AR5001 User Guide PRELIMINARY Revision July 2002
PRELIMINARY © 2000–2002 by Atheros Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. ATHEROS, the Atheros logo, 5-UP, Driving the Wireless Future, Atheros Driven, Atheros Turbo Mode, and the Air is Cleaner at 5-GHz are trademarks of Atheros Communications, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders. Notice The information in this document has been carefully reviewed and is believed to be accurate.
PRELIMINARY Document Conventions Text Conventions bold Bold type within paragraph text indicates commands, file names, directory names, paths, output, or returned values. Example: The DK_Client package will not function unless you use the wdreg_install batchfile. italic Within commands, italics indicate a variable that the user must specify. Example: mem_alloc size_in_bytes Titles of manuals or other published documents are also set in italics. Courier The Courier font indicates output or display.
PRELIMINARY Revision History Revision Description of Changes June 2002 Initial release. O D iv • AR5001 STA User’s Guide iv • July 2002 T O N Y P O C Atheros Communications, Inc.
PRELIMINARY Contents List of Figures . List of Tables . Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix Y P O C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi About this Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii Additional Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
PRELIMINARY 3 Windows 98 Second Edition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1 Driver Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1 Driver Uninstallation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4 Device Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7 Selecting Encryption Types Infrastructure Mode . . Ad Hoc Mode . . . . . TCP/IP Setup . . . . . 4 Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
PRELIMINARY Preface This user's guide provides the necessary information for first-time users to successfully install the Atheros Network Driver Interface Specification (NDIS) driver, for the purpose of evaluating and/or operating the Atheros AR5001 Station Reference Design in a Microsoft Windows environment. This guide also provides information for users who wish to upgrade the Atheros NDIS driver from previous releases.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 4 Windows XP—Installation/Uninstallation Procedures and Device/Network Configurations for Windows XP. Audience This document is intended for Atheros customers who wish to install and evaluate the Atheros AR5001 Station Reference Design in the supported Microsoft Windows environments. Additional Resources Y P O C Atheros Reference Design hardware, software, and documentation contain proprietary information of Atheros Communications, Inc.
1 PRELIMINARY 1 Introduction Y P O C The Atheros AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter is an IEEE 802.11a two-chip solution reference design based on the Atheros AR5111 and AR5311 chipset. This reference design implements a half-duplex, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) baseband processor supporting all IEEE 802.11a data rates (6 to 54 Mbps) and 802.11b. It also supports the Atheros Turbo ModeTM supporting data rates up to 108 Mbps. The host interface is compatible with the PC Card 7.
1 Chapter PRELIMINARY System Requirements ■ ■ Laptop PC containing: – 32-bit CardBus slot (or Desktop PC with PC Card-PCI adapter) – 32 MB memory or greater – 300 MHz processor or higher Microsoft Windows 2000/Windows Millennium Edition/Windows 98 Second Edition/Windows XP/Windows NT 4.0 (with Service Pack 6) O D 1-2 • 1-2 • T O N AR5001 STA User’s Guide July 2002 Y P O C Atheros Communications, Inc.
2 PRELIMINARY 2 Windows 2000 Y P O C This chapter describes the Windows 2000 driver installation. Driver Installation (First-Time Install) T O N This section describes the first-time installation for the driver for Windows 2000. If you have a previously installed driver, refer to the section “Driver Installation (Previous Driver Installed)” on page 2-6. Atheros recommends that you remove any existing Atheros drivers (NDIS, DK, or TDI) on the PC system before installing the Version 1.
2 Chapter PRELIMINARY Insert the Atheros AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter into a 32-bit CardBus slot and follow these steps to install the NDIS driver: 1. Wait for the following dialog box to display. T O N 2. Click Next to continue. Y P O C 3. Choose “Search for a suitable driver for my device (recommended).” O D 4. Click Next. 2-2 • 2-2 • AR5001 STA User’s Guide July 2002 Atheros Communications, Inc.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 2 5. Insert the Release CD in your CD-ROM drive. Y P O C 6. Choose Specify a location under “Optional search locations.” T O N 7. Click Next to continue. 8. Browse to the location where the NDIS driver is located (assuming D is the CD-ROM drive), the default folder is D:\ndis\bin\production\ndis5. O D 9. Click OK to continue. Atheros Communications, Inc.
