LINKSYS WPCI54G Wireless-G PCI Adapter User Manual

LINKSYS LLC Wireless-G PCI Adapter

Contents

users manual 2

Wireless-G Notebook Adapter19Instant Wireless®Series18The Profiles screen (Figure 7-6) lets you save different configuration profilesfor different network setups. You can also import or export profiles. The defaultprofile holds the initial configuration saved when you ran the Setup Wizard.Profile - Name of the connection profile.SSID - The wireless network’s unique name, as set in the connection profile.Profile InformationNetwork Type - The mode of the wireless network currently in use.Transfer Rate - The data transfer rate of the current connection. (In Automode, the Adapter dynamically shifts to the fastest data transfer rate possibleat any given time.)Channel - The channel to which the wireless network devices are set. WEP - The status of the WEP encryption security feature.Connect - To connect to a wireless network using a specific profile, select theprofile,and click the Connect button.Edit - Select a profile, and click the Edit button to change an existing profile. New - Click the New button to create a new profile. See the next section,“Creating a New Profile,” for detailed instructions.Figure 7-6ProfilesSite InformationWireless Mode - The mode of the wireless network currently in use.Channel - The channel to which the wireless network devices are set. WEP - The status of the WEP encryption security feature.MAC - The MAC address of the wireless network’s access point.Surveyed at - The time at which the wireless network was scanned. Refresh - Click the Refresh button to perform a new search for wirelessdevices. Connect - To connect to one of the networks on the list, select the wireless net-work,and click the Connect button. If the wireless network has WEP encryp-tion enabled, you will see the screen shown in Figure 7-5.In the WEP drop-down box, select the type of WEP encryption used by thewireless network: 64-bit, or 128-bit WEP.If the wireless network uses a passphrase, enter the passphrase in thePassphrase field. If the wireless network uses a WEP key, enter the WEP keyin the Key 1 field. Click the OK button to complete the network connection and return to the SiteSurvey screen, or click the Cancel button to cancel the network connection andreturn to the Site Survey screen.On the Site Survey screen, click the X(Close) button in the upper right cornerto exit the WLAN Monitor.Figure 7-5Wireless-G Notebook Adapter1. On the Profiles screen, shown in Figure 7-6, click the New button to createa new profile.2. When the Create connectionprofile screen appears (Figure7-9), enter a name for the newprofile. Click OK to save theprofile name or click Cancelto return to the previousscreen.3. The Choose a network type screen (Figure 7-10) shows a choice of twowireless modes. Click the Infrastructure Mode radio button if you wantyour wireless computers to communicate with computers on your wirednetwork via a wireless access point. Click the Ad-Hoc Mode radio buttonif you want multiple wireless computers to communicate directly with eachother. Click the Next button to continue or the Back button to return to theprevious screen.Infrastructure Mode - This mode allows wireless and wired networks tocommunicate through an access point.Ad-Hoc Mode - This mode allows wireless-equipped computers to com-municate directly with each other. No access point is used.21Instant Wireless®Series20Figure 7-10Figure 7-9Creating a New ProfileImport - Clickthe Import but-ton to import aprofile that hasbeen saved inanother location.From the screenthat appears(shown in Figure7-7), select theappropriate file,and click theOpen button.Export - To save the profile(s) ina different location, click theExport button. On the screen thatappears (Figure 7-8), directWindows to the appropriate fold-er and click the OK button.Delete - Click the Delete button to delete a profile. Click the X(Close) button in the upper right corner to exit the WLAN Monitor.Figure 7-7Figure 7-8Note: If you have more than one profile, all profiles will be auto-matically selected and exported to the same folder.
