User's Guide Table of Contents Information to User...................................... 1 2 Introduction................................................ Wireless LAN basics.................................... Windows Installation.................................... 3.1 3.2 3.3 4 Install the Wireless LAN PC Card........... Install Utility........................................ Configuration Utility............................. 3 5 6 7 8 17 21 29 30 Wireless LAN PC Card 11 Mbps 3 Technical Specifications of WLAN PC Card...... Glossary................................................... Version 2.0 Product names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies. 2 INFORMATION TO USER FCC INFORMATION FCC Radiation Exposure Statement This equipment complies with FCC radiation exposure limits set forth for an uncontrolled environment. This equipment shoul d be installed and operated with minimum distance 20cm between the radiator & your body. The equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B Digital Device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to p rovide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instruction, may cause harmful interference to radio communication. However, there is no grantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment dose cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures: --Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna. --Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver. --Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected. --Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TX technician for help. Notice: The Part 15 radio device operates on a non -interference basis with other devices operating at this frequency. Any changes or modification not expressly approved by the party responsible could void the user's authority to operate the device. REGULATORY INFORMATION The Wireless LAN PC Card must be installed and used in strict accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. This device complies with the following radio frequency and safety standards. USA - Federal Communications Commission (FCC) This device complies with Part 15 of FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditio ns: 1. This device may not cause harmful interference. 2. This device must accept any interference that may cause undesired operation. Europe - R&TTE Directive This device complies with the specifications listed below · ETS 300-826 General EMC requirements for Radio equipment. · ETS 300-328 Technical requirements for Radio equipment. · EN60950 Safety Requirements for Radio equipment 3 4 1. Introduction Thank you for purchasing Wireless Local Area Net (WLAN) PC Card. You are about to install a networking system that is not only fast and powerful, but also easy to set up and simple to maintain. In a short time you and those in your network will be able to share a local printer and files, access the Internet, and roam about the office wire -free. Using radio frequency (RF) technology, WLANs transmit and receive data over the air, minimizing the need for wired connections. Thus, WLANs combine data connectivity with user mobility, and, through simplified configuration, enable movable LANs. This wireless networking solution has been designed for both large and small businesses, and it is scalable so that you can easily add more users and new network features as your business grows. This manual will assist you in the installing WLAN PC Card. 2. Wireless LAN basics Wireless LAN network defined by IEEE 802.11b standard committee could be configured as: · Ad Hoc wireless LAN, o r · · Infrastructure wireless LAN. · Ad Hoc network is a group of notebooks with wireless LAN PC card called a BSS (Basic Service Set). These notebooks use their wireless LAN PC cards to communicate with each other, and notebooks cannot connect to the Internet. STA 2 STA 1 STA 3 Figure 2-1 Ad Hoc wireless network The most obvious differentiation between Infrastructure wireless network and Ad Hoc wireless network is that the notebooks in Infrastructure wireless network can make use of the resource in the Internet through Access Point. Access Point STA 1 Internet STA 3 STA 2 Figure 2 -2 Infrastructure wireless network To set up your notebook's network as the type of " d Hoc" or "Infrastructure " A wireless network depends completely on your requirement. Generally, if your network environment has an Access Point, we recommend that you set it as "Infrastructure " to connect to the Internet . 5 6 3. Windows Installation This section describes the procedures for installing the Wireless LAN PC Card under Windows 98 SE operating system. 3.1 Install Wireless LAN PC Card Step 1. Hold the PC card with the logo facing up, and insert the card into the slot, applying just enough pressure to make sure it is fully seated. Windows 98 automatically detects the PC card, briefly opens a New Hardware Found window, and starts collecting information for a driver information database. When Windows 98 is ready to configure the new hardware, it opens the Add New Hardware Wizard dialog box as shown, Click Next. Before You Start To use the WLAN PC card with a computing device, the device must be equipped with an internal or external PCMCIA Card Type II or Type III slot. All drivers and supporting software for the WLAN PC Card must be loaded and configured. Ask your system administrator for the following information, which you may need to provide during driver inst allation: · Your Wireless Client Name · Your Wireless SSID · Your computer's unique client name and workgroup name · For your network account, your user name and password. · Your IP address, gateway address, and subnet mask if you're not using a DHCP server. Every computer on a network is identified by a unique network address. There are two methods of assigning network addresses to computer on a TCP/IP network: · Static IP addressing · Dynamic IP addressing (DHCP) In networks with static IP addre ssing, the network administrator manually assigns an IP address to each computer. Once a static IP address is assigned, a computer uses the same IP address every time it reboots and logs on to the network. You may manually change the IP address in the Network Properties dialog box. Networks using static IP addresses are easy to set up and do not require additional network management software. In networks with d ynamic IP addressing, a DHCP server in the network dynamically assigns IP addresses to all client s every time they log on to the network. Network using d ynamic IP addresses require setting up and running a DHCP Se rver or installing the Wingate software package. Step 2. A dialog box appears asking what do you want Windows to do. Select Search for the best driver for your device (recommended) and click Next . 