® Wireless Local Area Network Card WL-106gM (For 240 MIMO Wireless Network) ® LINK ACT User Manual E 2305/ Dec 2005
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Table of Contents 1. Introduction ..............................................................................5 Overview ................................................................................................5 Package contents ..................................................................................6 Features .................................................................................................6 2. Installation .................................................................
Chapter 1 - Introduction Chapter 1 Introduction 1. Introduction Overview What is MIMO? MIMO, which stands for Multiple Input Multiple Output, is a technology that uses multiple transmitters and receivers simultaneously to expand the signal range. Taking advantage of multipath propagation, MIMO enabled wireless devices can efficiently increase network throughput, range/coverage, and reliability. Instead of combating multipath signals which is conducted by IEEE802.
Chapter 1 - Introduction Chapter 1 Introduction Package contents Check the following items in your ASUS Cardbus Wireless LAN Adapter package. Contact your retailer if any item is damaged or missing. 1 x ASUS Wireless LAN Adapter (WL-106gM) 1 x Support CD 1 x Quick Start Guide Features Standard PCMCIA slot Type II, MIMO Gen3, OFDM, DSSS, Supports Infrastructure and Ad-hoc networks; Compatible with IEEE 802.11b and 802.11g devices.
Chapter 2 - Installation 2. Installation System Requirements Chapter 2 Installation To begin using the WLAN Card, you must meet the following minimum requirements: • Windows XP/2000 • Standard PCMCIA slot Type II or Type III for notebook computer • 128MB system memory or larger • 750MHz processor or higher Important: Install the WLAN card utilities before inserting the WLAN Card into your computer.
Chapter 2 - Installation Chapter 2 Installation 5. The installation process takes several seconds. 6. When Setup is complete, click Finish to exit the installation wizard and restart the computer. 7. Carefully insert the WLAN card into your computerʼs PCMCIA slot. Windows will automatically detect and configure the WLAN Card using the utilities and drivers installed in the previous steps. 8.
Chapter 2 - Installation One Touch Wizard Chapter 2 Installation Use One Touch Wizard to setup your wireless connection with an existing wireless LAN. 1. Launch One Touch Wizard from Start menu and click Next to set up your wireless network. 2. Select an AP from the Available Networks field, then click Next. 3. Connection is complete. Click Next to setup the IP address for the WLAN card. 4. Choose to obtain an IP address or to assign static address manually for your WLAN card.
Chapter 2 - Installation Configuring with the WLAN utility (Infrastructure) Use ASUS WLAN utlity to get connected with an existing wireless network. Chapter 2 Installation 10 1. Right-click the wireless connection icon and select Wireless Settings. 2. Chcek the Config page to set the SSID (network name) to that of your wireless AP. 3. Use Site Survey if you donʼt know the SSID of your access point(s). 4. Encryption settings must match those at the access point.
Chapter 2 - Installation Configuring with the WLAN utility (Ad Hoc) Chapter 2 Installation The WLAN card supports Ad Hoc mode which allows communication between wireless stations without an AP. 1. Right-click the wireless connection icon and select Wireless Settings. 2. Click the Config button and set the WLAN Card to Ad Hoc connection mode. 3. Click the Survey button to scan for Ad Hoc nodes. Select the node you want to communicate with and press Connect. 4.
Chapter 3 - Software Reference 3. Software Reference ASUS WLAN Control Center ASUS WLAN Control Center is an application which makes it easier to launch WLAN applications and activate network location settings. The WLAN Control Center starts automatically when system boots. When WLAN Control Center is running, you can see a Control Center icon on the Windows taskbar.
Chapter 3 - Reference Taskbar icon - Right-click menu Right-click the taskbar icon to show the following menu items: • • Wireless Settings – Launches Wireless Settings application. Activate Configuration – Allows you to choose a preset profile. Mobile Manager – Launches Mobile Manager application. Site Monitor – Launches the Site Monitor application. Preferences – Customizes the Control Center program.
Chapter 3 - Software Reference ASUS Wireless Settings Utility Wireless Settings is an application for managing the WLAN Card. Use Wireless Settings to view or modify the configuration settings, or to monitor the operational status of your WLAN Card. When Wireless Settings is launched, you can see the tabbed property sheets which categorize the configuration options into groups. Starting Wireless Settings • Open the Windows Control Panel, then double-click the ASUS WLAN Card Settings icon.
