Installation and User Guide Wireless LAN Client Adapter Installation and User Guide: Wireless LAN Client Published December 2005
Copyright © 2004, 2005 by Airgo Networks. All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of unless such copying is expressly permitted by U.S. copyright law.
Contents Contents .......................................................................................................................................... 3 Preface............................................................................................................................................. 4 Overview......................................................................................................................................... 5 Device Types .........................................
Preface This guide explains how to install and configure the Wireless LAN Client Adapter, which provides PC laptop and desktop users with access to 802.11 access points. The guide is intended for business and consumer users who want to install and configure the Wireless LAN Client Adapter quickly and easily. It is also intended for users who are interested in advanced configuration and troubleshooting.
Overview The Wireless LAN Client Adapter provides the communication link between your laptop and other devices in a wireless network. Depending on the adapter configuration, it can operate in the 2.4 GHz radio frequency band or in the 2.4 and 5 GHz frequency bands and can communicate with any device that meets the compatible IEEE 802.11 standards. The Airgo product number determines the operating bands for any given adapter.
1 With the computer powered on or off, slide the PC card firmly into an available CardBus slot (Figure 1). Figure 1: PC Card Installation To safely remove the PC card while the computer is powered up: 2 Right-click the system tray icon entitled Safely Remove Hardware or Eject or Stop Hardware. The system prompts you to select the device to stop. 3 Select Wireless Adapter, and click Stop. 4 Click OK when asked to confirm.
5 Remove the USB cable from the PC. Checking Adapter Activity The LEDs on the PC Card and USB Adapter indicate the state of current communications. LED 1 is on the left and LED 2 is on the right when the PC Card is facing up (thick section on top, metallic contact on the bottom).
3 Click Install Software. The Installation Wizard opens. 4 Click Next. The License agreement window opens.
5 Review the license agreement, and then choose I accept the terms in the license agreement. 6 Click Next. 7 Enter a user name and organization name, and indicate whether access to the Client Utility will be permitted for all users or just the specified user.
8 Click Next. 9 Accept Complete as the setup type. NOTE: If you select Complete, the software is automatically installed in the default location. To choose another location, select the Custom option; see Custom Installation in this chapter for additional information. 10 Click Next. 11 Click Install to begin installation. To review previous selections, click
The wizard completes the installation of the driver and the Client Utility and presents the completion window. Select Use Windows to manage my wireless network settings if you want to use Microsoft Wireless Zero Configuration (WZC) to manage the Client Adapter. NOTE: For instructions on enabling or disabling WZC, see Appendix A, “Using the Client Utility With Windows XP.” You can change the WZC option at a later time by clicking Client Utility WZC button.
14 If your system has Windows XP Service Pack 2, a welcome window opens. Select No, not at this time to the question, Can Windows connect to Windows Update to search for software and Click Next. 15 For all installations, the following window now opens. Accept the default to install the software automatically. 16 Click Next. 17 Should a message appear regarding Windows logo testing, click Continue Anyway to install the Client Adapter drivers. 18 The installation proceeds.
The installation is now complete. Examine the LEDs to confirm that the Client Adapter is installed and working properly. See “Inserting and Removing the Wireless LAN Client Adapter”. Custom Installation Follow these steps if you want to change the default software installation location. 1 In the Customer Information window, select Custom, and click Next>.
2 Click Change… to select a new location. 3 Enter the path for the new location, or select a location for the pull-down “Look in:” window to select a path. 4 Click OK.
Uninstalling the Client Utility and Drivers Uninstall the Client Utility if you are upgrading to a newer version of the utility or wish to remove the Client Utility and Client Adapter drivers from the PC system. To do so, use the Windows Add or Remove Programs utility. To access Add or Remove Programs: 1 Exit the Client Utility from the icon in the system tray. 2 Choose Start > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs. 3 Select the Client Utility program, and click Remove.
Introduction to the Client Utility The Wireless LAN Client Adapter connects your PC to a wireless local area network (WLAN) using radio frequency signals. An access point is a wireless device that forwards data from the wired network to your WLAN equipped PC using radio frequency signals and provides network connectivity between your PC and other wireless and wired users and resources. The IEEE 802.
Client Utility Overview The Client Utility enables you to perform the following functions: Obtain a view of your wireless network, including the type of network, the access point or ad-hoc network with which you are associated, and information about the radio signals currently being transmitted and received. Scan and connect to wireless networks within radio range of your wireless LAN adapter.
