GigaFast Ethernet 11Wireless Mbps PCMCIA Adapter User Manual WF721-AEX GigaFast Ethernet C opyright The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in any part or as a whole, stored, transcribed in an information retrieval system, translated into any language, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, magnetic, electronic, optical, photocopying, manual, or otherwise, without prior written permission. Trademark All product, company, and brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. They are used for identification purpose only. Specifications are subject to be changed without prior notice. S GigaFast Ethernet Table of Content Section 1 2 3 4 5 6 : Introduction : Features : Package Contents : System Requirements : Network Configuration and Planning : Installing the Drivers and Configuration Utility for Windows 9X/ME/2000 : Configuration Utility : Installation Procedure Under Windows NT4.0 : Installation Procedure Under Windows XP : Troubleshooting : Glossary : Specifications : Technical Support / Warranty info Appendix A B C D GigaFast Ethernet Introduction The 11Mbps Wireless PCMCIA Adapter now has a new, higher-powered antenna that provides a greater range than ever. The increased sensitivity helps filter out interference to keep your signal clear. Improved error correction in the chipset keeps you operating at higher transmission rates for longer distances. Since you only need one Type II or III PCMCIA slot, you're free to use your other slots for additional accessories. The PCMCIA Adapter is a Plug-and-Play device that runs on Windows 98/ME/2000/XP. It will automatically recognize the wireless PCMCIA Adapter and initiate the installation process. Upon successful installation, the wireless PCMCIA Adapter will communicate seamlessly with other wireless home and office networking products. 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 installation of the Wireless PCMCIA Adapter. Section 1 GigaFast Ethernet Features ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! IEEE802.11b Direct Sequence high rate compatible. High data rate 11/5.5/2/1 Mbps. Auto Rate fallback. IPX, NetBEUI, TCP/IP protocols supported. Wired Equivalent Privacy Algorithm (WEP) (64 bits/128 bits). 802.11 Power save in infrastructure mode. Passive/Active scan. Long/Short preamble. RTS/CTS handshake. Beacon and Probe response generation in an IBSS. Plug-N-Play and easy setup. Package Contents ! ! ! ! One 11Mbps Wireless LAN PCMCIA Adapter One setup Utility CD-ROM. User Manual. Quick Installation Guide. Requirements ! ! ! ! Pentium-Class 200MHz or faster processor 64MB RAM Recommended One available PCMCIA Slot 2M bytes free disk space for utility and driver installation Section 1 GigaFast Ethernet Network Configuration and Planning Wireless LAN Basic The WLANs supports legacy Ethernet LAN network configuration options as defined by the IEEE802.11b standards committee. The WLAN Card can be configured as: ! Ad-Hoc for departmental SOHO LANs. ! Infrastructure for enterprise LANs. ! LAN-Interconnection for point-to-point link as campus backbone. Fig 2-1 Ad-Hoc Wireless LAN An Ad-Hoc wireless LAN is a group of computers, each equipped with one WLAN adapter, connected as an independent wireless LAN. Computers in a specific Ad-Hoc wireless LAN must be configured to share the same radio channel. (Fig 2-1) Section 2 GigaFast Ethernet Fig 2-2 Infrastructure Wireless LAN The adapter provides access to a wired LAN for wireless workstations. An integrated wireless and wired LAN is called an infrastructure configuration. A group of WLAN PC users and an Access Point compose a Basic Service Set (BSS). Each WLAN PC in a BSS can talk to any computer in the wired LAN infrastructure via the Access Point (Fig 2-2) An infrastructure configuration extends the accessibility of a WLAN equipped PC to a wired LAN, and doubles the effective wireless transmission range for 2 WLAN PCs. Since the Access Point is able to forward data within its BSS, the effective transmission range in an infrastructure LAN is doubled. (Fig 2-3) Fig 2-3 The effective transmission range Section 2 GigaFast Ethernet The use of a unique ID in a BSS is essential. All WLAN equipped PCs configured without roaming options in independent BSS must be configured with a BSS ID corresponding to the Access Point used in the BSS. Check your Access Point for its BSS ID or use the Access Point Browser Utility program to determine the BSS ID. (Fig 2-4) The infrastructure wireless LAN configuration is appropriate for enterprisescale wireless access to a central database, or as a wireless application for mobile users. Fig 2-4 Roaming in an Extended Service Set (ESS) Infrastructure mode also supports roaming capabilities for mobile users. More than one BSS can be configured as an Extended Service Set (ESS). The continuous network allows users to roam freely within an ESS. All WLAN PCs and Access Point within one ESS must be configured with the same ESS ID. Before enabling an ESS with roaming capability, it is recommended to select a feasible radio channel and optimum Access Point position. Proper Access Point positioning combined with a clear radio signal will greatly enhance performance. Section 2 GigaFast Ethernet Installing the Drivers and Configuration Utility for Windows 9X, ME, 2000 Running the Auto Driver & Utility Installation Before installing your card, insert the Auto-Install CD into your CD-ROM drive. Unless you have deactivated the auto-run feature of Windows, the screen shown in Fig 3-1 should appear automatically. If this screen doesn't appear automatically, you can access the installation by clicking the Start button and choosing Run. In the drop-down box provided type D:\Setup.exe (where D: is the letter of your CD-ROM drive). Alternately, double-click My Computer, double-click the CD-ROM drive, then double-click Setup.exe. Fig 3-1 Autorun feature of Windows 1. Click "Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP Driver & Utility - PCMCIA" to install the driver/utility for your PCMCIA WLAN Card. You will see Welcome to the InstallShield Wizard for 802.11 Wireless LAN. Click "Next>" (Fig 32) Section 3 GigaFast Ethernet 2. After clicking "Next>", the components version will be shown in the window. (Fig 