2 Chapter PRELIMINARY 10. When you find the Atheros driver installation file (net5211.inf), click Next to continue. T O N Y P O C 11. The Atheros NDIS evaluation driver currently does not have a digital signature from Microsoft. Therefore, Windows 2000 shows a warning message. Click Yes to proceed with driver installation. O D 2-4 • 2-4 • AR5001 STA User’s Guide July 2002 Atheros Communications, Inc.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 2 12. Click Finish to complete the driver installation. See “Device Configuration” on page 2-17 for the device configuration information. O D Atheros Communications, Inc.
2 Chapter PRELIMINARY Driver Installation (Previous Driver Installed) If the system already has a previous release of the Atheros NDIS installed, Windows does not prompt for the device driver when the WLAN Card is inserted. Follow the steps below to update the NDIS driver: 1. Start System Properties from Control Panel. Under Hardware tab, click Device Manager. O D 2-6 • 2-6 • T O N AR5001 STA User’s Guide July 2002 Y P O C Atheros Communications, Inc.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 2 2. Within Device Manager, right-click “Atheros AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter” under “Network adapters” device node, and click Properties. T O N Y P O C 3. Click Update Driver... from the Driver tab. Note the Driver Version that you are updating from. You may need to verify this field again after driver update completes to make sure the driver has been updated correctly. O D Atheros Communications, Inc.
2 Chapter PRELIMINARY 4. Click Next to continue. Y P O C 5. Choose “Display a list of the known drivers for this device so that I can choose a specific driver.” O D T O N 6. Click Next to continue. 2-8 • 2-8 • AR5001 STA User’s Guide July 2002 Atheros Communications, Inc.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 2 7. Insert the Release CD into your CD-ROM drive. Click Have Disk... to continue. T O N Y P O C 8. Click Browse to specify the location where the NDIS driver is located (assuming D is the CD-ROM drive), the default folder is “D:\ndis\bin\production\ndis5”. O D 9. Click OK to continue. Atheros Communications, Inc.
2 Chapter PRELIMINARY 10. Select “Atheros AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter” from the list. T O N 11. Click Next to continue. Y P O C 12. Click Yes to continue when Windows displays the warning message. O D 2-10 • 2-10 • AR5001 STA User’s Guide July 2002 Atheros Communications, Inc.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 2 13. Click Next to proceed with the installation. T O N Y P O C 14. The Atheros NDIS evaluation driver currently does not have a digital signature from Microsoft. Therefore, Windows 2000 shows a warning message. Click Yes to proceed with driver installation. O D Atheros Communications, Inc.
2 Chapter PRELIMINARY 15. Click Finish. Y P O C 16. Note that Driver Version should display 2.0 as the major revision number. Click OK to continue. O D 2-12 • 2-12 • T O N AR5001 STA User’s Guide July 2002 Atheros Communications, Inc.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 2 17. Click Yes to restart system. 18. After the system restarts, the “Atheros AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter” will display under “Network adapters” in the Device Manager. Proceed to Section “Device Configuration” on page 2-17 for device configuration information. O D Atheros Communications, Inc.
2 Chapter PRELIMINARY Driver Uninstallation This section provides information about uninstallation procedures required for upgrading the NDIS driver from previous Atheros software releases. If the system does not have previously installed versions of the NDIS driver and you wish to remove the newly installed driver from the system, proceed to Step 4. The NDIS driver since Release 1.0 no longer leverages the Transport Driver Interface (TDI) protocol to provide the LinkMon programming interface.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 2 3. When the device is uninstalled from Device Manager, search for and delete the driver files that reside in the system. a. Go to the Start menu and choose Search For Files or Folders... b. Enter “oem*.inf” in the “Search for files or folders named “field”, and enter Atheros in the “Containing text:” field. c. Click Search Now. A few files matching these criteria are possible, if previous drivers have not been removed properly. d.