The Exit selection closes the Client Utility. Reopen the Client Utility from the Windows Start>Programs. The Auto Connect to Best Network selection provides for auto connection to a wireless network with the highest signal strength and most appropriate security settings. The Use Windows to Manage This Adapter selection provides for the selection of Microsoft WZC for managing the adapter. A window will appear for confirmation to allow Windows to manage the network connections for the adapter.
Click to close the Client Utility on the desktop. The CU is still active. To exit the CU, right click the system tray CU icon and select the Exit option or press Alt+F4 to exit the CU when the CU is on the desktop. Navigating the User Interface This section explains how to use the Client Utility interface. Default View The default view is the Status view. The Status view provides information about the current connection if one exists.
Item Description Network Name If Status is Connected, lists the name of the network to which the Client (SSID) Adapter is connected. If Status is Connected, indicates the type (Infrastructure or Ad-Hoc) of network Network Type association. If Status is Connected, indicates the security method used to authenticate this Authentication client to the network. If Status is Connected, indicates the security method used to encrypt Encryption information transmitted and received by this client.
Auto-Connect The Auto-Connect button can be used to force an association to the previously connected network or to the “best” network currently available or can be set to the off or disabled state. Auto-Connect is in the enable/on state. Connection to the previously connected network or to the “best” network currently available will occur automatically. Auto-Connect is in the disabled/off state. Connections will not be established automatically.
Provides configuration options for the following: Compression—provides real-time hardware data compression which increases data throughput using pre-compressed frames with no impact on host processor. OFF by default. Concatenation-- provides for the merging of data from several packets into one which increases throughput by removing overhead due to inter frame spacing and preambles. The performance benefit is in enhancing throughput at higher data rates. ON by default.
On the right, the Signal Strength Indicator shows incremental signal strength where each segment is equal to 5% of the maximum of 100% signal strength. There are additional functions and indicators available in the default view. The Save to Profile button in the bottom right of the Status view creates a profile with the properties of the current connection. The new profile will appear in the Profiles view. Networks Tab The Networks tab lists all the networks within radio range of your Client Adapter.
Any of the following operations can be performed on the Networks list: Item Description Causes the Client Adapter software to immediately scan for all the wireless networks Refresh within radio range. Detected networks are presented in the Networks list. Opens appropriate security dialog boxes as necessary and attempts association with Connect the selected SSID.
Any of the BSSIDs may be selected. By default the BSSID with the best signal strength will be selected. NOTE: The selection of a specific AP within an SSID (e.g. a BSSID) may prevent access to network-wide resources in a mobile environment. Clicking the button will generate a report for all of the networks in the Networks list. The report can be resized while viewing. Report information contains: Report Information Item Description SSID Network Name of each of the networks in radio range.
Item Description Channels Advertised operating channels and maximum output power for each BSSID. 1 True MIMO Use of enhanced, True MIMO, data rates (Yes or No). Signal % Strength of the radio signal, as a percentage. Clicking the selector arrow print selections. Clicking the notification on the Print button provides several button will copy the report screen to the clipboard with an accompanying . Click OK to continue. Clicking the button will allow the report to be saved to a file.
Clicking the button closed the Network report. Profiles The Profiles tab shows all the networks (SSIDs) for which a network profile is defined. Any of the following operations can be performed in the Profiles tab view: Item Description Click New to open the Create Connection Profile dialog box which launches the Profile New Wizard. To change information in an existing profile, highlight an entry and use the arrows at the Modify bottom of the list to move the entry up or down.
The icons adjacent to the Profile name indicate auto connect and connection state for the profile. Icon Description This Profile is the active profile. Auto Connect is enabled for the profile. Auto Connect is disabled for the profile. and down arrows move the selected profile up or down in the profile The up selection list. SSIDs in profiles at or near the top of the list which have auto connect enabled are scanned for before other SSIDs in the ordered profile list.
Profile Details Item Description Network Type The network type (Infrastructure or Ad-Hoc) for profile. Authentication The security method used to authenticate this client to the network for this profile. Encryption The security method used to encrypt information transmitted and received by this client using this profile. Access Point The BSSID for this profile. The Client Utility provides for association to a specific Access Point within an SSID. NOTE: The selection of a specific AP within an SSID (e.
Health Item Description Installation Successful The status of the client adapter driver and client utility. Radio Enabled The status of the radio on the client adapter. IP Address Assigned The status of IP address assignment. AP Connectivity OK The status of an infrastructure connection (an AP found and associated for the SSID or BSSID). Internet Access OK The status of an internet connection for the active wireless connection (successful ping to www.google.com).
