BroMax Communications WE300 PCMCIA LAN Card User Manual user s manual

BroMax Communications Inc PCMCIA LAN Card user s manual

Manual

Wireless LAN CardUser ManualRev 0.9
ilimits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmfulinterference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, usesand can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used inaccordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference toradio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interferencewill not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does causeharmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be de-termined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged totry to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:y Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.y Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.y Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from thatto which the receiver is connected.y Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.You are cautioned that changes or modifications not expressly ap-proved by the party responsible for compliance could void yourauthority to operate the equipment.
iiThis equipment should be installed and operated with minimum dis-tance 20cm between the radiator & your body.This transmitter must not be co-located or operation in conjunction withany other antenna or transmitter.CE Mark WarningThis is a Class B product. In a domestic environment, this product maycause radio interference, in which case the user may be required totake adequate measures.This transmitter must not be co-located or operation in conjunction withany other antenna or transmitter.About this manualThis manual describes how to install and operate your Wireless LAN card.Please read this manual before you install the product.This manual includes the following topics:¾ Product description, features and specifications.¾ Hardware installation procedure.¾ Software installation procedure.¾ Trouble shooting procedures
iiiNotes on wireless LAN configuration................................................... 4CHAPTER 2 .................................................................................................... 5Hardware installation 5What’s in the package.......................................................................... 5Hardware description .......................................................................... 5Inserting the Wireless LAN card .......................................................... 6Status LEDs.......................................................................................... 7Ejecting the Wireless LAN card ........................................................... 7CHAPTER 3 .................................................................................................... 9Driver installation for Windows 9Driver installation for Windows 95...................................................... 9Driver installation for Windows 98.................................................... 15Driver installation for Windows 2000....................! 8Driver installation for Windows NT 4.0.................! 2Driver Installation for Windows ME...................... ! 6CHAPTER 4 .................................................................................................. 28Using the Wireless Utility 28Installation in Windows ..................................................................... 28Using the Wireless Utility .................................................................. 36APPENDIX A ................................................................................................ 39Troubleshooting 39Q&A for Windows environments........................................................ 39APPENDIX B................................................................................................. 41Specifications ..................................................................................... 41
1Thank you for purchasing the Wireless LAN card. This high-speedWireless LAN card provides you with an innovative wireless net-working solution. The Card is easy to set up and use. With thisinnovative wireless technology, you can share files and printers on thenetwork—without inconvenient wires! Now you can carry the LANin your pocket!Features• Wire-free access to networked resources from anywhere beyondthe desktop• Low interference & high susceptibility guarantee reliable per-formance• Delivers data rate up to 11 Mbps• Dynamically shifts between 11, 5.5, 2, and 1 Mbps network speed,based on signal strength, for maximum availability and reliabilityof connection• Allows users move between Access Points without resetting theirconnection reconfiguration• Antenna is built in to the card with LEDs indicating Power andLink• Uses 2.4GHz frequency band, which complies with worldwiderequirement• Supports most popular operating systems: Window95/98/2000/NT 4.0/ME• Ensures great security by providing the Wired Equivalent Privacy(WEP) defined in the IEEE 802.11 standard
2Using radio frequency (RF) technology, WLANs transmit and re-ceive data through the air. WLANs combine data connectivitywith user mobility. For example, users can roam from a confer-ence room to their office without being disconnected from theLAN.Using WLANs, users can conveniently access shared information,and network administrators can configure and augment networkswithout installing or moving network cables.WLAN technology provides users with many convenient and costsaving features:• Mobility: WLANs provide LAN users with access to real-time information anywhere in their organization, providingservice opportunities that are impossible with wired net-works.• Ease of Installation: Installing is easy for novice and ex-pert users alike, eliminating the need to install networkcables in walls and ceilings.• Scalability: WLANs can be configured in a variety of to-pologies to adapt to specific applications and installations.Configurations are easily changed and range from peer-to-peer networks suitable for a small number of users to fullinfrastructure networks of thousands of users roaming overa broad area.