2 Chapter PRELIMINARY 4. To complete the uninstallation, remove the file “ar5211.sys” from the “\WINNT\system32\drivers” folder. O D 2-16 • 2-16 • T O N AR5001 STA User’s Guide July 2002 Y P O C Atheros Communications, Inc.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 2 Device Configuration Configuration of the Atheros AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter can be done through the Network Control Panel (NCP) in adapter properties. You can set the Wireless Network Adapter to work in one of two modes, either infrastructure mode (which leverages an AP) or ad hoc mode (which consists of a group of stations participating in the WLAN).
2 Chapter PRELIMINARY In ad hoc mode, a Wireless Network Adapter works within an independent basic service set (IBSS), as illustrated in Figure 2-2. All stations communicate directly with other stations without an AP. STA1 STA3 Y P O C STA5 STA2 STA4 Figure 2-2. Ad Hoc Mode O D 2-18 • 2-18 • T O N AR5001 STA User’s Guide July 2002 Atheros Communications, Inc.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 2 To configure the AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter: 1. In the Device Manager, right-click “Atheros AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter,” and click Properties to access the properties of the adapter. T O N Y P O C 2. Configuration additions, modifications, and deletions are made under the “Settings” tab of the “Atheros AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter” properties. O D Atheros Communications, Inc.
2 Chapter PRELIMINARY 3. Select one of the configurations under the configuration list, and click Modify to show the “Network Configuration Settings” screen. This property sheet has two pages: General and Security. Table 2-1 provides descriptions for the fields on the General page. Table 2-1. General Dialog Field Descriptions Field Name Description Configuration Name This field identifies the configuration. This name must be unique. Configuration names are case insensitive.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 2 4. To enter a value in the address field, the check box needs to be selected. Typically, an LAA is not required, because the driver automatically loads a unique, globally administered address from the EEPROM. T O N Y P O C 5. Use the Security tab on the Network Configuration Settings dialog to select security features. O D Atheros Communications, Inc.
2 Chapter PRELIMINARY Table 2-2 provides descriptions for the fields on the Security dialog. Table 2-2. Security Dialog Field Descriptions Field Name Description Enable Security Completely enables or disables the IEEE 802.11 wired equivalent privacy (WEP) security feature. Default Encryption Key Defines the type of encryption key to use (either Unique Key or Shared Keys).
PRELIMINARY Chapter 2 Selecting Encryption Types Atheros supports two encryption types; Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and Advanced Encryption Security (AES). While WEP is universally supported and commonly used, AES provides a much higher level of security, that is, frames encrypted with AES are more difficult to decipher without knowing the key. To use AES, you must specify a unique key (refer to Table 2-2 on page 2-22).
2 Chapter PRELIMINARY Table 2-3 provides descriptions for the fields on the Network Configuration Setting, Advanced tab dialog. Table 2-3. Advanced Dialog Field Descriptions Field Name Description Wireless Mode Specifies 802.11a, 802.11b, or autoselect operation. Autoselect allows the use of both 802.11a and 802.11b modes. Ad Hoc Mode Specifies a band to establish an ad hoc network if no matching SSID is found after scanning all available modes. 802.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 2 NOTE: Fragmentation is currently not supported using AES. O D Atheros Communications, Inc.
2 Chapter PRELIMINARY Infrastructure Mode To configure an Atheros AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter in infrastructure mode: 1. Ensure that the “Locally Administered Address” checkbox is unchecked. T O N Y P O C 2. Enter information in the General dialog as summarized in Table 2-4. O D Table 2-4. Infrastructure Mode General Dialog Field Descriptions Field Name Description Configuration Name This field identifies the configuration. This name must be unique. Configuration names are case insensitive.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 2 Usually infrastructure mode is used in an enterprise environment where APs are installed and maintained by corporate IT staff. Much of the data in the enterprise network is confidential. It is important to configure security to make sure only stations with appropriate keys can receive sensitive data. The Atheros AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter and NDIS driver support key lengths of 40 bits, 104 bits, and 128 bits.