Versions Item Description Client Utility The version of the Client Utility that is currently managing the network connection. NDIS Driver The version of the client adapter driver that is currently loaded on the adapter. Security Library Version of the Meetinghouse Aegis Security library. PCI Identifier The Vendor ID (PID/SVID) and System ID (SID) of the client adapter. MAC Address The MAC address of the wireless client adapter.
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Configuration Overview The Client Utility uses profiles to store connection parameters defining how your Wireless LAN Client Adapter associates to a wireless network. Each profile contains information about the target network including type of network connection and security settings.
Working with Profiles Profiles store configuration information about how your Wireless LAN Client Adapter connects to specific wireless networks. Use the Profile Wizard to create new profiles or modify or delete existing ones. To utilize an available network to create a profile, double click that network from the Networks tab, a prompt for security information, if required, will appear. Use the Connect button to associate to that selected network.
The authentication and encryption settings provide options for configuring a secure connection between your PC and the wireless network. The following security options are configurable when using the Client Utility: Disabled—No authentication or encryption. WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy)—64 or 128-bit key based encryption. WPA-Personal (Wi-Fi Protected Access)—Passphrase/PSK based authentication with TKIP encryption and AES encryption for forward compatibility.
Shared—Authentication based on a WEP key exchange. WPA/WPA2Personal PSK Encryption WPA-Personal requires the support of TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol) as an encryption method. This client utility and driver also support AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) as a WPA-Personal encryption method. WPA2-Personal requires the support of AES as an encryption method. This client utility and driver also support TKIP as a WPA2-Personal encryption method.
802.11 wireless communication standard, wireless security continues to evolve, as shortcomings of existing security solutions are uncovered and new solutions are adopted. Wireless security encompasses two major components: encryption and authentication. Encryption provides a mechanism for protecting data transferred across the wireless link from eavesdropping.
latest and most effective. TKIP is the encryption protocol that was first introduced with WPA, but it provides less comprehensive protection than does AES. The original 802.11 wireless communication specification standard included WEP for wireless security. Still widely used today, WEP security provides some security protection, but can be vulnerable to attack. Use WEP in cases where the access point does not support higher level security and security is a consideration in your network design. .
Regulatory FCC Certifications This 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 instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications.
Glossary This glossary defines terms that apply to wireless and networking technology. 802.1x Standard for port-based authentication in LANs. Identifies each user and allows connectivity based on policies in a centrally managed server. 802.11 Refers to the set of WLAN standards developed by IEEE. The three commonly in use today are 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g, sometimes referred to collectively as Dot11. access control list (ACL) A list of services used for security of programs and operating systems.
Domain Name Service (DNS) A standard methodology for converting alphanumeric Internet domain names to IP addresses. Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) A communications protocol enabling IP address assignments to be managed both dynamically and centrally. With DHCP enabled on a node (a system, device, network card, or access point), when it boots or is connected to a network, an address is automatically assigned.
Internet Protocol (IP) The network layer protocol for routing packets through the Internet. IP address 32-bit number, usually presented as a period-separated (dotted decimal) list of three-digit numbers, which identifies an entity on the Internet according to the Internet Protocol standard. local area network (LAN) A group of computers, servers, printers, and other devices connected to one another, with the ability to share data between them.
Packet INternet Groper (PING) A utility that determines whether a specific IP address is accessible, and the amount of network time (measured in milliseconds) needed for response. PING is used primarily to troubleshoot Internet connections. policy-based networking The management of a network with rules (or policies) governing the priority and availability of bandwidth and resources, based both on the type of data being transmitted and the privileges assigned to a given user or group of users.
Control Protocol (TCP) layers, SSL is a standard feature in Internet Explorer, Netscape, and most web server products. Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) Protocol used to transfer email messages between email servers. Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) An efficient protocol for network management and device monitoring. SNMP trap A process that filers SNMP messages and saves or drops them, depending upon how the system is configured.
Trunk In telecommunications, a communications channel between two switching systems. In a wireless network, a trunk is a wireless connection from one Access Point to another. Type of Service (ToS) Sometimes also called IP Precedence, ToS is a system of applying QoS methodologies, based on headers placed into transmitted IP packets. User Datagram Protocol (UDP) A connectionless protocol similar to TCP/IP, but without the same level of error checking.
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