Wireless-G Notebook Adapter23Instant Wireless®Series4. The Wireless Settings screen (Figure 7-11) will appear. If you choseInfrastructure Mode, go to Step 5 now. If you chose Ad-Hoc Mode, selectthe correct operating channel for your network from the Channel drop-down menu. Then, select the Network Mode from the drop-down menu.Click the Next button, and go to Step 5. Click the Back button to changeany settings.Channel - The channel you choose should match the channel set on theother devices in your wireless network. If you are unsure about which chan-nel to use, select the default channel (Channel 6).Network Mode - Select Mixed Mode, and both Wireless-G and Wireless-B computers will be allowed on the network, but the speed will be reduced.Select G-Only Mode for maximum speed, but no Wireless-B users will beallowed on the network. 5. The Network Setting screen (Figure 7-12) will appear.If your network has a DHCP server, click the radio button next to Obtainan IP address automatically (DHCP). Click the Next button to continue,or click the Back button to return to the previous screen.22If your network does not have a DHCP server, click the radio button next toSpecify the IP address. Enter an IP Address,Subnet Mask,DefaultGateway, and DNS appropriate for your network. Enter each address in thisformat: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (the x’s represent the numbers that make up eachaddress). You must specify the IP Address and Subnet Mask on this screen.If you are unsure about the Default Gateway and DNS addresses, then leavethese fields alone. IP Address - This IP Address must be unique to your network. Subnet Mask - The Adapter’s Subnet Mask must be the same as your wirednetwork’s Subnet Mask.Default Gateway - Enter the IP address of your network’s Gateway here. DNS - Enter the DNS addresses of your Ethernet (wired) network here. Click the Next button to continue or the Back button to return to the previ-ous screen.6. The Security Settings screen (Figure 7-13) will appear. Enable or disableWired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption for your wireless network. Ifyou enable WEP, enter a Passphrase or WEP key. Click the Next button tocontinue or the Back button to return to the previous screen.Figure 7-12Figure 7-11Wireless-G Notebook Adapter25Instant Wireless®SeriesWEP (Disabled/64 bits WEP/128 bits WEP) - If you do not want to useWEP encryption, choose Disabled. To use WEP encryption (recommendedto increase network security), select 64 bits or 128 bits WEP from thedrop-down menu, and enter either a Passphrase or WEP key. Passphrase - Instead of manually entering WEP keys, you can enter aPassphrase, so that a WEP key is automatically generated. It is case-sensi-tive and should not be longer than 16 alphanumeric characters. Thispassphrase must match the passphrase of your wireless network and is com-patible with other Linksys wireless products only. (If you have any non-Linksys wireless products, enter the WEP key(s) manually on those prod-ucts.)Key 1 - This WEP key must match the WEP key of your wireless network.If you are using 64-bit WEP encryption, then the key must consist of exact-ly 10 hexadecimal characters. If you are using 128-bit WEP encryption,then the key must consist of exactly 26 hexadecimal characters. Valid hexa-decimal characters are “0” to “9” and “A” to “F”.247. The Confirm NewSettings screen(Figure 7-14) willappear. To save thenew settings, clickthe Ye s button. Tocancel the settingsand return to theProfiles screen,click the No button.To edit the new set-tings, click theBack button.8. The Congratulations screen (Figure 7-15) will appear next. Click Activatenew settings now to implement the new settings immediately and return tothe Link Information screen. Click Activate new settings later to keep thecurrent settings active, and return to the Profiles screen so that you can edityour profile or create another profile. You have successfully created a connection profile. Click the X (Close) but-ton in the upper right corner to exit the WLAN Monitor.Figure 7-14Figure 7-15Figure 7-13
Wireless-G Notebook AdapterCan I play computer games with other members of the wireless network?Yes, as long as the game supports multiple players over a LAN (local area net-work). Refer to the game’s user guide for more information.What is the IEEE 802.11b standard?It is one of the IEEE standards for wireless networks. The 802.11b standardallows wireless networking hardware from different manufacturers to commu-nicate, provided that the hardware complies with the 802.11b standard. The802.11b standard states a maximum data transfer rate of 11Mbps and an oper-ating frequency of 2.4GHz.What IEEE 802.11b features are supported?The product supports the following IEEE 802.11b functions: • CSMA/CA plus Acknowledge protocol • Multi-Channel Roaming • Automatic Rate Selection • RTS/CTS feature • Fragmentation • Power Management What is ad-hoc mode?When a wireless network is set to ad-hoc mode, the wireless-equipped com-puters are configured to communicate directly with each other. The ad-hocwireless network will not communicate with any wired network. What is infrastructure mode?When a wireless network is set to infrastructure mode, the wireless network isconfigured to communicate with a wired network through a wireless accesspoint.What is roaming?Roaming is the ability of a portable computer user to communicate continu-ously while moving freely throughout an area greater than that covered by a sin-gle access point. Before using the roaming function, the workstation must makesure that it is the same channel number with the access point of dedicated cov-erage area. 27Instant Wireless®SeriesAppendix A: TroubleshootingThis chapter provides solutions to problems that may occur during the installa-tion and operation of the Wireless-G PCI Adapter. Read the descriptions belowto solve your problems. If you can’t find an answer here, check the Linksyswebsite at www.linksys.com.1. The Wireless-G PCI Adapter does not work properly.