Netronix W121A IEEE 802.11n Wireless USB adapter User Manual 61NB W121C0 217

Netronix Inc IEEE 802.11n Wireless USB adapter 61NB W121C0 217

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W121A User Manual

User Man_NOI-W121A_rev. 1

IEEE 802.11n Wireless Series Wireless USB Adapter User Manual Version: 2.1 Date: March 19, 2011

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 2 - FCC Certifications 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 the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one of the following measures: - Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna. - Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver. - Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected. - Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help. This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation. FCC Caution: Any changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user's authority to operate this equipment. IEEE 802.11b or 802.11g operation of this product in the U.S.A. is firmware-limited to channels 1 through 11. IMPORTANT NOTE: FCC Radiation Exposure Statement: The product comply with the US/Canada portable RF exposure limit set forth for an uncontrolled environment and are safe for intended operation as described in this manual. The further RF exposure reduction can be achieved if the product can be kept as far as possible from the user body or reduce output power if it doesn't affect the transmission/receiving quality. This transmitter must not be co-located or operating in conjunction with any other antenna or transmitter. SAR compliance has been established in typical laptop computer(s) with USB slot, and product could be used in typical laptop computer with USB slot. Other application like handheld PC or similar device has not been verified and may not compliance with related RF exposure rule and such use shall be prohibited.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 3 - CE Mark Warning This equipment complies with the requirements relating to electromagnetic compatibility, EN 55022 Class B for ITE, the essential protection requirement of Council Directive 2004/108/EC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to electromagnetic compatibility and R&TTE Directive 1999/5/EC to meet the regulation of the radio equipment and telecommunications terminal equipment. Company has an on-going policy of upgrading its products and it may be possible that information in this document is not up-to-date. Please check with your local distributors for the latest information. No part of this document can be copied or reproduced in any form without written consent from the company. Trademarks: All trade names and trademarks are the properties of their respective companies. Copyright ©2011, All Rights Reserved.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 4 - Package Contents The following contents should be found in your box: ¾ One IEEE 802.11n USB Adapter ¾ One external antenna (Type A) (Type B, C and D are internal antenna) ¾ One resource CD, including:  REALTEK 11n USB Wireless LAN Driver and Utility  User Manual Note: Make sure that the package contains the above items. If any of the listed items are damaged or missing, please contact with your distributor. Conventions: The “Adapter” mentioned in this user guide stands for Wireless 11n USB Adapter without any explanations.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 7 - Chapter 1 Introduction Thank you for purchasing this product. Read this chapter to know about your IEEE 802.11n wireless USB Adapter. 1.1 Picture and Overview of the Product Comply with 802.11n standard This Wireless 11n USB Adapter provides you a better wireless signal. It complies with standards IEEE 802.11n with data rate up to 150Mbps (Type A, B and D) or 300Mbps (Type C), and IEEE 802.11b/g with maximum data rate of 54Mbps. It can also interoperate with all the 11Mbps wireless(802.11b) products. Reliable coverage This Adapter includes a convenient utility for scanning available networks and saving preferred networks that users usually connected with. And your wireless communications are protected by up to 128-bit encryption, which can keep your data secure. Easy installation and connection Installation and use are further simplified by living up to USB's plug and play installation. You will neither need to open the case of your computer, nor will you be required to set IRQ's. It represents Type A Type B Type C Type D