3the network. Users on the network can share files,print to a shared printer, and access the Internet with ashared modem. However, with ad-hoc networking,users can only communicate with other wireless LANcomputers that are in the wireless LAN workgroup, andare within range.InfrastructureNetworkingInfrastructure networking differs from ad-hoc network-ing in that it includes an access point. Unlike the ad-hoc structure where users on the LAN contend theshared bandwidth, on an infrastructure network theaccess point can manage the bandwidth to maximizebandwidth utilization.Additionally, the access point enables users on awireless LAN to access an existing wired network, al-lowing wireless users to take advantage of the wirednetworks resources, such as Internet, email, filetransfer, and printer sharing.Infrastructure networking has the following advantagesover ad-hoc networking:• Extended range: each wireless LAN computerwithin the range of the access point can commu-nicate with other wireless LAN computers withinrange of the access point.• Roaming: the access point enables a wirelessLAN computer to move through a building andstill be connected to the LAN.• Wired to wireless LAN connectivity: the accesspoint bridges the gap between wireless LANs andtheir wired counterparts.
4the distance between access points is not too far. In mostbuildings, WLAN cards operate within a range of 100 ~300 feet, depending on the thickness and structure of thewalls.• Radio waves can pass through walls and glass but notmetal. If there is interference in transmitting through a wall,it may be that the wall has reinforcing metal in its structure.Install another access point to circumvent this problem.• Floors usually have metal girders and metal reinforcingstruts that interfere with WLAN transmission.This concludes the first chapter. The next chapter deals with thehardware installation of the Wireless LAN card.
5This chapter covers inserting your Wireless LAN card in thePCMCIA slot of notebook, and connecting the card to a network.What’s in the packagePlease ensure that the following items are included in your pack-age. If any items are missing, contact your dealer.• Wireless LAN PCMCIA card• CD-ROM (includes utility, drivers, and this manual)• Quick installation guideHardware descriptionThe Wireless LAN Card is encased in a stainless compact frameand has a 68-pin connector for attaching to the PCMCIA port ofnotebook.
6Follow the procedure below to install the Wireless LAN card.1. With 68-pin connector of the card facing the PCMCIAslots on notebook, slide the card all the way into an emptyslot.2. Connect to a network.Note! For information on connecting your Card to the LAN,contact your system administrator.
7 LED MEANINGPWR Indicates that the Card is powered on.LINK Indicates link status. It is normally blinking. When blink-ing, indicates that the card is scanning the channels, andthe link is not active. When lit, indicates that the card islocked to a channel, and the link is active.Ejecting the Wireless LAN cardAfter disconnecting from the LAN, you can eject the WirelessLAN card from the PC Card slot of notebook.Note! In Win 2000/ME/98/95 operating systems, you do not haveto power down the notebook to remove the card. The cardis hot-swappable—you can remove the card when thenotebook is powered on. However, Microsoft recommends
8Warning! To prevent data loss, do not eject the Wireless LAN cardwhen a data transmission is taking place. Exit your commu-nications program normally, stop the card if necessary, andthen remove the card.This concludes Chapter 2. The next chapter covers driver installa-tion for Windows 2000/ME/98/95/NT operating systems.
9The following sections cover Wireless LAN card driver installation inthe Windows 2000/ME/98/95/NT operating systems.Driver installation for Windows 95There are two popular versions of Windows 95, one is for retailversion (ver 4.00.950), and the other is OEM Service Release 2(ver 4.00.950B). To know which version you are using, click torun the System icon in Control Panel. You will see the followingwindow pops up.
10Inserting the wireless LAN card).2. After Windows 95 detects the card, the Update DeviceDriver Wizard window appears:3. Insert the driver disc and click Next to continue the instal-lation. Windows searches for the driver and the followingscreen appears:
114. Click Other Locations to bring up the following window:5. Type K: where K is your CD-ROM drive letter. Then clickOK. The following screen appears:
126. Click Finish to continue. Windows may prompt you thefollowing window to ask you insert the disc.7. Click OK to continue.
13OSR2 from your hard drive, Windowswill prompt you to input the path to theWindows 95 CD-ROM. Follow the in-structions on your screen, then clickOK to continue.9. After you rebooted the computer, system will start to in-stall wireless utility automatically. Please refer toprocedures at Chapter 4.Install Drivers on the Windows 95 Retail version1. Insert the LAN Modem card into an available PCMCIAslot in your notebook (refer to page !  -Inserting the LAN Modem card).2. After Windows 95 detects the card, the Update DeviceDriver Wizard window appears:
143. Click OK. The Windows prompt you to give the path ofdriver files.4. Type K: where K is your CD-ROM drive letter. Insert thedriver disc into CD-ROM drive. Then click OK.5. The windows will start copying files from disc and installthe drivers. After the step, the installation is complete andyou should reboot the system.After you rebooted the computer, system will start to installWireless utility automatically. Please refer to procedures atChapter 4.
