Starting from Windows Vista, Microsoft has implemented Network Location Awareness (NLA) into Windows. To put it in simple terms, Windows will automatically identify and name the networks it joins.
The feature however is prone to create silly network names, especially if you tend to change network adapters often, such as MyHomeNetwork 2, MyHomeNetwork 3 … MyHomeNetwork 13.
To top that off, since Windows 8, Microsoft has removed the option to manage, that includes merging and renaming, of networks – users are forced to stick with the stupid names Windows give (e.g. Network, Network 65535 etc.)
Thankfully, it is still possible to rename the network names, but only through hacking your way into the Windows Registry.
Windows 8 Network Profile Manager
Enter Windows 8 Network Profile Manager (Win8NetMan). Win8NetMan is a small application written to manage the network profiles created by Windows in a intuitive way by abstracting all the Registry complications.
Here are the features in a glance:
- Display and changing of simple network profile properties (e.g. name, description) and advanced properties (e.g. default gateway MAC address, DNS suffix etc)
- Deletion of individual network profiles (e.g. for old network devices that are no longer used)
- Bulk deletion of all network profiles
Note: Changes may require reconnecting to the network to be applied.
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