User's Guide Table of Contents Information to User........................................ 1 2 Introduction.................................................. Wireless LAN basics...................................... Windows Installation...................................... 3.1 Installation and Configuration Procedures.... 3.2 Configuration Utility................................. 4 Technical Specifications................................. Glossary..................................................... 3 5 6 7 8 15 22 23 Wireless LAN USB Dongle 11 Mbps 3 Version 1.0 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 should be installed and operated wi th 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 provide 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 USB Dongle 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 conditions: 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 Techni cal requirements for Radio equipment. · EN60950 Safety Requirements for Radio equipment 3 4 1. Introduction Thank you for purchasing your Wireless Local Area Net (WLAN) USB Dnogle. 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 d esigned 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 USB Dongle. 2. Wireless LAN basics Wireless LAN network defined by IEEE 802.11b standard committee could be configured as: · Ad Hoc wireless LAN or · · Infrastructure wireless LAN · Ad Hoc network is a group of notebooks with WLAN PC cards or USB dongles called a BSS (Basic Service Set). These notebooks use their WLAN PC cards or USB dongles to communicate with each other, and notebooks can not 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 "Ad Hoc" or "Infrastructure " 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 3.1 Installation and Configuration Procedures Under Windows 98 SE The following section will assist you to install Wireless LAN USB successfully. You will first install software (driver) and then connect the Wireless LAN USB, and finally set the network properties to accommodate resource sharing and select the type of wireless network that you wish to install. The Wireless LAN can easily be installed and used, without bothering to connect cables for keeping your computer to use network resources, as in case of wired LAN. Please follow the following steps one by one in order to install the WLAN USB Dongle successfully. Step 1. Power on your computer and allow Windows 98 SE to load fully. Be sure that there is no USB dongle is connected to computer yet. Insert the given documentation CD and then double click the MY Computer icon on your desktop. In my computer window, double click the CD Drive icon. Choose WLAN USB Dongle folder and double click setup to execute Setup.exe. It opens the InstallShield Wizard dialog box as shown next page. Before You Start Here are some steps you will perform in establishing your wireless network connection: · Install the Access Point at first. AP is needed in case of infrastructure network mode. · Install the software using the Installation CD ROM · Install the Wireless LAN USB Dongle · Install the network protocol(s) required to communicate on your network. Most likely you will need the TCP/IP protocol. 7 8 Click Next to continue. Step 3. Select Adapter Type. Please select Application & USB Drivers then click Next . Step 2. Software License Agreement, click Yes to accept. Step 4. Click Next to search for already installed components. 9 10 Step 5. Search for already installed components Step 7. Setup will add program icons to the Program Folder listed below. You may type a new folder name, or select one from the existing folders list. Click Ne x t to continue. Step 6. Choose Destination Location. Click Next Step 8. Select operating mode. Ad hoc mode provides communication between wireless clients. Infrastructure mode provides communication between wired and wireless clients (Requires an access point). Select Infrastructure then click Nex t. 11 12 Step 9. ESSID is the name of a logical network group that your computer is about to join. (It can be changed again at run time by the configuration utility). Step 11. Step Status . Step 12. Cl ick Finish to exit the wizard. Step 10. Click Next to start copying files. 13 14 3.2 Configuration Utility WLAN USB dongle uses its own management software. All functions controlled by user are provided by this application. When you plug WLAN USB dongle into the USB port, a new icon should appear in your icon tray automatically wait a while. If the icon is in red, it means that WLAN USB Dongle configuration is invalid or incomplete. Monitor The field shows the association to available Access Point with Operating Mode, Channel, Tx Rate Power Management mode and MAC Address of WLAN USB Dongle. 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. Network Mode This field allows you to select from a list of supported Network "Modes". The modes displayed will have two values: "Infrastructure" and "802.11 Ad Hoc" Infrastructure -This mode of operation requires the presence of an 802.11b Access Point. All communication is done via the Access Point, which r lays packets to other wireless Clients in the BSS as e well as to modes on a wired network such as Ethernet. 802.11 Ad Hoc - This is the 802.11b peer-to-peer mode of operation. All communication is done from Client to Client without the use of an Access Point. 802.11 Ad Hoc networking uses the same SSID for establishing the wireless connection. SSID SSID is the group name that will be shared by every member of your wireless network. You will be able to connect with an Access Point, which has the same SSID. Tx Rate The transmission rate at which the data packets are transmitted by client of AP. You can set this to 1Mbps, 2Mbps, 5.5Mbps, 11Mbps or Fully Automatic. "Change " 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 Signal Strength / Link Quality 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. Double click on that icon the screen is shown below. User can navigate through "cards", by clicking or tappin g them with a stylus. In the following we explain the use and meanings of the various card. 15 16 Statistics To check the packets status, uses can press the "Statistics" tab and get related statistical figures of data and management packets. Site Survey Click on the site survey tab, all access point within detectable range will be found and their related information will be displayed. 17 18 Encryption An encryption function can avoid unintended users who are not at the same wireless LAN user group to access or get information. WEP is a mechanism to enable the encryption function. After enabling the WEP users need to select the authentication type, open system key or shared key. Advanced In advanced tab, you can change configuration setting such as Preamble Type, Fragmentation Threshold, and RTS/CTS Th reshold. Before selecting Short Preamble, make sure that the other stations and AP's are also supporting this feature. 19 20 Version Version tab shows the product version including the detail of driver, firmware and application version. Users must use this version number when reporting their problems for technical support. 4. Technical Specifications of WLAN USB Dongle Driver Supported Microsoft Windows 98 / Windows 98 SE / Windows ME / Windows 2000 Standards Supported IEEE 802.11b standard for Wireless LAN Radio Specifications Frequency Range: 2.4 -2.4835 GHz, Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum Antenna system: Two integrated antenna Mobility: Seamless roaming across cell boundaries with handover Power Specifications Operating Voltage: 5 VDC Continuous Transmitting : 330 mA Continuous Receiving: 280 mA Specific Features Supported bit rates: 11Mbps, 5.5Mbps, 2Mbps and 1Mbps Number of Channels Europe: 1 -13 US: 1-11 France: 10-13 Japan: 1-14 21 22 Glossary IEEE 802.11 Standard The IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN standards subcommittee, which is formulating a standard for the industry. The objective is to enable wireless LAN hardware from different manufacturers to enteropera. Access Poi nt An internetworking device that seamlessly connects wired and wireless networks together. Ad Hoc An Ad Hoc wireless LAN is a group of computers, each with a WLAN adapter, connected as an independent wireless LAN. Ad Hoc wireless LAN is applicable at a departmental scale for a branch or SOHO operation. BSSID A specific Ad Hoc LAN is called a Basic Service Set (BSS). Computers in a BSS must be configured with the same BSSID. DHCP Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol - a method in which IP addresses are a ssigned by server dynamically to clients on the network. DHCP is used for Dynamic IP Addressing and requires a dedicated DHCP server on the network. Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum This is the method the wireless cards use to transmit data over the frequency spectrum. The other method is frequency hopping. Direct sequence spreads the data over one frequency range (channel) while frequency hopping jumps from one narrow frequency band to another many times per second. ESSID An Infrastructure configuration c ould also support roaming capability for mobile workers. More than one BSS can be configured as an Extended Service Set (ESS). Us ...