802.11b Wireless LAN USB Module User Manual Version 1.
No part of this documentation may be reproduced in any form or by any means or used to make any derivative work (such as translation, transformation, or adaptation) without written permission from the copyright owner. All the other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Statement of Conditions We may make improvements or changes in the product described in this documentation at any time.
STATEMENT FOR MODUAL APPROVAL This product is sold to OEM integrators only. The manual for the OEM integrators must include some instructions that must be followed by the end users in the user manual. For example: - The OEM integrators must be instructed to ensure that the end user has no manual instructions to remove or install the device. - The OEM integrators must be instructed about the end product labeling ("Contains TX FCC ID: QDWWM168B") etc.
Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................2 1.1 FEATURES ......................................................................................................................................................2 1.2 PACKAGE CONTENTS .....................................................................................................................................2 1.
Throughout (bytes/sec).............................................................................................................................26 Link Quality .............................................................................................................................................27 Signal Strength .........................................................................................................................................27 The Configuration Tab............................
List of Figures FIGURE 1-1: 802.11b WIRELESS LAN USB MODULE .............................................................................................3 FIGURE 2.1-1: THE PRISM DRIVER FOR WINDOWS –WELCOME DIALOG BOX .................................................4 FIGURE 2.1-2: THE WELCOME DIALOG BOX .........................................................................................................4 FIGURE 2.1-3: THE SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT DIALOG BOX ...........................................
FIGURE 3-8 THE ADVANCED DIALOG BOX: ..........................................................................................................22 FIGURE 4.2-1: RIGHT-CLICK MENU OF THE TRAY ICON.........................................................................................24 FIGURE 4.2-2: THE REMOVE WIRELESS STATUS ICON DIALOG BOX .................................................................24 FIGURE 4.3-1: THE PRISM WIRELESS SETTINGS DIALOG BOX ..................................................
1. INTRODUCTION The 802.11b Wireless LAN USB Module aims to let your laptop computer quickly and seamlessly communicate with 802.11b (at up to 11 Mbps) networks. Wireless LAN is local area networking without wires, which uses radio frequencies to transmit and receive data between PC’s or other network devices. With this wireless LAN USB Module, surfing on the Internet couldn’t be any easier.
1.3 System Requirements To properly operate your 802.11b Wireless LAN USB Module, your computer must meet the following minimum requirements: ＊ 32 MB RAM or above ＊ A CD-ROM drive ＊ 300 MHz processor or higher ＊ Microsoft Windows 98/98 Second Edition/Me/2000 or Windows XP 1.4 The 802.11b Wireless LAN USB Module Your 802.11b Wireless LAN USB Module should be located in the USB port on the back panel of your laptop computer, and it is looked like the following picture: Figure 1-1: 802.
2. INSTALLATION OF THE 802.11b WIRELESS LAN USB MODULE Please refer to the proper section corresponding with operating system you are using to fully install your 802.11b Wireless LAN USB Module and the attached software - PRISM Configuration Utility. 2.1 Installation Procedures for Windows 98 Users a) Insert the supplied Setup CD into your CD-ROM drive, the Setup Wizard will run automatically. If it does not, please manually execute setup.exe.
Click No will stop the installation. To go back to the previous dialog box, choose Back. Figure 2.1-3: The Software License Agreement Dialog Box e) Click Finish in the prompted Setup Complete dialog box. Figure 2.1-4: The Setup Complete Dialog Box f) Restart your computer then. g) After rebooting, Windows will automatically detect the 802.11b Wireless LAN USB Module and display the New Hardware Found message box.
h) In the Copying Files dialog box, click Browse to indicate Windows to install the appropriate file from the folder named WIN98 on the CD-ROM, and then click OK. In a few seconds, the installation is entirely complete. To set configurations for the network connection, double-click the PRISM Configuration Utility icon, which is already displayed in the system tray. For more details about the application, please refer to PRISM Configuration Utility Basics in this manual. 3.