• Reinsert the Wireless-G PCI Adapter into your PC’s PCI slot.• Right click on My Computer and select Properties. Select the devicemanager and click on the Network Adapter. You will find the Wireless-GPCI Adapter if it is installed successfully. If you see the yellow exclama-tion mark, the resources are conflicting. You will see the status of theWireless-G PCI Adapter. If there is a yellow question mark, please checkthe following:• Make sure that your PC has a free IRQ (Interrupt ReQuest, a hardware interrupt on a PC.) • Make sure that you have inserted the right adapter and installed the prop-er driver.If the Wireless-G PCI Adapter does not function after attempting the abovesteps, remove the adapter and do the following:• Uninstall the driver software from your PC.• Restart your PC and repeat the hardware and software installation asspecified in this User Guide.2. I cannot communicate with the other computers linked via Ethernet in theInfrastructure configuration.• Make sure that the PC to which the Wireless-G PCI Adapter is associatedis powered on.• Make sure that your Wireless-G PCI Adapter is configured on the samechannel and with the same security options as with the other computers inthe Infrastructure configuration.Can I run an application from a remote computer over the wireless network?This will depend on whether or not the application is designed to be used overa network. Consult the application’s user guide to determine if it supports oper-ation over a network.26Common Problems and SolutionsFrequently Asked QuestionsWireless-G Notebook Adapter29Instant Wireless®Series28an unintended receiver, FHSS appears to be short-duration impulse noise.Direct-Sequence Spread-Spectrum (DSSS) generates a redundant bit patternfor each bit to be transmitted. This bit pattern is called a chip (or chippingcode). The longer the chip, the greater the probability that the original data canbe recovered. Even if one or more bits in the chip are damaged during trans-mission, statistical techniques embedded in the radio can recover the originaldata without the need for retransmission. To an unintended receiver, DSSSappears as low power wideband noise and is rejected (ignored) by most nar-rowband receivers. Would the information be intercepted while transmitting on air?WLAN features two-fold protection in security. On the hardware side, as withDirect Sequence Spread Spectrum technology, it has the inherent security fea-ture of scrambling. On the software side, WLAN offers the encryption function(WEP) to enhance security and access control.What is WEP?WEP is Wired Equivalent Privacy, a data privacy mechanism based on a 64-bitor 128-bit shared key algorithm, as described in the IEEE 802.11 standard.To achieve true seamless connectivity, the wireless LAN must incorporate anumber of different functions. Each node and access point, for example, mustalways acknowledge receipt of each message. Each node must maintain contactwith the wireless network even when not actually transmitting data. Achievingthese functions simultaneously requires a dynamic RF networking technologythat links access points and nodes. In such a system, the user’s end node under-takes a search for the best possible access to the system. First, it evaluates suchfactors as signal strength and quality, as well as the message load currentlybeing carried by each access point and the distance of each access point to thewired backbone. Based on that information, the node next selects the rightaccess point and registers its address. Communications between end node andhost computer can then be transmitted up and down the backbone.As the user moves on, the end node’s RF transmitter regularly checks the sys-tem to determine whether it is in touch with the original access point or whetherit should seek a new one. When a node no longer receives acknowledgmentfrom its original access point, it undertakes a new search. Upon finding a newaccess point, it then re-registers, and the communication process continues.What is ISM band?The FCC and their counterparts outside of the U.S. have set aside bandwidthfor unlicensed use in the ISM (Industrial, Scientific and Medical) band.Spectrum in the vicinity of 2.4 GHz, in particular, is being made availableworldwide. This presents a truly revolutionary opportunity to place convenienthigh-speed wireless capabilities in the hands of users around the globe. What is Spread Spectrum?Spread Spectrum technology is a wideband radio frequency technique devel-oped by the military for use in reliable, secure, mission-critical communica-tions systems. It is designed to trade off bandwidth efficiency for reliability,integrity, and