To choose a network location

  1. Open Network and Sharing Center by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button, and then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, type network, and then click Network and Sharing Center.

  2. Click Work network, Home network, or Public network, and then click the network location you want.

    Picture of Network and Sharing Center
    Network and Sharing Center

Warning

What makes a home or work network safe to connect to?

To help ensure that a home or work network is safe to connect to, make sure that it has the following:

  • For wireless networks, a wireless connection encrypted with Wi‑Fi Protected Access (WPA or WPA2). (WPA2 is preferred because it is more secure than WPA.)

  • For all networks, a firewall or other device with network address translation (NAT) , which is connected between your computer or wireless access point and your cable or DSL modem.

Illustration of a network with a firewall or device with NAT in the recommended position
A network with a firewall or device with NAT in the recommended position

For more information, see Setting up a wireless network in Windows 7, Making your network more secure, and What are the different wireless network security methods?

How Windows Firewall affects network locations

The Public network location blocks certain programs and services from running to help protect your computer from unauthorized access while you're connected to a network in a public place. If you're connected to a public network and Windows Firewall is turned on, some programs or services might ask you to allow them to communicate through the firewall so that they work properly.

When you allow a program to communicate through the firewall, it's allowed for every network with the same location as the network you're currently connected to. For example, if you connect to a network in a coffee shop and choose Public network as the location, and you then unblock an instant message program, that program will be unblocked for all public networks that you connect to.

If you plan to unblock multiple programs while you're connected to a public network, consider changing the network location to Home network or Work network. It might be safer to change this one network than affect every public network you connect to from that point on. But remember that if you make that change, your computer will be visible to others on the network, and this is a security risk.