Wireless LAN USB Adapter User Manual Version: 1.0 (December.
Wireless LAN USB Adapter Copyright Copyright 2003 by this company. All rights reserved.
Wireless LAN USB Adapter Federal Communication Commission Interference Statement This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation.
Wireless LAN USB Adapter This equipment is designed with the utmost care for the safety of those who install and use it. However, special attention must be paid to the dangers of electric shock and static electricity when working with electrical equipment. All guidelines of this and of the computer manufacture must therefore be allowed at all times to ensure the safe use of the equipment.
Wireless LAN USB Adapter Manual Contents Chapter 1 Introduction ……………………………………………… 1 Chapter 2 Initial Installation ……………………………………………… 2 Chapter 3 Upgrade the Driver ……………………………………………… 4 Chapter 4 System Tray Icon ……………………………………………… 6 Chapter 5 Icon Menu ……………………………………………… 7 Chapter 6 Configuration Utility ……………………………………………… 8 Chapter 7 Settings ……………………………………………… 9 7.3 Encryption Menu ……………………………………………… 9 ……………………………………………… 10 ……………………………………………… 12 7.
Wireless LAN USB Adapter Chapter 1 Introduction The equipment enables high-speed access without wires to network assets. This adapter uses the IEEE 802.11 protocol to enable wireless communications between the host computer and other computers, in the same way that the computer would use an Ethernet adapter.
Wireless LAN USB Adapter Chapter 2 Initial Installation Note: Do not insert the WLAN Adapter until you are asked to do so, failure of which may result in unsuccessful install of your WLAN device. Please follow the following steps one by one in order to install the WLAN Adapter successfully. 1. Power on your computer and allow Windows 2000/XP to load fully. 2. Be sure that there is no Wireless LAN Adapter inserted yet. 3. Insert the given Installation CD in the CD-ROM and then click on the Setup.
Wireless LAN USB Adapter 5. Click Yes to continue the Digital Signature. 6. Connect your Wireless LAN USB Adapter to your computer. 7. After the OS reconizes the USB adapter, restart the computer.
Wireless LAN USB Adapter Chapter 3 Upgrade the Driver 1. Uninstall the Adapter Driver Note: Please jump to Step 3 if you have not installed any old WLAN driver before On the Windows desktop, right-click on the My Computer icon, move the mouse pointer to Properties, and click the left mouse button to display the System Properties window. Next click on the Device Manager tab (and the View devices by type radio button if it is not already selected).
Wireless LAN USB Adapter 2. Uninstall the Configuration Utility Next you must remove the old driver for your Wireless LAN adapter. Start by displaying the Windows control panel and opening the Add/Remove Programs window. Then, in the Install/Uninstall tab, click on the entry for 802.11g USB Wireless LAN Adapter. When you click on the Add/Remove ... button, Windows asks you to confirm that you want to completely remove the driver and all its components.
Wireless LAN USB Adapter Chapter 4 System Tray Icon The Configuration Utility is installed simultaneously with the driver. The following sections describe operation of the utility. After the installation of the adapter Configuration Utility, its icon appears in the System Tray in the bottom right corner of your desktop. The color behind the logo indicates the link status: Red indicates no or very poor link quality. Yellow indicates an usable but weak link. Green indicates a good or excellent link.
Wireless LAN USB Adapter Chapter 5 Icon Menu Clicking on the System Tool Tray Icon displays a menu similar to the following illustration: The first three items in this menu are present for adapters. The first two items let you turn the wireless radio on or off. When the wireless radio is turned off, the following icon appears in the system tray.
Wireless LAN USB Adapter Chapter 6 Configuration Utility You can launch the Configuration Utility by clicking on the Configuration Utility icon and selecting one of the last four commands in the pop-up menu. If the Configuration Utility icon is not displayed in the System Tray, you can restart the Configuration Utility from the Start Menu by selecting Programs and PRISMSTA The Configuration Utility consists of a window with a number of tabs.
Wireless LAN USB Adapter Chapter 7 Settings 7.1 Status Menu The Status menu displays information on the current status of your connection to the wireless LAN. You can display this menu by choosing the Wireless Network Status... command from the pop-up menu, or by clicking on the Status tab when the Configuration Utility is displayed on your desktop. The fields in this menu provide the following information: • State: shows the association state of your computer with the wireless LAN.
