If you travel a lot and use a lot of different WIFI networks,  sometimes you will want to set a list of preferred networks to automatically join. The main reason is security, you would not want to connect to a WIFI that you don’t trust, especially if you need to visit sites that contain your private information (SS number, bank details, credit card info, etc). 
The other reason is performance, you would not want to connect to a slow network if you have a faster network in range. Sometimes you would forget to connect to the right network so maintaining a list of preferred network is a good idea.
To set a preferred wireless network in Windows, enter the control panel, then go to the Administrative Tools.  Under the administrative tools choose Services:
image
Make sure that the Windows Zero Configuration is started (if not, just right click it then click START):
image
Now right click your Wireless Network then choose properties:
image
Under the Wireless Networks tab look into your “preferred networks” list.  If you did not see the “Wireless Networks” tab then you need to go back to the previous step.  The “Wireless Networks” tab does not appear if the Windows Zero Configuration is not started. 
image
Remove any network connections that you don’t trust.  This way you will not automatically connect to those networks once your laptop gets in range of those networks. 
Click the Move up or Move down buttons to change the priority of the wireless networks when connecting. If you are in an apartment complex, this comes in really handy since there may be 10 different wirless networks that your computer detects. 
If you don’t set the preferred network, there can be times when your computer will connect to a neighbors network because their signal is stronger due to your location. 
In the next post I will show you how to do this in Windows Vista!