Wireless LAN PC Card User’s Manual Ver 1.
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LIMITED WARRANTY This product is warranted by manufacturer to be free from defects in material and workmanship for one (1) year from the date of purchase. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................4 1.1 Features .....................................................................................................................................4 1.2 Applications ................................................................................................................................4 1.3 Wireless LAN System ............................
1. INTRODUCTION Wireless LAN is local area networking without wires, which uses radio frequencies to transmit and receive data between PC’s or other network devices. Wireless LAN is able to configure independent networks and infrastructure networks. The former is suitable for small or temporary peer-to-peer configurations, and the later is offering fully distributed data connectivity via micro cells and roaming.
Figure 1-1 802.11 Ad-Hoc Configuration 1.3.2 Infrastructure Configuration An integrated wireless and wired LAN is called an infrastructure configuration. A group of WLAN PC Card and an Access Point (AP) is called a Basic Service Set (BSS). Each WLAN PC Card in this BSS can be linked to any computer in the wired LAN infrastructure via the AP.
Figure 1-2 Infrastructure Configuration The infrastructure configuration supports roaming capability for mobile workers. More than one BSS can be jointly configured as an Extended Service Set (ESS). On account of a continuous connection to the network, users within this ESS can roam freely. All WLAN PC Cards and APs within one ESS must be configured with the same ESS ID.
Figure 1-3 Seamless Roaming 7
2. INSTALLATION Use the procedures described in this chapter to install your WLAN PC Card under MS Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000 /XP/CE, and Linux. 2.1 Product Kit Before starting installation, please make sure the WLAN PC Card package you purchased includes the following four items: 1) WLAN PC Card. 2) CD-ROM (containing Driver/Utility, and User’s Manual). 3) Quick Start Guide. If anything is missing, please contact your vendor. 2.
basic working knowledge of Windows NT 4.0 and of how to install new network cards on them. However, in this paragraph, some specific features of Windows NT 4.0 are briefly explained. Unlike Windows 95/98/Me, and Windows 2000, Windows NT 4.0 does not support the “Plug & Play” and “Hot Swapping” features. In Windows NT 4.0 you need to inform the operating system about the existence of the new card in order to start installing the driver.
list. Next, press the button “I/O Port” and choose an 0x20 free I/O space. Add these values into the dialog box. If at any point after the installation you want to change these values, go to the Control Panel -> Network, select the Adapters tab, press the Properties button, and fill in the new values. 6) Next Windows will start copying the files. In case there is a version conflict. between one or more of the files being copied and the files in your system, you should normally keep the latest version.
2.3.4 Under Linux Please follow the following steps to install the utility and driver. 1) Unpack the ATMEL_linux_drivers.tgz package (anywhere you like). # tar xzvf ATMEL_linux_drivers.tgz 2) In the setup directory run: # make config # make This will do everything (install the driver patch and the necessary files ). (make sure that you logged on as root). 3) In order for the applications to run you have to enable CONFIG_NET_RADIO in the kernel.
3. CONFIGURATION The Configuration & Monitor Utility is a powerful application that helps you to configuration the WLAN PC Card and monitor the statistics of the communication. Unlike the standard method of configuring the card via the operating system utilities ( e.g. Control Panel), this application permits the dynamic modification of the configuration parameter while the card is operating. It also offers some more configuration options. 3.
Figure 3-2 A typical screen of the Monitor Utility in Infrastructure mode. Note: In Ad-Hoc mode, the Channel and SSID must be the same among stations so that the computers can communicate within the local LAN properly. Moreover, all connected computers should have the same netid and subnetid. Statistics This option enable you to view the available statistics information (Data packets, Management Packets and Rejected packets). In order to renew or update this list of statistics, press the “Reset” button.
Figure 3-3 Statistic information available Site Survey By choosing the Site Survey option in any of the two modes, you can scan all the channels in order to find all the access points within the range of your card. In Figure 3-4, the card can see four access points. The list includes information about the BSSID and SSID of the access point(s), the signal strength, the channel where the access point(s) operates, and whether or not WEP encryption is used.
Figure 3-4 Site Survey Option Encryption By choosing this options in any of the two modes, you can set four different WEP keys and specify which one of them to use. First, either enable or disable encryption from the appropriate “Encryption” field (see Figure 3-5 below). If you decide to use encryption, you can choose any of the available WEP keys (1 to 4). You also have the option to select the WEP mode (Mandatory/Optional).
Figure 3-5 Encryption Advanced By choosing the Advanced option in any of the two modes, you can change advanced configuration settings, such as the Preamble Type, Fragmentation Threshold, and RTS/CTS Threshold (Figure 3-6). Figure 3-6 shows the recommended configuration for the advanced settings. Before selecting Short Preamble, make sure that the other stations and APs are also supporting this feature.
Figure 3-6 Advanced Settings Note : The WLAN PC Card has an auto-detection feature therefore it automatically selects the Preamble Type depending on the Access Point Preamble type. In order to enable the Fragmentation and the RTS/CTS Threshold parameters move the slide bar with your mouse and then use the right and left arrow keys of your keyboard in order to select an exact number.
Figure 3-8 A typical screen of the Monitor Utility in Ad-hoc Mode Encryption By choosing this option in any of the two operational modes, you can set four different WEP keys and specify which one of them to use. First, either enable or disable encryption from the appropriate “Encryption” field (see Figure 3-9 below). If you decide to use encryption, you can choose any of the available WEP keys (1 to 4). You also have the option to select the WEP mode (Mandatory/Optional).
Figure 3-9 Encryption Advanced By Choosing the Advanced option in any of the two operational modes, you can change the advanced configuration settings, such as the Preamble Type, Fragmentation Threshold, and RTS/CTS Threshold (Figure 3-10). Figure 3-10 shows the recommended configuration for the advanced settings. The PC card has an auto-detection feature therefore when selecting “Auto” for the preamble Type.
Version By choosing this option, you can view basic information about the Utility like the Driver, Firmware and Application Version (see Figure 3-11). Use the “ok” button (in the top right corner) in order to exit the application.
4. SPECIFICATIONS General Standards compliance Security Compliant IEEE 802.11b Standard WEP 64-bit, 128-bit, encryption MD5 Hardware RF Range Data rate Modulation Coding Number of channels Host Interface Transmit power Receive sensitivity Frequency range: 2.4 ~ 2.4835GHz 11Mbps / 5.5Mbps / 2Mbps / 1Mbps DSSS (Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum) DBPSK/DQPSK 1, 2Mbps: 11 chip/bit Barker Coding 5.
5. GLOSSARY Wireless Access Point (AP) – Any entity that has station functionality and provides access to the distribution services, via the wireless medium (WM) for associated stations. Ad-Hoc – A network composed solely of stations within mutual communication range of each other via the wireless medium (WM). An ad hoc network is typically created in a spontaneous manner. The principal distinguishing characteristic of an ad hoc network is its limited temporal and spatial extent.