security. In other words, more bandwidth is consumed than in thecase of narrowband transmission, but the trade-off produces a signal that is, ineffect, louder and thus easier to detect, provided that the receiver knows theparameters of the spread-spectrum signal being broadcast. If a receiver is nottuned to the right frequency, a spread-spectrum signal looks like backgroundnoise. There are two main alternatives, Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum(DSSS) and Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS).What is DSSS? What is FHSS? And what are their differences?Frequency-Hopping Spread-Spectrum (FHSS) uses a narrowband carrier thatchanges frequency in a pattern that is known to both transmitter and receiver.Properly synchronized, the net effect is to maintain a single logical channel. To
Wireless-G Notebook Adapter31Instant Wireless®Series30CSMA/CA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance) - In localarea networking, this is the CSMA technique that combines slotted time-divi-sion multiplexing with carrier sense multiple access/collision detection(CSMA/CD) to avoid having collisions occur a second time. This works best ifthe time allocated is short compared to packet length and if the number of sit-uations is small.CTS (Clear ToSend) - An RS-232 signal sent from the receiving station to thetransmitting station that indicates it is ready to accept data.Default Gateway - The routing device used to forward all traffic that is notaddressed to a station within the local subnet.DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) - A protocol that lets networkadministrators manage centrally and automate the assignment of InternetProtocol (IP) addresses in an organization's network. Using the Internet's set ofprotocol (TCP/IP), each machine that can connect to the Internet needs aunique IP address. When an organization sets up its computer users with a con-nection to the Internet, an IP address must be assigned to each machine.Without DHCP, the IP address must be entered manually at each computer and,if computers move to another location in another part of the network, a new IPaddress must be entered. DHCP lets a network administrator supervise and dis-tribute IP addresses from a central point and automatically sends a new IPaddress when a computer is plugged into a different place in the network. DHCP uses the concept of a "lease" or amount of time that a given IP addresswill be valid for a computer. The lease time can vary depending on how long auser is likely to require the Internet connection at a particular location. It's espe-cially useful in education and other environments where users change fre-quently. Using very short leases, DHCP can dynamically reconfigure networksin which there are more computers than there are available IP addresses. DHCP supports static addresses for computers containing Web servers thatneed a permanent IP address. DNS - The domain name system (DNS) is the way that Internet domain nameare located and translated into Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. A domain nameis a meaningful and easy-to-remember "handle" for an Internet address. Domain - A subnetwork comprised of a group of clients and servers under thecontrol of one security database. Dividing LANs into domains improves per-formance and security.Appendix B: Glossary802.11b - One of the IEEE standards for wireless networking hardware.Products that adhere to a specific IEEE standard will work with each other,even if they are manufactured by different companies. The 802.11b standardspecifies a maximum data transfer rate of 11Mbps, an operating frequency of2.4GHz, and WEP encryption for security. 802.11b networks are also referredto as Wi-Fi networks.802.11g - A proposed, but as yet unratified extension of the IEEE 802.11 stan-dard for wireless networking hardware. The draft 802.11g specifications usedby Linksys specify a maximum data transfer rate of 54Mbps using OFDMmodulation, an operating frequency of 2.4GHz, backward compatibility withIEEE 802.11b devices, and WEP encryption for security.Adapter - Printed circuit board that plugs into a PC to add to capabilities orconnectivity to a PC. In a networked environment, a network interface card isthe typical adapter that allows the PC or server to connect to the intranet and/orInternet.Ad-hoc Network - An ad-hoc network is a group of computers, each with awireless adapter, connected as an independent 802.11 wireless LAN. Ad-hocwireless computers operate on a peer-to-peer basis, communicating directlywith each other without the use of an access point. Ad-hoc mode is alsoreferred to as an Independent Basic Service Set (IBSS) or as peer-to-peermode, and is useful at a departmental scale or SOHO operation.Backbone - The part of a network that connects most of the systems and net-works together and handles the most data.Bandwidth - The transmission capacity of a given facility, in terms of howmuch data the facility can transmit in a fixed amount of time; expressed in bitsper second (bps).Bit - A binary digit. The value - 0 or 1-used in the binary numbering system.Also, the smallest form of data.BSS (Basic Service Set) - An infrastructure network connecting wirelessdevices to a wired network using a single access point.

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