Figure 2.2-2: The Welcome Dialog Box d) In the Software License Agreement dialog box, choose Yes to accept the agreement. Click No will stop the installation. Figure 2.2-3: The Software License Agreement Dialog Box e) When the Setup Complete dialog box is prompted, click Finish.
Figure 2.2-4: The Setup Complete Dialog Box f) Restart your computer then. g) After rebooting, Windows will automatically detect the 802.11b Wireless LAN USB Module and display the New Hardware Found message box as below. Meanwhile, you will find the PRISM Configuration Utility icon appeared in the system tray. Figure 2.2-5: The New Hardware Found Message Box Within a few seconds, windows will automatically finish installing the hardware drivers.
Figure 2.3-1: The PRISM Driver for Windows –Welcome Dialog Box c) In the opened Welcome dialog box, click Next. Choose Cancel will stop off the installation. Figure 2.3-2: The Welcome Dialog Box d) Choose Yes in the Software License Agreement dialog box to accept the agreement. If you click No, the setup will be interrupted. To go back to the previous dialog box, choose Back.
Figure 2.3-3: The Software License Agreement Dialog Box e) Click Finish when the Setup Complete dialog box appears to complete installing the attached utility. Figure 2.3-4: The Setup Complete Dialog Box f) Windows 2000 will automatically detect your 802.11b WLAN USB Module and start up the installation with the appearance of the Found New Hardware message box. g) Then you will be notified that the driver has not passed Windows Logo testing.
Figure 2.3-5: The Digital Signature Not Found Dialog Box The installation is entirely finished afterwards. Double-click the PRSIM Configuration Utility tray icon on the right bottom of the screen to arrange more settings for the network connection. To learn more about the application, please refer to PRISM Configuration Utility Basics in this manual 2.4 Installation Procedures for Windows XP Users a) Insert the supplied Setup CD into your CD-ROM drive, the Setup Wizard will run automatically.
Figure 2.4-2: The Welcome Dialog Box d) Choose Yes in the Software License Agreement dialog box to agree to it. If you click No, the setup will be interrupted. To go back to the previous dialog box, choose Back. e) In the Setup Complete dialog box, click Finish. Figure 2.4-3: The Setup Complete Dialog Box f) The Found New Hardware Wizard dialog box will appear and detect your 802.11b WLAN USB Module. g) Choose Install the software automatically [Recommended], and then click Next.
Figure 2.4-4: The Found New Hardware Wizard Dialog Box h) When you see the following dialog box shown, your system is looking for the appropriate driver files. Then Windows XP will start copying the drivers found. Figure 2.4-5: Looking for drivers i) Windows will notify you that the driver has not passed Windows Logo testing. Because USB Module has been tested to work with Windows XP, please choose Continue Anyway.
Figure 2.4-6: The Hardware Installation Dialog Box j) Click the Finish button after seeing the Completing the Found New Hardware Wizard screen. Figure 2.4-7: The Complete Screen k) You will find the PRISM Configuration Utility icon appeared in the system tray. Double-click the icon to launch the application and open the PRISM Wireless Settings dialog box, in which two tabs are contained. However, normally, the dialog box should be consisted of four tabs.
Configuration Utility. Figure 2.4-8: The PRISM Configuration Utility Tray Icon Figure 2.4-9: The PRISM Wireless Settings Dialog Box l) Right-click the Network Connections icon at the task bar to open the Wireless Network Connection Status dialog box, and then select Properties. Figure 2.
dialog box, and remove the tick in the Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings checkbox. Figure 2.4-11: The Wireless Network Connection Properties Dialog Box n) Click OK. Now, you have successfully removed the Windows Zero Configuration. To monitor and configure the network via PRISM Configuration Utility, double-click its tray icon, and you should find four tabs contained in the popped up PRISM Wireless Settings dialog box at this time.
4. From the opened dialog box, on the General tab, find the descriptions under the Device Status pane to learn if the module is working properly. However, if there’s an error message shown, please choose Uninstall from the opened menu while right-clicking over the USB Adapter item, which is attached a red or yellow icon beside, in the Device Manager dialog box. Then restart your system and go through the installation procedures again. The following picture indicates a successful installation of the 802.