2 Chapter PRELIMINARY Ad Hoc Mode An ad hoc network usually is a short-lived network with a small number of stations. The network is usually created for a special purpose such as exchanging data between friends, or between customer and client. Because the duration of the ad hoc network tends to be limited, Power Saving and Security features are not typically a requirement. For ad hoc network activity, the Power Saving and Security features can be disabled.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 2 Table 2-5 summarizes the field description for the General dialog in ad hoc mode. Table 2-5. Ad Hoc Mode General Dialog Field Descriptions Field Name Description Configuration Name This field identifies the configuration. This name must be unique. Configuration names are case insensitive. Network Name (SSID) A network name is mandatory for ad hoc mode. The SSID for all stations in a single ad hoc network must be the same. Network Connection Ad Hoc.
2 Chapter PRELIMINARY 3. Select “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)” and click Properties. O D 2-30 • 2-30 • T O N AR5001 STA User’s Guide July 2002 Y P O C Atheros Communications, Inc.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 2 4. Click “Use the following IP address” and input an IP address and Subnet mask. Assigning an IP address and Subnet mask allows stations to operate in infrastructure mode and to have Internet access. “Default gateway” and “DNS server” information is also required. IP configuration information (DHCP or assigned IP address, Gateway and DNS server IP addresses) is usually obtained from the corporate IT staff. 5.
2 Chapter PRELIMINARY 6. Choose Start > Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt to open the DOS command prompt window. 7. Type “ipconfig” at the C:\> prompt to determine if the TCP/IP configuration has taken effect. To test IP connectivity in ad hoc or infrastructure mode, use the ping command. When a TCP/IP connection is established, the LinkMon utility (refer to “LinkMon” on page 7-1) can be used to monitor the Atheros AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter operating status.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 2 8. To map the drive on another machine to your computer, right-click “My Computer” and click Map Network Drive... T O N Y P O C 9. After mapping the drive, you can perform file transfers, use video streaming applications, and all other network data transfers that are normally performed with wired 10/100 Ethernet connections. O D Atheros Communications, Inc.
3 PRELIMINARY 3 Windows Millennium Edition Y P O C This chapter describes the Windows Millennium Edition network driver installation. T O N Driver Installation Atheros recommends that you remove any existing Atheros NDIS driver on the PC system before installing Version 1.0 release of the NDIS driver. See “Driver Uninstallation” on page 3-4 for the instructions on how to remove previous driver releases.
3 Chapter PRELIMINARY 2. Choose “Search for the best driver for your device. (Recommended).” a. Select “Specify a location.” b. Click Browse to locate the NDIS driver. The default folder is “E:\ndis\bin\production\ndis5” (assuming E: is the CD-ROM drive). c. Click Next to continue. T O N Y P O C 3. When the Atheros driver installation file (NET5210B.INF) has been found, click Next to continue. O D 3-2 • 3-2 • AR5001 STA User’s Guide July 2002 Atheros Communications, Inc.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 3 4. Click Finish to continue, and restart the system to complete driver installation. Refer to “Device Configuration” on page 3-5 for device configuration. O D Atheros Communications, Inc.
3 Chapter PRELIMINARY Driver Uninstallation This section provides uninstallation procedures for removing the Atheros NDIS driver from the system. Uninstallation is recommended for upgrading the NDIS driver from previous Atheros driver releases. 1. Remove the NDIS driver from the OS: a. Go to Start > Search > For Files or Folders..., and search for the INF file containing the “Atheros” text string under the \WINDOWS\INF folder. Be sure to include subfolders in the search criteria. b. When “Atherosnet5211.