3-3) Note: You must install this software before installation of the hardware Fig 3-2 Install WLAN Driver/Utility Fig 3-2 Components Version 3. The setup will ask you for Custom or Typical installation. (Fig 3-4) 4. If "Custom" is chosen, you can select packages individually. If you choose "Typical", the 3 packages will be installed in your system. (Fig 35) The 3 packages are the Application, the PCMCIA card driver, and the USB adapter driver. (Fig 3-6) Section 3 GigaFast Ethernet Fig 3-4 Setup Type Fig 3-5 Typical Setup Fig 3-6 Custom Setup 5. You can specify a folder name for the program. (Fig 3-7) 6. After copying files, installation is complete. (Fig 3-8) Section 3 GigaFast Ethernet Fig 3-7 Select Program Folder Fig 3-8 Finish Inserting the Adapter To insert the wireless LAN Card into a notebook computer, do the following: 1. Locate an available Type II or Type III PCMCIA slot. 2. With the PCMCIA adapter's 68-pin connector facing the PCMCIA slot and the label facing up, slide the PCMCIA adapter completely into the PCMCIA slot. Section 3 GigaFast Ethernet Fig 3-9 Insert the Wireless LAN card into Notebook After properly inserting the Network Adapter into your notebook, continue with the WLAN driver and configuration utility installation. (Fig 3-9) Note: The PCMCIA slot allows "hot swapping" of the PCMCIA adapter. You may insert or remove the WLAN PCMCIA adapter from the slot anytime, even when the power of your computer is on. Note: Windows 95/98 requires that the Network card and socket services must be compliant with the PCMCIA revision 2.10 specification. Please check the documentation of the PCMCIA driver before installing the WLAN PCMCIA adapter. After installing the PCMCIA WLAN Card driver and utility. Please insert the WLAN Card. You will see "Found New Hardware". Please select "Install the software automatically" then click "Next>" (Fig 3-10). The screen in Windows XP (Fig 3-11) will appear but click "Continue Anyway". Once Windows has finished installing software for the device, click "Finish". (Fig 3-12). For the Configuration Utility please see Section 4. Section 3 GigaFast Ethernet Fig 3-10 Found New Hardware Fig 3-11 Windows XP Screen Fig 3-12 Finish the installation Section 3 GigaFast Ethernet Configuration Utility The Configuration Utility is provided to allow you further customization of the WLAN PC Card and your wireless network. Using the configuration Utility After the Configuration Utility has been installed, an icon will be placed in the system tray when the WLAN PC Card is inserted, as shown in Fig 4-1. Fig 4-1 The utility is divided into six parts: Status, Statistics, Site Survey, Encryption, Advanced, and Info. You should change all your configuration settings for your WLAN PC Card using this utility and not with the Network Properties section in your Control Panel. Status The Status screen (Shown in Fig 4-2) provides information about the current link between the Network PC Card and Wireless Access Point. When in Infrastructure Mode, Status will display the connection statistics for the network segment that you are on. The Channel field shows to what channel the WLAN PC Card is set. The SSID field shows the current SSID set for the wireless network. This SSID can be modified by clicking the Change button. Section 4 GigaFast Ethernet The Tx Rate field shows the transfer rate in megabits per second. The Int. Roaming field allows your adapter to retrieve country information from the access point and behave according to that country's regulations. The Radio field shows on / off radio signal Fig 4-2 Note: When in Ad-Hoc mode, Signal Strength and Link Quality indicators will not be available. The Signal Strength field will display a bar indicating the percentage, between 0 and 100 percent, of the strength of the signal. The higher the percentage, the stronger the signal. The Link Quality field will display a bar indicating the percentage, between 0 and 100 percent, of the quality of the link. The higher the percentage, the better the link. The Change button, allows you to customize the setting for the WLAN PC Card and your wireless network. Section 4 GigaFast Ethernet The Operating Mode setting determines the architecture of your wireless network select Ad-Hoc or Infrastructure Mode depending on your network type. The Ad-Hoc mode is used for sample peer-to-peer network and allows the sharing of local resources only between Network PC Card without needing a Wireless Access Point. The Infrastructure mode allows a wireless network to be integrated into an existed, wired network through an Access Point. Infrastructure networks permit roaming between Access Points while maintaining a connection to all network resources. The Service Set Identifier, or SSID, is the unique name shared among all points in a wireless network. The SSID must be identical for all points in the network. It is case sensitive and must not exceed 32 characters. The Tx Rate field shows the current transfer rate for the Network PC Card. To optimize performance and range, the Tx Rate should be set to Auto, which will automatically adjust the transfer speed for best performance and longest range. The Channel setting specifies the channel used in wireless communication and should be set to the same channel as the other points in the wireless network. The setting can only be adjusted in Ad-Hoc mode. Statistics The Statistics screen (Shown in Fig 4-3) provides information about the Tx / Rx Data, Management, and rejected Packets. Section 4 GigaFast Ethernet Fig 4-3 Fig 4-4 Site Survey The Site Survey screen shows some features of the available access points or other stations. Click on the desired access point or station. Then double click BSSID to connect or Re-Scan to search for more access points. (Shown in Fig 4-4) Section 4 GigaFast Ethernet Encryption On the Encryption screen, show in Fig 4-5, you can set the level of security with which you will be using the WLAN PC Card. Under the drop-down box, you can choose to have WEP encryption Disabled, 64-Bit, or 128-Bit Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), which is an encryption scheme used to protect wireless data communication. If you decide to use encryption, you can choose any of the available WEP keys ( ...