated by the location that is assigned to your broadband Internet access point. If you are on a “Home” network, for example, your sharing settings will be much less strict than if you were on a “Public” network. You can set a network location for your broadband Internet connection in the Microsoft Windows Network and Sharing Center on your computer.

Step 1
Double click the “Computer” icon on your Windows desktop. Once opened, expand the window using the “Maximize” button. Doing so will allow the window to take up your entire screen and will also display all of the buttons in the toolbar at the top. Click the button labeled “Open Control Panel” to proceed.
Note that you can also select the same “Computer” icon by clicking on it once in the “Start” menu if no icon exists on your desktop.

Step 2
Open the Network and Sharing Center via its icon, which will either be located in the “Networking” category if you are browsing the Control Panel in “Category” view or among the icons on screen if you are browsing in either of the “Large Icons” or “Small Icons” views.

Step 3
Click once on the icon that represents your network in the “Active Networks” section of the screen, located just above the “Change Your Networking Settings” section. The icon that represents your network will feature the name of the network and a hyperlink indicating the type of connection you currently have. If your current broadband Internet connection is labeled as a home network connection, for example, the hyperlink will read “Home Network.”

Step 4
Choose the exact type of network connection that you currently use from the “Set Network Location” box on screen. You can choose between “Home network,” “Work Network” and “Public Network.” Once your selection is made, the box will automatically close and you will be redirected back to the Network and Sharing Center.

Step 5
Close the Network and Sharing Center. Your broadband Internet connection will now use the label you have specified and the associated sharing and operational settings for the foreseeable future. Note that if you make any changes to your sharing settings from the Control Panel, those changes will automatically be reflected based on the type of broadband Internet network connection location you just chose

The author of this article Claire Wright points out the difference between network settings for business broadband and those for the home.

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