Chapter 3 - Reference Scanning... - The station is trying to authenticate and associate with an access point or Ad Hoc node. Disconnected - The WLAN Card is installed to the system, but not yet connected to a wireless device. SSID Displays the Service Set Identifier (SSID) of the device that the card is either associated or intending to join. MAC address Chapter 3 Software Reference Shows the hardware address of the WLAN Card.
Chapter 3 - Software Reference Save Configuration When you make settings for a certain working environment, you may need to save your settings to a profile so that you can easily switch to the settings without repeating the configurations. For example, you can set profiles for work, home and other situations. When you travel form home to work, choose the "office" profile that contains all your settings for office use. When you travel back home, choose the “home” profile.
Chapter 3 - Reference Status - IP Config IP Config tab shows all the current host and WLAN Card information including host name, DNS servers, IP address, subnet mask and default gateway. Button IP Release - If you want to remove the current IP address, click this button to release the IP address from DHCP server. Chapter 3 Software Reference IP Renew - If you want to obtain a new IP address from DHCP server, click this button to renew the IP address.
Chapter 3 - Software Reference Config - Basic This page enables you to change the WLAN Card configurations. Network Type Infrastructure – Infrastructure means to establish a connection with an access point. Once connected, the access point allows you to access wireless LAN and wired LAN (Ethernet). The Channel field turns to Auto if the connection is based on Infrastructure.
Chapter 3 - Reference Others Encryption – Click this link to show the "Encryption" tab. Advanced – Click this link to show the "Advanced" tab. In most cases, the default values do not have to be changed. Troubleshooting – Click on this to show the Troubleshooting utility. Config - Advanced Chapter 3 Software Reference Click Advanced link on Config-Basic page to show this tab. This tab allows you to set up additional parameters for the wireless card.
Chapter 3 - Software Reference Config - Encryption This page enables you to configure the Wireless LAN Card encryption settings. For data confidentiality in a wireless environment, IEEE 802.11 specifies a Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) algorithm to offer transmission privacy. The WEP uses keys to encrypt and decrypt data packets. The encryption process can scramble frame bits to avoid disclosure to others. The WPA/WPA2 is improved security system for 802.
Chapter 3 - Reference Data encryption For Open and Shared authentication mode, the configuration options of encryption type are Disabled and WEP. For WPA, WPA-PSK, WPA2 and WPA2-PSK authentication mode, Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) encryption and Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption are supported. Disabled - Disable the encryption function. WEP - WEP Key is used to encrypt your data before it is transmitted over air.
Chapter 3 - Software Reference 2. Automatic Generation - Type a combination of up to 64 letters, numbers, or symbols in the Passphrase box, the Wireless Settings Utility automatically uses an algorithm to generate four WEP Keys. Select one as your Default Key The Default Key field allows you specify which of the four encryption keys is to use for transmitting data over wireless LAN.
Chapter 3 - Reference Config - Authentication This tab allows you to set the security settings to match those of your AP. It is configurable only if you have set Network Authentication to WPA or WPA2 in Config-Encryption tab. Authentication Type The authentication type methods include: Chapter 3 Software Reference PEAP: PEAP (Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol) authentication is a version of Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP).
Chapter 3 - Software Reference • • • RSSI: The Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) transmitted by each network. This information is helpful in determining which network to associate to. The value is then normalized to a dBm value. Encryption: Wireless network encryption information. All devices in the network should use the same encryption method to ensure the communication. BSSID: The media access control (MAC) address of the access point or the Basic Service Set ID of the Ad Hoc node.
Chapter 3 - Reference Link State WLAN Card “Link State” icon appears on the left side of the WLAN Card Settings. Use the icon to view the current signal status. Excellent Link Quality (Infrastructure) Good Link Quality (Infrastructure) Fair Link Quality (Infrastructure) Poor Link Quality (Infrastructure) Chapter 3 Software Reference Not linked (Infrastructure) Exit Wireless Settings To exit Wireless Settings, you can click OK or Cancel.
Chapter 3 - Software Reference Windows® XP Wireless Options The wireless options window shown below is only available for Windows® XP. It appears when you run the Control Center utility at the first time. Select the utility you want to use for configuring your WLAN Card. Only use Windows wireless function – Only use Windows ® XP Wireless Zero Configuration service to configure the WLAN Card. Only use our WLAN utilities and disable XP wireless function – Only use ASUS WLAN utilities to configure the WLAN Card.
Chapter 3 - Reference 1. The General page shows status, duration, speed, and signal strength. Signal strength is represented by green bars with 5 bars indicating excellent signal and 1 bar meaning poor signal. 2. Select “Wireless Networks” tab to show Preferred networks. Use the Add button to add the “SSID” of available networks and set the connection preference order with the Move up and Move down buttons. The radio tower with a signal icon identifies the currently connected access point.
