The AirPort menu bar item in Mac OS X 10.1 replaces the AirPort portion of the Control Strip in Mac OS 9 and the AirPort Dock Extra of Mac OS X 10.0. The AirPort menu bar item appears on the right side of the menu bar.
Figure 1 The AirPort, Sound, and Battery menu bar items
You can use the Airport menu bar item to:
There are four signal bars on the AirPort status icon in the menu bar. The more bars that are black, the higher the signal quality.
Figure 2 Signal bars
Activating the menu bar item
You can show or hide the AirPort menu bar item using either of these methods:
System Preferences method
Internet Connect method
This works when you are already connected to a LAN via AirPort.
Menu bar items can be repositioned by holding down the Command key while dragging the icon to its new position. You can also remove the icon by pressing Command while dragging the item out of the menu bar.
Figure 1 The AirPort, Sound, and Battery menu bar items
You can use the Airport menu bar item to:
- Change AirPort networks
- Turn the AirPort Card on or off
- Open Internet Connect
- Create a network (Computer-to-Computer)
There are four signal bars on the AirPort status icon in the menu bar. The more bars that are black, the higher the signal quality.
Figure 2 Signal bars
Activating the menu bar item
You can show or hide the AirPort menu bar item using either of these methods:
System Preferences method
- 1. Choose System Preferences from the Apple menu.
2. Click Network.
3. Choose AirPort from the Show pop-up menu.
4. Click the AirPort tab.
5. Click to select or deselect the "Show AirPort status in menu bar" checkbox.
Internet Connect method
This works when you are already connected to a LAN via AirPort.
- 1. Open Internet Connect.
2. Click to select or deselect the "Show AirPort status in menu bar" checkbox.
Menu bar items can be repositioned by holding down the Command key while dragging the icon to its new position. You can also remove the icon by pressing Command while dragging the item out of the menu bar.