Wireless LAN USB Adapter • Current Channel: shows the channel on which the connection is made. In Infrastructure mode, this number changes as the radio scans the available channels. • Throughput: shows the short term transmit and receive throughput in bytes/second, and is continuously updated. • Link Quality: is based on the quality of the received signal of the Access Point beacon. • Signal Strength: is based on the received signal strength measurement of the baseband processor of the Beacon signal.
Wireless LAN USB Adapter A profile is a named set of operating parameters for your PRISM WLAN Interface adapter. The Profile Name: field lets you set values for all parameters by selecting a previously defined profile. Click the down arrow at the right of this field to display the available profiles for your 802.11g USB Wireless LAN Adapter. You will always have at least one profile, named Default. Initially, this profile contains the parameters configured at installation.
Wireless LAN USB Adapter Officially, in wireless networks the network name is known as the SSID (Service Set Identifier), and is used by Access Points and stations to identify a wireless LAN. Your PRISM WLAN Interface adapter scans the available channels looking for an Access Point or another station, which has specified this same SSID. It then attempts to associate with these Access Points or stations to form a wireless LAN.
Wireless LAN USB Adapter There are two encryption methods available. The IEEE 802.11 specification defines Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) using a 64-bit key. This capability was extended by the industry to allow a 128-bit key. If you specify an encryption method, you will only be able to communicate with Access Points and stations that use the same encryption method and keys.
Wireless LAN USB Adapter station with which you are communicating has the same key in the same position, you can use any of the keys as the default. Creating Encryption Keys Using a Passphrase To create encryption keys using a Passphrase, click the radio button next to Create Key with Passphrase and type a character string in the Passphrase field. As you type, the Configuration Utility displays asterisks to mask your Passphrase and uses an algorithm to generate four keys used for encryption.
Wireless LAN USB Adapter Some PRISM adapters are capable of operating in only a single transmission band. For these adapters, the Configuration utility displays the IBSS menu: When communicating in a peer-to-peer network, you may specify a channel on which you prefer communications to take place. To specify a channel, click on the channel to select it, and then click the Apply button. Note that this is not necessarily the channel on which peer-to-peer communications will be established.
Wireless LAN USB Adapter 7.6 About Menu The About menu provides information on the version of the Network Driver, the Configuration Utility, and the firmware in the PRISM WLAN Interface adapter. You can display this menu by choosing the Version Information... command from the pop-up menu, or by clicking on the about tab when the Configuration Utility is displayed on your desktop.
Wireless LAN USB Adapter Chapter 8 Advanced Properties Tab The Advanced Properties tab provides access to operating parameters for the PRISM adapter, which are not controlled by the configuration utility. These properties are accessed through the Windows hardware device manager. The following steps describe how to access these properties under Windows 2000.
Wireless LAN USB Adapter You can see the value for any of these properties by clicking on a property in the list in this display. If a value has been set for the property, it appears in the Value field to the right of the list. To disable a value, click in the Not Present radio button below the Value field. Moving the mouse pointer to the Value field and clicking once with the left mouse button allows you to change the value for the highlighted property.
Wireless LAN USB Adapter • Auto Maximum – specifies Disable mode when on AC power and Maximum mode when on battery Note: Auto Dynamic and Auto Maximum require NDIS 5.1 or later, typically available only on Windows XP.
Wireless LAN USB Adapter Chapter 9 Glossary A Ad-Hoc Mode - A client setting that provides independent peer-to-peer connectivity in a wireless LAN. An alterative setup is where PCs communicate with each other through an access point. An Ad-hoc integrated wireless LAN is a group of computers, each has a Wireless LAN adapter, Connected as an independent wireless LAN. Ad hoc wireless LAN is applicable at a departmental scale for a branch or SOHO operation.
Wireless LAN USB Adapter E Encryption - A security method that applies a specific algorithm to data in order to alter the data's appearance and prevent other devices from reading the information. 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 10Mbp using CSMA/CD to run over 10Base T cables.
Wireless LAN USB Adapter LAN - A local area network (LAN) is a group of computers and associated devices that share a common communications line and typically share the resources of a single processor or server within a small geographic area (for example, within an office building). M MAC Address - 12-digit hexadecimal number that identifies a networking product on the network. Mbps (Megabits per second) - One million bits per second; unit of measurement for data transmission.
Wireless LAN USB Adapter Signal Strength - The signal level indicates the strength of the signal as received at the wireless network interface. SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) - A standard network protocol that can be used to manage networks locally, or worldwide via the Internet. Spread Spectrum - Spread Spectrum technology is a wideband radio frequency technique developed by the military for use in reliable, secure, mission-critical communication systems.