3. CONFIGURATION FOR WINDOWS XP As you have already known, Windows XP has its built-in configuration tools – Windows XP Zero Configuration, to assist you in some basic configurations of wireless network connection. The service starts right after the completion of the installation of 802.11b WLAN USB Module, and you will find the icon automatically appears in your system tray like the following picture shows.
To Configure the Wireless Networks Properties If you cannot establish a connection with the chosen entry or you wish to configure further wireless network connection settings, choose the Advanced button in the Connect to Wireless Network dialogue box.
The Wireless Networks tab is mainly consisted of two sections: Available networks and Preferred networks. Under the Available networks area, all the available access points or Wireless LAN PC Card equipped computers are displayed. You may wish to click Refresh to update the list. If you choose any listed item in the field and then click Configure, the Wireless Network Properties dialog box will appear, as Figure 3-5 shows.
keys for the network you intend to connect in the Network Key field. Meanwhile, the Key format and Key length options change the settings according to Network Key string you typed. Click OK when you are finished, and you will be back to the Wireless Network Connection Properties dialog box. Figure 3-6: Enter WEP Note: For more details of this tab, you may click the link: setting up wireless network configuration at the bottom of the Wireless networks tab to launch the Windows XP Online-Help.
Figure 3-8 The Advanced Dialog Box: The open Advanced dialog box provides three options, Any available network, Access point networks only, and Computer-to-computer networks only. Choose either one of them according to your need, and then click Close to finish. Then you will find under the Available networks area in the Wireless Network Connection Properties dialog box, only the specified networks are displayed. Note: If you wish to use the attached application –PRISM Configuration Utility of the 802.
4. PRISM CONFIGURATION UTILITY BASICS After successfully installing the driver for your 802.11b Wireless LAN USB Module on your computer, you may see the PRISM Configuration Utility icon, , displayed in the system tray. To set configurations for your USB Module, simply double-click on the icon to open the PRISM Wireless Settings dialog box, in which four tabs are contained, including Status, Configuration, Encryption, and About.
Figure 4.2-1: Right-click Menu of the Tray Icon Check the descriptions below to obtain detailed information about each command in the menu. Wireless Radio On Choose the Wireless Radio On command to receive the radio frequency signal. Wireless Radio Off Choose Wireless Radio Off command will stop receiving the radio frequency signal.
Advanced Configuration Choose this command to launch the Configuration tab of the PRISM Wireless Settings dialog box. Please refer to The Configuration Tab in The Utility Function section below to gain more information about the tab. WEP Encryption Choose this command to launch the Encryption tab of the PRISM Wireless Settings dialog box. This tab offers you various options to maintain the secure management in a wireless LAN environment.
Note: Choose the Wireless Network Status command from the right-click menu of PRISM Configuration Utility tray icon will launch this tab too. Figure 4.3-2: The Status Tab Note: The texts before ”PRISM Wireless Settings” in the caption bar of the dialog box is the profile name of the current connection. Thus, the caption contexts vary according to the connectivity at the given time. Take the picture above for example; the associated profile is named “Wireless”.
Link Quality Link Quality is based on the percentage of successfully transmitted or received signal of the associated access point beacon within a limited period. The higher the percentage, the better the link quality. The bar graph beside also provides a visual interpretation of the current link quality. It is note that the Link Quality and Signal Strength features only apply to the infrastructure mode. They are inapplicable in the Ad-Hoc mode since data will be transferred from many different computers.
