Shortcut to Settings->Connections->Wi-Fi

[Joelacrane]

I'd like to create a shortcut to Settings->Connections->Wi-Fi in the Start menu on a Windows Mobile 6 device. It would be nice to be able to turn on Wi-Fi and connect to a particular network without whipping out the stylus.

I hunted around in \\Windows\ for a while, but Wi-Fi is a Control Panel Applet, not a program.

[Don't Panic!]

This thread at xda-developers (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=321115) looks promising for your issue. And on a more personal front I found an app called WlanMgr (82.4K) in the Windows folder of my HTC Advantage. A shortcut to that brings you to a screen with a simple link to turn on Wi-Fi. The only problem is when you are connected that page doesn't come up again to turn it off.

HTH

[Joelacrane]

Thanks for the reply, but that isn't quite what I am looking for. I can turn WiFi and Bluetooth on and off with buttons already, I just want to invoke the "Wifi" control panel applet, where you choose and configure WiFi networks.

Thanks Panic!

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Do you intend to use this with a today program launcher? Or through a button?

In either case, all the (default) control panel applets can be called via a shortcut IF you know where they are. The problem is figuring out the correct function to call :roll:

I haven't got any experience with WM5 or 6 (something I'll have to remedy eventually), but in WM2003SE, the shortcut should read:

54#ctlpnl cplmain.cpl,17?\Windows\shellres.192.dll,-13888

This calls up the Network Cards applet (I don't know if this is the same as WiFi on your device). For Connections Manager it's:

54#ctlpnl cplmain.cpl,19?\Windows\shellres.192.dll,-13961

Breaking it down:

•54# - no of characters in the shortcut (I've never found this to have much effect at all).
•ctlpnl cplmain.cpl,17 - the link to the actual applet.
•?\Windows\shellres.192.dll,-13888 - the link to the corresponding icon (for shortcut display purposes).

The shortcuts were edited on my PC, and saved as plain text files with no extension (though I think an *lnk extension should work), then transferred to my PPC.

There might be changes between WM5/6 and WM2003SE in the location of the applet, but the general idea should be the same. You might want to search through MSDN if there have been any updates to this. I got the original idea from an old thread on Brighthand, and there are references to WM2003 control panel links (including specific tabs in each applet) on MSDN. Word of warning though - I did this exercise while I was still using a today screen launcher, and found quite a few of differences between my two devices (iPaq 2210 and Loox 720), so YMMV.

Edit: IIRC, I had a lot of trouble calling specific tabs, and eventually gave up on it. Despite whatever tab the link was supposed to call, the shortcut would always open the last tab used :(

[Joelacrane]

I'll give this a try, thanks a lot for the help. I'll let you know how it works out.

[mr_yellow]

someone on xda-developers was gracious enough to package the wi-fi shortcut into a cab:

http://www.4shared.com/file/25585940/7d397e64/Network_Cards_ShortCut.html

This will install the a shortcut in the start menu that launches the wi-fi control panel.

[Joelacrane]

Awesome. My only complaint is that the icon isn't too pretty, but beyond that it works perfectly. Those XDA guys are pretty cool.

Thanks!

[Nurhisham Hussein]

If you don't like the icon, you could always edit the shortcut yourself :wink:

[Joelacrane]

What?! And work!?

Are you crazy?!