15slot on your notebook (refer to page !  -Inserting the Wireless LAN card).2. After Windows 98 detects the Wireless LAN card, the AddNew Hardware Wizard window appears:3. Click Next to continue the installation. A screen appearsprompting you to select an installation method:
164. Select Search for the best driver for your device. (Recom-mended) and click Next. The following screen appears:5. Ensure that the CD-ROM drive box is checked.6. Insert the driver CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive andclick Next. The following screen appears:
177. Click Next. Windows 98 copies files to your hard diskdrive, and you see the following screen:8. Click Finish. You should reboot your system to finish theinstallation.Note! Windows 98 may need to copy re-
18yy pChapter 4.Driver installation for Windows 2000Follow the steps below to install the Wireless LAN card driversfor Windows 2000.1. Insert the Wireless LAN card into an available PCMCIAslot on your notebook (refer to page !  -Inserting the Wireless LAN card).2. After Windows 2000 detects the Wireless LAN card, theFound New Hardware Wizard window appears:
194. Select Search for a suitable driver for my device (rec-ommended) and click Next. The following screen appears:
206. Click Next to continue. The following screen appears:7. Click Yes to continue. The following screen appears:
218. Click Finish to complete the installation.9. Then system will start to install Wireless utility automati-cally. Please refer to procedures at Chapter 4.
22ble click the Network icon in the Control Panel. If it has notbeen installed, refer to the Windows NT 4.0 installation guide forinstructions on installing the component.Follow the steps below to install the driver.1. Insert the Wireless LAN card into an available PCMCIAslot on your notebook (refer to page !  -Inserting the Wireless LAN card).2. Log in to NT 4.0 as Administrator.3. Double click the Network icon in the Control Panel, andselect the Adapters tab as shown in the following screen:
235. Click Have Disk. The following screen appears:6. Type K:\ Winnt40 where K is your CD-ROM drive letter.Insert the driver disk, and click OK.After finding the installation file, the Select OEM Optionwindow is displayed.
247. Select PCMCIA WLAN Card v2.5 and Click OK. Win-dows will configure the Wireless LAN card. You arereturned to the Network window.8. Click Close to exit the Network window. Windows NT 4.0will bind the adapter with the network component and youwill be prompted to restart the system.When Windows NT is finished binding the adapter to thenetwork component, you are prompted to restart the system.
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26slot on your notebook (refer to page !  -Inserting the Wireless LAN card).2. After Windows ME detects the Wireless LAN card, theAdd New Hardware Wizard window appears:3. Select Automatic search for a better driver (Recom-mended) and insert the driver disc into CD-ROM drive.Click Next to continue.4. The system will find the setup files and follow the instruc-tion of the setup file to copy drivers. After the drivers werecopied, the following screen appears:
275. Click Finish. You should reboot your system to finish theinstallation.Note! Windows ME may need to copy re-quired system files and will prompt youto input the path to the files. Follow theinstructions on your screen, and thenclick OK to continue.After you have rebooted the computer, system will start to installWireless utility automatically. Please refer to procedures atChapter 4.
28The following sections cover the Wireless LAN card utility in-stallation and usage.Installation in WindowsAfter you have installed the wireless LAN card driver and haverebooted the computer. Please follow the steps below.1. Execute SETUP.EXE in your CD-ROM drive. 2. The following screen appears:
29 3. Select PCMCIA 11M WLAN Card v2.5 and click Next,the following screen appears:4. Click Next. The following screen appears:
305. Read the End User License Agreement and click Yes. Thefollowing screen appears:6. Type in a System ID name for your wireless LAN. Thissystem ID identifies all computers in the wireless LAN.Then click Next. The following screen appears:
317. Choose the Network Mode for your wireless node.8. Click Next. The following screen appears:9. Select the default path for the wireless utility or browse toan alternate path. Then click Next. The following screenappears:
3210. Type in a Program Folder name or select the default nameand click Next. Setup installs the software and the follow-ing screen appears:11. Click Finish to finish the utility installation.