Note: You will have at least one profile named ANY, which allows a link with an Access Point or another Wireless LAN PC Card equipped computer at the given time. When you click the Defaults button under the tab, a profile of the current connection is created. Network Name Network Name is also known as SSID, standing for Service Set Identifier, must be unique to distinguish itself as a particular wireless network, and all wireless points in this network area share the same SSID.
select the Cancel button. Note: Choose the WEP Encryption command from the right-click menu of PRISM Configuration Utility tray icon will launch this tab too. Figure 4.3-4: The Encryption Tab Encryption (WEP security) If you choose Disabled from the pull-down list, you will have the wireless module communicated with all stations within the same networking community without any data encryption. Otherwise, two key lengths are offered: 64 bit and 128 bit.
menu. Make sure that the intended access point on the wireless network shares the same keys. By default, Key 1 will be used. Create Keys with Passphrase Choose this command when the associated wireless network uses a passphrase to create WEP keys. Enter the passphrase stings in the Passphrase filed to generate four encryption keys in the Key fields above. Note that only letters A-F are valid for the Passphrase feature.
APPENDIX A: TROUBLESHOOTING This section provides solutions to problems that you might encounter during the installation and operation of your 802.11b WLAN USB Module. Please refer to the desired topics below and read the description to solve your problems.
2. Select System to open the System Properties dialog box, and then under the Hardware tab, click the Device Manager button to open the Device Manager dialog box. 3. Double-click the Other devices item in the list to show the USB 802.11b WLAN DEVICE icon, which is displayed with a yellow icon beside. Right-click the icon and choose Properties from the opened menu. Figure 5-1: The Device Manager Dialog Box 4. In the opened dialog box, click the Update Driver button under the Driver tab.
5. Click Next in the Upgrade Device Driver Wizard dialog box to continue. Figure 5-3: The Upgrade Device Driver Wizard Dialog Box 6. On the Install Hardware Device Drivers screen, choose Display a list of unknown drivers for this device so that I can choose a specific driver. Click Next then. Figure 5-4: The Install Hardware Device Drivers Screen 7. Choose Network adapters on the Hardware Type screen, and then click Next.
Figure 5-5: The Hardware Type Screen 8. On the Select Network Adapter screen, choose WLAN under Manufacturers and WLAN IEEE802.11b PRISM3 USB Adapter under Network Adapter, and click Next to proceed. Figure 5-6: The Select Network Adapter Screen 9. When the Update Driver Waning message box appears, click Yes.
Figure 5-7: The Update Driver Waning Message Box 10. The Start Device Driver Installation screen will be displayed to notify that the wizard is ready to upgrade the driver for the hardware device. Choose the Next button. Figure 5-8: The Start Device Driver Installation Dialog Box 11. In the prompted Digital Signature Not Found dialog box, click Yes to let 802.
12. Click Finish when you see the following window. The driver and software installations are entirely complete at the time. Figure 5-10: The Complete Screen For Windows 98: Close the Close Program Dialog Box During the Installation If you are using Windows 98, during the installation process, you might be notified with the Close Program dialog box after indicating the Windows to install the required files on the Windows 98 CD-ROM. Figure 5-11: The Close Program Dialog Box This is however normal.
APPENDIX B: SPECIFICATIONS Product Name 802.11b 11 Mbps WLAN USB Module Model Name WM168b Host Interface Std. USB 1. 1 I/F Dimensions 25 (W) x 60 (L) x 4.3 (H) mm Weight 7.5g Frequency Band 2.400 ~ 2.4835GHz (subject to local regulations) Number of Channel 11 channels (US, Canada); 13 channels (ETSI); 14 channels (Japan) Operating Voltage 3.
APPENDIX C: GLOSSARY 802.11b – 802.11b is one of the IEEE standards for wireless LANs and specifies a data transfer rate of 5.5 and up to 11 megabit per second in the 2.4 gigahertz radio band. 802.11b is recently given other widespread names as Wi-Fi or Wireless Fidelity. Ad-hoc Network - Ad-hoc network, also known as peer-to-peer network, means a wireless network which is composed only of stations. This type of network is created with a group of wireless-equipped computers.
and other devices intending to communicate with a specific WLAN cannot achieve successful network connectivity unless presenting the identical SSID. From some perspective, an SSID performs as a kind of password to supply a measure of security on the WLAN. However, if an access point is set to “broadcast” its SSID, this essential security is no longer remained. An SSID is also known as a Network Name. WEP - Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is a security mechanism for wireless local area networks.