PRELIMINARY 3 Chapter 3. Click OK to confirm the removal of the device. 4. Restart the system to complete un-installation. Device Configuration Configuration of the Atheros AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter can be done through the Atheros NIC Configuration utility found in the Windows Control Panel. Similar to Windows 2000, the device can be set to work in one of two modes: infrastructure mode or ad hoc mode.
3 Chapter PRELIMINARY The configuration utility allows addition, modification, and deletion of the configuration profiles. Select one of the existing configuration profiles under the configuration list to modify, or click New to add a new configuration profile. Refer to “Infrastructure Mode” on page 3-10 and “Ad Hoc Mode” on page 3-13 to set up the station to work in infrastructure mode and ad hoc mode. O D 3-6 • 3-6 • T O N AR5001 STA User’s Guide July 2002 Y P O C Atheros Communications, Inc.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 3 Selecting Encryption Types Atheros supports two encryption types; Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and Advanced Encryption Security (AES). While WEP is universally supported and commonly used, AES provides a much higher level of security, that is, frames encrypted with AES are more difficult to decipher without knowing the key. To use AES, you must specify a unique key. NOTE: AES is not supported in ad hoc mode, since ad hoc mode does not support unique keys.
3 Chapter PRELIMINARY Use the Advanced tab on the “Atheros AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter” dialog to change the encryption type. O D 3-8 • 3-8 • T O N AR5001 STA User’s Guide July 2002 Y P O C Atheros Communications, Inc.
PRELIMINARY 3 Chapter Table 3-1 provides descriptions for the fields on the Network Configuration Setting, Advanced tab dialog. Table 3-1. Advanced Dialog Field Descriptions Field Name Description Wireless Mode Specifies 802.11a, 802.11b, or autoselect operation. Autoselect allows the use of both 802.11a and 802.11b modes. Ad Hoc Mode Specifies a band to establish an ad hoc network if no matching SSID is found after scanning all available modes. 802.
3 Chapter PRELIMINARY Infrastructure Mode This section defines the process of configuring an Atheros AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter in infrastructure mode. Refer to“Device Configuration” on page 2-17 for detailed descriptions of each option in the Network Configuration Settings. 1. Under the “General” tab, make sure the “Locally Administered Address” checkbox is unchecked. O D T O N Y P O C Use Table 3-2 as a guideline to choose the values of each field in the configuration window.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 3 Table 3-2. Infrastructure Mode General Dialog Field Descriptions Field Name Description Configuration Name This field identifies the configuration. This name must be unique. Configuration names are case insensitive. Network Name (SSID) This is the name of the IEEE 802.11a wireless network, for example, “Atheros 802.11a Wireless Network.” This field has a maximum limit of 32 characters. If the field is left blank, the STA connects to the AP with the best signal strength.
3 Chapter PRELIMINARY 2. Usually, infrastructure mode is used in an enterprise environment where APs are installed and maintained by corporate IT staff. Much of the data in the enterprise network is confidential. It is important to configure security to make sure only stations with appropriate keys can receive sensitive data. The Atheros AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter and NDIS driver support key lengths of 40 bits, 104 bits and 128 bits.
PRELIMINARY 3 Chapter Ad Hoc Mode This section defines the process of configuring an Atheros AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter in ad hoc or IBSS mode. Refer to “Ad Hoc Mode” on page 2-28 for descriptions of ad hoc operation. Similar to the set-up of AP Infrastructure mode described in the previous section, ad hoc mode is also configured by changing the options in the Network Configuration Settings of the Atheros NIC Configuration utility.
3 Chapter PRELIMINARY Table 3-3. Ad Hoc Mode General Dialog Field Descriptions Field Name Description Power Savings Power saving mode is currently not supported in ad hoc mode. Locally Administered Address (LAA) This field defines the locally administered MAC address. To enter a value in the address field, the check box needs to be selected. 3.