7 8 Step 3. Select Specify a location , insert the documentation CD, and click Browse to select WLAN PC Card folder from CD Drive. Step 5. After the hardware wizard finds the installation files in the software CD, it displays the search results:" Windows driver file search for the device: PRISM2 IEEE 802.11 PC CARD Adapter." Click Next to copy the required files. Step 4. Select the folder that contains driver in CD -ROM, then click OK returns to previous menu and click Next. Ste p 6. Starting Copy 9 10 Step 7. The Add New Hardware Wizard window appears stating that Windows has finished installing the software that your new hardware device requires. Click Finish. Step 9. After the computer restarts, double click the My Computer icon on your desktop. In My Computer window, double click the Control Panel icon. In Control Panel window, double click the Network icon. Step 8. The System Settings Change window states: " To finish setting up your new hardware, you must restart your computer. Do you want to restart your computer now?" Remove the software CD and click Yes to restart the computer. Step 10. Select the TCP/IP->PRISM2 IEEE 802.11 PC CARD Adapter for setting the IP address. Click Properties. 11 12 Step 11. Set IP address and Subnet Mask . You can select either Static or DHCP setting. If you use the static IP setup then please enter the IP address and Subnet masking. You should ask your network administrator for an address, and then t ype it into the blanket boxes as below. Then click OK to return to Step 10 Network dialog box. Step 12. Click Add to select Network Protocol. If your network has a DHCP server and Access Point supports DHCP. IP address can be automatically assigned to this device. Choose Use DHCP for WINS Resoluti on in WINS Configuration then click OK to return to Step 10 Network dialog box. Step 13. Select the type of network component you want to install, and then click Add. 13 14 Step 14. Select Network Protocols box appears. From the list of manufactures, click on Microsoft. From the list of network protocols list, select NetBEUI, then click OK. Step 16. The Systems Settings Change window states: " To finish setting up your new hardware, you must restart your computer. Do you want to restart your computer now?" Click Yes to restart the computer. Step 15. The NetBEUI protocol is now installed. After clicking on OK return back to Network Component Type box, then click OK. 15 16 3.2 Install Utility Step 1. Double click the MY Computer icon on your desktop. In my computer window, double click the CD Drive icon. Choose WLAN PC Card folder and double click Step icon to execute Setup.exe. It opens the Welcome dialog box as shown then click Next. Step 2. Software License Agreement, click Yes . Step 3. Type in an SSID. The System ID (or SSID) is the name for your Wireless LAN. All computers that are to be part of the same wireless LAN must have the same SSID. Click Next. 17 18 Step 4. Choose the Network Mode in which your wireless Mode will operate, click Next. Step 6. Click Next Step 7. Starting Copy. Step 5. Choose Destination Location , click Next. Step 8. Click Finish to restart your computer. 19 20 3.3 Configuration Utility WLAN PC Card uses its own management software. All functions controlled by user are provided by this application. When you insert the WLAN PC card into the PCMCIA slot, a new icon should appear in your icon tray automatically wait a while. If the icon is in red, it means that WLAN PC Card configuration is invalid or incomplete. Double click on that icon will show you the screen as shown below. Link Info State The field shows the association to available Access Point with BSSID, MAC ID of WLAN PC Card. When the state is "Associated" means normal flow of operation in infrastructure mode. The PC is connected to Access Point. BSSID is chose in the form of hex digits. Networking is available. Tx/Rx Rate Information This displays the instantaneou s wireless Receive and Transmit throughput in bytes per second. These values are updated every two seconds. Link Quality / Signal Strength The Link Quality and Signal Strength bar graph is only active when the node is in Infrastructure Mode. The bar graph displays the quality and strength of the link between the node and its Access Point. A label summarizes the quality of the Link over the bar graph, which can take on one of the following values: "Not Applicable" "Poor" "Fair" "Good" "Excellent" The driver will start looking for a better Access Point if the Link Quality becomes "Poor". Link Quality is a measure of receiving and transmitting errors over the radio. User can navigate through "ca rds", by clicking or tapping them with a stylus. Following we explain the use and meanings of the various screen messages. 21 22 Configuration The Configuration Tab contains several fields where operating parameters of the driver can be viewed or changed. Changes to any of the parameters in this panel can be applied to the driver without a need to restart the PC. SSID SSID is the group name that will be shared by every member of your wireless network. You will only be able to connect with an Access Point, which has the same SSID. Tx Rate The transmission rate at which client of AP transmits the data packets. You can set this to fixed 1Mbps, 2Mbps, 5.5Mbps, 11Mbps or Fully Automatic. "Apply Changes" button This button becomes active only when one of the fields has been modified. Pressing this button applies the changed values to the driver and saves them to the registry for the next time the PC boots up Network Mode This field allows you to select from a list of supported Network "Mod ...