Chapter 4 - Troubleshooting 4. Troubleshooting The following troubleshooting guides provide answers to some of the more common problems, which you may encounter while installing or using WLAN Card products. If you encounter difficulties that are not mentioned in this section, please contact Wireless LAN Technical Support. Verify if the WLAN Card is installed correctly. When the WLAN Card setup is complete, you can verify if the driver has been setup properly.
Chapter 4 - Troubleshooting Cannot connect to a Station (WLAN Card) Follow the procedure below to configure your WLAN Card. a. Verify that the “Network Type” is in “Ad Hoc” mode. b. Verify that the “SSID” of your WLAN Card is set to the same “SSID” of the other station (or another WLAN Card). c. Verify that the “channel” of the WLAN Card is “Auto” or set to the same “channel” of the other station (or another WLAN Card). d.
Chapter 5 - Glossary 5. Glossary Access Point (AP) An networking device that seamlessly connects wired and wireless networks. access points combined with a distributed system support the creation of multiple radio cells that enable roaming throughout a facility. Ad Hoc A wireless network composed solely of stations within mutual communication range of each other (no access point). Basic Rate Set This option allows you to specify the data transmission rate.
Chapter 5 - Glossary Each subchannel in the COFDM implementation is about 300 KHz wide. At the low end of the speed gradient, BPSK (binary phase shift keying) is used to encode 125 Kbps of data per channel, resulting in a 6,000-Kbps, or 6 Mbps, data rate. Using quadrature phase shift keying, you can double the amount of data encoded to 250 Kbps per channel, yielding a 12-Mbps data rate. And by using 16-level quadrature amplitude modulation encoding 4 bits per hertz, you can achieve a data rate of 24 Mbps.
Chapter 5 - Glossary Direct-sequence systems communicate by continuously transmitting a redundant pattern of bits called a chipping sequence. Each bit of transmitted data is mapped into chips and rearranged into a pseudorandom spreading code to form the chipping sequence. The chipping sequence is combined with a transmitted data stream to produce the output signal.
Chapter 5 - Glossary Ethernet The most widely used LAN access method, which is defined by the IEEE 802.3 standard. Ethernet is normally a shared media LAN meaning all devices on the network segment share total bandwidth. Ethernet networks operate at 10Mbps using CSMA/CD to run over 10-BaseT cables. Firewall A firewall determines which information passes in and out of a network. NAT can create a natural firewall by hiding a local networkʼs IP addresses from the Internet.
Chapter 5 - Glossary The 802.11b spectrum is plagued by saturation from wireless phones, microwave ovens and other emerging wireless technologies, such as Bluetooth. In contrast, 802.11a spectrum is relatively free of interference. The 802.11a standard gains some of its performance from the higher frequencies at which it operates. The laws of information theory tie frequency, radiated power and distance together in an inverse relationship. Thus, moving up to the 5-GHz spectrum from 2.
Chapter 5 - Glossary IP (Internet Protocol) The TCP/IP standard protocol that defines the IP datagram as the unit of information passed across an Internet and provides the basis for connectionless packet delivery service. IP includes the ICMP control and error message protocol as an integral part. It provides the functional equivalent of ISO OSI Network Services. IP Address An IP address is a 32-bit number that identifies each sender or receiver of information that is sent across the Internet.
Chapter 5 - Glossary Packet A basic message unit for communication across a network. A packet usually includes routing information, data, and sometimes error detection information. Pass Phrase The Wireless Settings utility uses an algorithm to generate four WEP keys based on the typed combination. PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) PPP is a protocol for communication between computers using a serial interface, typically a personal computer connected by phone line to a server.
Chapter 5 - Glossary TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) The standard transport level protocol that provides the full duplex, stream service on which many application protocols depend. TCP allows a process or one machine to send a stream of data to a process on another. Software implementing TCP usually resides in the operating system and uses the IP to transmit information across the network. WAN (Wide Area Network) A system of LANs, connected together.
Chapter 6 - Appendix 6. Appendix FCC Warning Statement This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that undesired operation. may cause 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.
Chapter 6 - Appendix Declaration of Conformity for R&TTE directive 1999/5/EC Essential requirements – Article 3 Protection requirements for health and safety – Article 3.1a Testing for electric safety according to EN 60950-1 has been conducted. These are considered relevant and sufficient. Protection requirements for electromagnetic compatibility – Article 3.1b Testing for electromagnetic compatibility according to EN 301 489-1 and EN 301 489-17 has been conducted.
