Thread: How to Enable/Disable WLAN Adapter in Windows

Originally Posted by GizmoB73

I am not sure if this post should go here or in software, but here goes.

I am writing my own customized front end and would like to be able to switch my WLAN adapter on and off through the software.

The idea is that when my GPS says that I am home, it Enables the WLAN adapter and when I leave, it is switched off. This is mainly because the adapter never looks for the network when I get back home because it has been out of range for too long.

I have tried using WMI with C# .Net and Studio 2005 but it just doesn't work. Has anybody managed to acheive this using another method? It is just too fiddly trying to do a repair etc. with the my touchscreen and the standard Windows XP interface.

Any ideas?

YES! You're lucky I found this thread

I spent probably 3 hours trying to figure this out. I am programming in Visual Studio 6 (C++ and VB) and I have figured out a solution.

You can use the devcon package from microsoft to enable/disable any device including network adaptors.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=311272

For example, if I wanted to disable a local PCI lan card and then enable it again, I would do:
Call Shell("devcon.exe disable *SUBSYS_813910EC*", vbHide)
Call Shell("devcon.exe enable *SUBSYS_813910EC*", vbHide)

You can also use devcon to list all your hardware so you can better specify which devices you want to enable/disable
devcon.exe findall *

PCI\VEN_10EC&DEV_8139&SUBSYS_813910EC&REV_10\3&61A AA01&0&48 : Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC
...there's my device.

Cheers
-Nico