When new network equipment is installed at your office, you may need to make sure that you verify that your network connection is Work and not Public. This will allow you to do things such as print to a local printer, or save files to a network drive or server. To do this, follow the directions below based on your operating system:

Windows 10

1. Open the Windows 10 settings app by pressing the Windows Key + i or open the settings app from the Start menu

     

2. Click on Network & Internet. 

   

    

3. Click the appropriate subcategory on the left, depending on the type of network connection that you use. Ethernet will show you your current network connection which can be either your LAN cable connection or your Wi-Fi connection. Click on the connection name on the right under Ethernet. It should be the name of your LAN or Wi-Fi network connection followed by Connected.

    

    

4. Check the switch "Find devices and content". If it is off, then your computer will not allow connections with other devices in the same network, it is set to "Public". To make this connection "Private" and allow connections to other devices in your network, please turn this switch on.

   

Windows 7

In Windows 7, the process is a bit different. Click on the network icon in your taskbar, and then click on the Open Network & Sharing Center link.

Here, you will see an overview of your network connection. Under View your active networks, you’ll see the name of the Ethernet or WiFi network and it should have a link underneath called Home network, Work network or Public network.

Click on that link and you’ll be able to change between the three different network types.

There is also an option in Windows 7 to treat all future networks as public networks automatically, though I don’t think most people would find that useful. To configure this, follow the steps below. 

Manually Force a Network Location

If you can’t change the network location using the methods above, you can manually change the network location using a tool called secpol.msc. This will not work on the Home, Student or Starter editions of Windows. In Windows, press the Windows Key + R, which will bring up the Run dialog box. Type in secpol.msc into the run dialog box.

Then click on Network List Manager Policies at the left and on the right-hand side you should see a couple of items with descriptions and then something called Network, which is the current network you are connected to. It may also be called something else, but it doesn’t have a description. If you are connected to a WiFi network, it will be the name of your WiFi network.

Double-click on it and click on the Network Location tab. Here you can manually change the network location from Private to Public and vice versa.

If you have any questions on any of the steps above, feel free to reach out to a Masiero engineer at team@masierotechgroup.com.