33FreePort utility iconIcon MeaningGreen: indicates a connection is active.Red: indicates no connection is active.Yellow: indicates that the wireless LAN card islooking for an available access point.Double-click the icon to open the configuration utility.
34State: displays the connection status.Current Channel: displays the chan-nel.Current Tx Rate: displays the wire-less bandwidth in megabits persecond.Throughput: displays the transferand receive rates in bytes per second.Link Quality: when connected to thewired LAN, displays the connectionintegrity.Signal Strength: when connected tothe wired LAN, displays the signalstrength.Note: Link quality and signal strengthare not available when using a peer-to-peer connection.
35Mode: displays the current LANmode, either 802.11 AdHoc or Infra-structure.SSID: displays a list of Service SetIdentifications.Tx Rate: displays a list of transferrates.PS Mode: allows you to enable ordisable power saving mode.Channel: enables you to select atransmission channel.
36Note: 128 bit encryption requires more system resources than 64-bitencryption. Use 64-bit encryption forbetter performance.This screen displays the versionnumber of the Wireless LAN card andthe Configuration Utility.
37gyto the LAN, contact your system administrator.1. Insert a Wireless LAN card into the PCMCIA slots of twoNotebook PCs.2. Install the card drivers on both notebook computers (referto Chapter 3).3. Install the software on both notebook computers (refer topage ! ).4. After you have installed the software and rebooted, double-click the icon in the lower corner of your screen to openthe configuration utility:
386. Select 802.11 AdHoc from the Mode dropdown list. TheSSID should be the same as the one that you entered wheninstalling the software. Leave the other settings at their de-fault values.7. Perform steps 1 through 3 on another notebook PC. When thetwo computers have connected via the Wireless LAN cards,the tray icon turns green and the Link Info tab of the con-figuration utility shows an active connection:
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40Q&AThese guidelines give you tips to deal with some problems youmay encounter while using the Wireless LAN card. If the prob-lems remain unsolved, contact your dealer for assistance.Problem: Windows can not recognize the card.Solution: Please check if PC Card support is installed.Double-click the PC Card icon on Control Panel. If PCCard support is not activated, you should activate it now.Problem: Ejecting the card from the PCMCIA sockethangs or reboots the computer.Solution: To prevent this phenomenon from occurring,stop the card by using the PC Card tool in the ControlPanel or the PC Card icon on the taskbar before you re-move the card.Problem: The card cannot be detected when reinserted.Cause: This is caused by certain unstable PCMCIA statuslines when the card is removed and reinserted. The Win-dows 95/98 drivers may read an incorrect status duringthis period of signal instability, and fail to detect the cor-rect status of the card.
41Wireless LAN card does not have such a digital signature,however it is fully compatible with Windows 2000.Question: The Wireless Utility icon on system tray is al-ways red.Answer: Please make sure that all clients have the sameSSID. The SSID is case sensitive. And set all clients to thesame wireless channel and make sure you are within rangeof an Access Point or client.Question: Can not connect to one of the clients in thenetwork.Answer: First of all, make sure that all clients are up andrunning with a green Wireless Utility icon. And pleasecheck your TCP/IP setup is correct for your network.
42Standards Compliance: IEEE802.11b WLAN Standard,PCMCIA 2.1 and JEIDA 4.2 StandardSocket Interface: 68-pin 16-bit PCMCIA socket connectorCard Size: PCMCIA extended Type IIFrequency: 2.412 to 2.462GHz ( Industrial Scientific MedicalBand )Antenna: Built-in strip AntennaRoaming: 802.11 compliantData Rate: 11Mbps / 5.5Mbps / 2Mbps / 1MbpsModulation Technique: Direct Sequence Spread SpectrumBPSK / QPSK / CCKCoverage Area: Indoor : 50m @ 11Mbps, 80m @ 5.5Mbps or lowerOutdoor : 150m @ 11Mbps,300m @ 5.5Mbps or lowerPower: DC +3.3V /+5V, 220mA (3.3V)Output Power: 16dBm (typical)Receiver Sensitivity: -80dBm Min.Operating Environment: Temperature: 0o to 55oCHumidity: 10% to 90%Dimensions: 115 x 54 x 11.5mmWeight: 47g

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