PRELIMINARY 3 Chapter TCP/IP Configuration After configuring the Atheros AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter network adapter properties, the TCP/IP address for the network device needs to be configured. 1. From Control Panel, launch the Network properties window. O D Atheros Communications, Inc.
3 Chapter PRELIMINARY 2. Select “TCP/IPAtheros AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter” and click Properties. T O N Y P O C Depending on the type of network the station connects to, Gateway and DNS Configuration information can also be required. IP configuration information (DHCP or assigned IP address, Gateway and DNS server IP addresses) is usually obtained from the corporate IT staff. For a simple demonstration, the station is assigned a static IP address.
PRELIMINARY 3 Chapter 3. From “TCP/IP Properties,” choose “IP Address” and select “Specify an IP address.” Input an IP address and subnet mask. Assigning an IP address and subnet mask allows the station to interact with the AP or other stations in the same IP subnet. 4. Click OK to complete the TCP/IP configuration, and restart the system for the changes to take effect. 5. Choose Start > Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt to open the DOS command prompt window.
3 Chapter PRELIMINARY 6. To map the drive on another machine to your computer, right-click “My Computer” and click “Map Network Drive....” Specify the path of a network-shared folder. Y P O C 7. After mapping the drive, you can perform file transfers, video streaming, and all other network data transfers that are normally performed with wired 10/100 Ethernet connections. O D 3-18 • 3-18 • T O N AR5001 STA User’s Guide July 2002 Atheros Communications, Inc.
4 PRELIMINARY 4 Windows XP Y P O C This chapter describes the Windows XP driver installation. Driver Installation (First-time Install) T O N Atheros recommends that you remove any existing Atheros drivers on the PC system before installing Version 1.0 release of the NDIS driver. Refer to “Driver Uninstallation” on page 4-4 for the instructions on how to remove previous driver releases.
4 Chapter PRELIMINARY 2. Under “Search for the best driver in these locations,” choose “Include this location in the search” and click Browse to find the location of the NDIS driver. When the driver location has been identified, click Next to continue. T O N Y P O C 3. The Atheros NDIS evaluation driver currently does not have a digital signature from Microsoft. Therefore, Windows XP shows a warning message. Click Continue Anyway to proceed with driver installation.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 4 4. Click Finish to complete driver installation, and refer to “Device Configuration” on page 4-7 for device configuration. O D Atheros Communications, Inc.
4 Chapter PRELIMINARY Driver Uninstallation This section provides uninstallation procedures for removing the Atheros NDIS driver from the system. Uninstallation is recommended for upgrading the NDIS driver from previous Atheros driver releases. 1. To remove the NDIS driver from the OS, go to Device Manager, right click “Atheros AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter,” and choose Uninstall. T O N Y P O C 2. Click OK to uninstall the device.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 4 3. When the device is uninstalled from Device Manager, search for and delete the driver installation file that resides in the system. Y P O C a. Go to Start and choose Search > All files and folder, enter “oem*.inf” in the “All or part of the file name” field T O N b. Enter “Atheros” in the “A word or phrase in the file” field. c. Enter “C:\WINNT\INF” in the “Look in” field, where C: is the drive letter of where Windows XP is installed. d.
4 Chapter PRELIMINARY 4. A file matching the search criteria is displayed. Choose this file and delete it from the system. O D 4-6 • 4-6 • T O N AR5001 STA User’s Guide July 2002 Y P O C Atheros Communications, Inc.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 4 Device Configuration Windows XP zero-configuration functionality allows you to select and join a wireless network without having to configure the device separately. You can decide to choose the default parameters and directly proceed to zeroconfiguration in “Windows XP Wireless Network Configuration” on page 4-18. Similar to Windows 2000, configuration of the Atheros AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter can be done through the Network Control Panel (NCP) in adapter properties.
