Turn Wireless Radios On and Off on X220

[vroberts]

I just replaced my T60 with XP Pro with an X220 with, of course, Windows 7 Pro 64-bit.  The machine is supposed to have Bluetooth, but I do not see any way to turn it on or use it.  In addition, my T60 had a Lenovo utility that would turn WiFi and Bluetooth On and Off. I also cannot find that,   I've searched the manual and all I find is a description of the Bluetooth indicator light, which I do have - perhaps a good sign.  Any help would be appreciated.

[ColonelONeill · Accepted solution]

The hotkey should still be Fn+F5.

[rsdmems]

The X220 has a small switch on the left side to turn off the Wi-Fi. However, I noticed that the one time I used it, while it turned the Wi-Fi off it didn't work to turn it back on, and after flipping the switch back to the "on" position I then still had to use "Fn + F5". I'm not sure if this was a fluke (I only tried it once) or a design decision.

[ColonelONeill]

Probably a fluke; it's supposed to remember the state of wireless radios between physical switch on/off's.

[vroberts]

Thanks, the Fn+F5 combination does bring up the able I am used to.  (I had assumed it only turned WiFi on and off.)  So I was able to confirm that system was built with Bluetooth as requested.  

Now, one more question.  I use the computer in a docking station with an external keyboard most of the time.  Is there any key or key combination I can use with the external keyboard to simulate the Fn key?

[vroberts]

Thanks.  I knew about the switch on the left side, but was looking for the menu that would allow me to individually turn WiFi and Bluetooth on and off.

[vroberts]

Well, I marked the thread as "answered" but I still have one outstanding issue.

Can anyone confirm whether or not program that Lenovo provided with the T60 series (at least a T60 running XP) that opened the same menu that is available with the Fn+F5 key combination,is or is not available on the X220? It was part of Thinkvantage Tools, but the Wireless Radio function does not seem to be available on the X220.

[ColonelONeill]

Are you using the Lenovo wifi drivers?

[vroberts]

This X220 just arrived last Friday and I was traveling Monday through Wednesday.  The machine is using whatever WiFi drivers Lenovo installed.  Based on Uninstall or Change a Program, it seems like I'm using the Intel PROSet/Wireless WiFi drivers.

[vroberts]

I figured out the solution to my own problem this morning, and hopefully this info will be useful to someone else.

The utility I was looking for is called Lenovo Access Connections.  It is NOT installed by default when the X200 is delivered - at least not my X220. (Perhaps because I have the Intel WiFi adapter instead of the default Lenovo adapter.)

I watched the Access Connection tutorial video today, and recognized the utility being discussed as the one I had been looking for, but still could not find it where the tutorial said it would be in Control Panel or anywhere else. 

I then searched around a bit and found that Lenovo ThinkPad Tools has an option that installs Lenovo Access Connections on request.  The Access Connections video does not say anything about the need to install the utility, and just assumes that it is there.

I installed Access Connections, and it not only manages the WiFi adapter, but also allows manages the Bluetooth adapter, including the ability to turn both the WiFi and BLuetooth radios on and off.

So, why is not not installed by Lenovo?  One reason may be that each program that is installed potentially slows down the boot process, and Lenovo wants to impress the customer with the fast boot, even if it will not be so fast after the machine has been configured for normal use.

Vic Roberts