4 Chapter PRELIMINARY Configuration additions, modifications, and deletions are made under the “Settings” tab of “Atheros AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter Properties.” Select one of the configurations under the configuration, click Modify or New and complete the steps in “Infrastructure Mode” on page 4-11 or “Ad Hoc Mode” on page 4-13 to set up the station to work in infrastructure mode or ad hoc mode, respectively.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 4 Selecting Encryption Types Atheros supports two encryption types; Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and Advanced Encryption Security (AES). While WEP is universally supported and commonly used, AES provides a much higher level of security, that is, frames encrypted with AES are more difficult to decipher without knowing the key. To use AES, you must specify a unique key. NOTE: AES is not supported in ad hoc mode, since ad hoc mode does not support unique keys.
4 Chapter PRELIMINARY Table 4-1 provides descriptions for the fields on the Network Configuration Setting, Advanced tab dialog. Table 4-1. Advanced Dialog Field Descriptions Field Name Description Wireless Mode Specifies 802.11a, 802.11b, or autoselect operation. Autoselect allows the use of both 802.11a and 802.11b modes. Ad Hoc Mode Specifies a band to establish an ad hoc network if no matching SSID is found after scanning all available modes. 802.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 4 Infrastructure Mode This section defines the process of configuring an Atheros AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter in infrastructure mode. Refer to “Device Configuration” on page 2-17 for detailed descriptions of each option in the Network Configuration Settings. 1. Under the “General” tab, make sure the “Locally Administered Address” checkbox is unchecked. O D Atheros Communications, Inc.
4 Chapter PRELIMINARY 2. Use Table 4-2 as a guideline to choose the values of each field in the configuration window. Table 4-2. Infrastructure Mode General Dialog Field Descriptions Field Name Description Configuration Name This field identifies the configuration. This name must be unique. Configuration names are case insensitive. Network Name (SSID) This is the name of the IEEE 802.11a wireless network, for example, “AP_Network.” This field has a maximum limit of 32 characters.
PRELIMINARY 4 Chapter Ad Hoc Mode This section defines the process of configuring an Atheros AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter in ad hoc or IBSS mode. Refer to “Ad Hoc Mode” on page 2-28 for descriptions of ad hoc operation. Similar to the setup of AP Infrastructure mode described in the previous section, ad hoc mode is also configured by changing the options in the “Network Configuration Settings” window. T O N Y P O C 4.
4 Chapter PRELIMINARY You can optionally set up security features, but it is not typically a requirement because the duration of the ad hoc network tends to be limited. Currently, shared key security is supported in ad hoc mode. Future Atheros software implementations will provide unique key support. In ad hoc mode, a station scans the air for an existing BSS. If no BSS is found, the station establishes a BSS for other stations to join.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 4 2. Select “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)” and click Properties. Y P O C 3. Click “Use the following IP address” and input an IP address and Subnet mask. T O N Depending on the type of network the station connects to, Gateway and DNS Configuration information can also be required. IP configuration information (DHCP or assigned IP address, Gateway and DNS server IP addresses) is usually obtained from the corporate IT staff.
4 Chapter PRELIMINARY 5. Choose Start > Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt to open a command prompt window. Type “ipconfig” to determine if the TCP/IP configuration has taken effect. To test IP connectivity in ad hoc or infrastructure mode, use the ping command. Y P O C 6. When a TCP/IP connection is established, the LinkMon utility (refer to “LinkMon” on page 7-1) can be used to monitor the operating status of Atheros AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter.
PRELIMINARY 4 Chapter 7. To map the drive on another machine to your computer, from the Start menu, choose My Computer and right-click to select “Map Network Drive....” O D T O N Y P O C 8. Assign the drive letter that maps to the network-shared folder and specify the shared folder information. Click Finish to map the drive. Atheros Communications, Inc.
4 Chapter PRELIMINARY 9. After mapping the drive, you can perform file transfers, video streaming, and all other network data transfers that are normally performed with wired 10/100 Ethernet connections.
PRELIMINARY 4 Chapter 4. On the Wireless Networks tab, select the “Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings” check box to enable automatic wireless network configuration. Refer to “Infrastructure Mode” on page 4-11 or “Ad Hoc Mode” on page 4-13 to set up the station to connect to an infrastructure or ad hoc network. If you want to use non-default settings for power saving and turbo mode, you should set those parameters through the NCP method (refer to “Device Configuration” on page 4-7).
4 Chapter PRELIMINARY Infrastructure Mode To set up automatic wireless network configuration to connect to an existing Access Point (infrastructure network), follow these steps: 1. Click the network name under “Available networks” in the Wireless Networks tab, and click Configure. You can update the list of available networks that are within range of your computer by clicking Refresh under Available Networks.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 4 2. If the network requires WEP, then the “Data encryption (WEP enabled)” check box is selected by default in Wireless Network Properties. T O N Y P O C 3. Select “The key is provided for me automatically” check box if the WEP key is automatically provided for you. The driver will then use the Default Encryption key from the current Atheros NCP configuration profile irrespective of the network name.
4 Chapter PRELIMINARY Ad Hoc Mode To connect to an existing computer-to-computer (ad hoc) network: 1. Click the ad hoc network name under “Available networks” in the Wireless Networks tab, and click Configure. O D 4-22 • 4-22 • T O N AR5001 STA User’s Guide July 2002 Y P O C Atheros Communications, Inc.
PRELIMINARY 4 Chapter 2. In Wireless Network Properties, the “This is a computer-to-computer (ad hoc) network; wireless access points are not used” check box is selected by default. You may choose to enable WEP by selecting the “Data encryption (WEP enabled)” check box and the “Network Authentication (Shared mode)” check box. T O N Y P O C 3. Select the “The key is provided for me automatically” check box if the shared key is automatically provided for you.
4 Chapter PRELIMINARY 4. If you want to connect to an ad hoc network, but both ad hoc and infrastructure networks are within range of your computer, then click Advanced in the Wireless Networks tab and then select “Computer-tocomputer (ad hoc) networks only”. Note that if you want the station to start its own ad hoc network, the “Computer-to-computer (ad hoc) networks only” option should be selected.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 4 In Connect to Wireless Network, under “Available networks”, select the wireless network that you want to connect to. If a network key is required and is automatically provided for you, then leave “Network key” blank. If the network key is not automatically provided for you, then type the key in “Network key.” Click Connect to establish the network connection.
4 Chapter PRELIMINARY You can configure a new wireless network connection by clicking Add, and specifying the network name (SSID) in Wireless Network Properties, and the wireless network key settings, if needed. If the network connection that you are configuring is an ad hoc network, then select “This is a computer-to-computer (ad hoc) network; wireless access points are not used” check box. The network will be added under “Preferred networks” in the Wireless Networks tab.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 4 You can change the order of the preferred networks by selecting the wireless network that you want to reposition on the list, and then clicking Move up or Move down. T O N Y P O C You can change the wireless network connection settings of a preferred network by selecting the wireless network, clicking Properties, and then changing the settings as needed.
4 Chapter PRELIMINARY If a network is not defined in the preferred networks list, but you know it is available and you want to automatically connect to it, then click Advanced in the Wireless Networks tab, and select the “Automatically connect to nonpreferred networks” check box. O D 4-28 • 4-28 • T O N AR5001 STA User’s Guide July 2002 Y P O C Atheros Communications, Inc.
PRELIMINARY Chapter 4 Regulatory Compliance Information Radio Frequency Interference Requirements Y P O C This device is restricted to indoor use due to its operation in the 5.15 to 5.25 GHz frequency range. FCC requires this product to be used indoors for the frequency range 5.15 to 5.25 GHz to reduce the potential for harmful interference to co-channel Mobile Satellite systems. High power radars are allocated as primary users of the 5.25 to 5.35 GHz and 5.65 to 5.85 GHz bands.
4 Chapter PRELIMINARY on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following methods: ■ Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna. ■ Increase the separation between the equipment and the receiver. ■ Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that which the receiver is connected. ■ Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.