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 8 - the simplest way to connect your computer to an ethernet based network. Also, this USB Adapter has a small shape and is light in weight. It is convenient to carry and place. 1.2 Application Diagram 1.3 Features ¾ High Speed transfer data rate up to 150 Mbps (Type A, B and D) or 300Mbps (Type C).. ¾ Supports 2.4GHz Frequency band, 1T1R (Type A, B and D) or 2T2R (Type C). ¾ Supports QoS Enhancement (WMM, WMM-PS Client mode). ¾ Supports frame aggregation, Power saving mechanism, channel management and co-existence. ¾ Transmit Opportunity (TXOP) Short Inter-Frame Space (SIFS) bursting for higher multimedia bandwidth. ¾ Supports driver for Windows 7 (x86/x64), Vista (x86/x64), XP (x86/x64), Linux 2.6 and Mac OS 10.5, 10.6. ¾ Supports auto-installation and diagnostic utilities. 1.4 LED Status This USB Adapter contains one LED. Please refer to the following description for LED definition.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 9 - LED Indications Status Working Status Radio/ACT LED Blink blue The Adapter is Radio on Blink blue and flashing intermittently The Adapter is already connected but is not transmitting or receiving data Blink blue and fast flashing The Adapter is activity and transmitting of receiving data. Off The Adapter is Radio off

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 10 - Chapter 2 Management Guide for Windows XP User 2.1 Hardware Installation The installation of the Adapter is very simple. You could plug the Adapter directly to the USB port on your computer. The LED will light up when the Adapter is installed successfully and the PC is on. 2.2 Software Installation 2.2.1 Overview The following Setup Wizard will guide you through the Installation procedure for Windows XP. The Setup Wizard will install the REALTEK 11n USB Wireless LAN Driver and Utility. When you install the hardware before installing the software, the system will prompt “Found New Hardware Wizard” on your screen, click Cancel, and run the Setup Wizard program on the CD-ROM. 2.2.2 Installation Procedures 1. Insert the CD into your CD-Rom, and find the setup driver in the CD. Then click the setup icon to start the installation. 2. The language-selecting window pops up. Please select the language you use and click “Next”.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 11 - 3. At this moment “Preparing Setup” window appears. Please wait. 4. Now comes the welcome window. Click the “Next” button to proceed.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 12 - 5. Click the “Install” button to start installing. 6. Please wait when you see the following interface. 7. Please wait again while installation

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 13 - 8. After all the steps above, you will see the screen below. Select “Yes, I want to restart my computer now.” and click “Finish” to reboot the system. 2.3 Management Guide This guide describes how to configure your Adapter for wireless connectivity on your Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) and use the data security encryption features. After Installing the Adapter, the Adapter’s tray icon will appear in your system tray. It appears at the bottom of the screen, and shows the signal strength using color and the received signal strength indication (RSSI). If the icon is purple, there is no connection. If the icon is white, the network is dropping off. If the icon is almost green, there is good signal strength. If the icon is full green, there is excellent signal strength. 2.3.1 Select a Configuration Tool In the following instruction for making a network connection, we use the provided Utility to configure your wireless network settings. Note: You could use either the software we provide or Microsoft Zero Configuration tool to configure this Adapter.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 14 - 2.3.2 To Connect with Microsoft Zero Configuration Tool After specifying the Microsoft Zero Configuration tool to configure your wireless network, right click on the icon on system tray. Select “View Available Wireless Networks” to specify your wireless network. The tool shows the available wireless networks. Select your demanding network to connect with. To connect to a wireless network, please click “Change advanced settings” to be compatible with your wireless network settings. 2.3.3 Introduction to the 802.11n Wireless LAN Utility 2.3.3.1 Interface After the driver installation, the icon will appear on your desktop. Double click this icon and the following interface appears:

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 15 - Note: 1. Functional Buttons: on the upper side of the utility window, you can click each button to access each configuration window for the detail information in the center area. 2. Optional Table: at the bottom: “Show Tray Icon”, “Disable Adapter”, “Radio off”, “Windows Zero Config” A. Show Tray Icon---Clicking "Show Tray Icon" and “Close” button, the management GUI will be minimized and stay on the tray icon located at the right bottom corner of Windows. If not, management GUI will shut down by only click "Close" button with unchecked condition. B. Disable Adapter---Disable this wireless PCI card. C. Radio off---It can save power while turning off the radio. While the radio is off, the links with other wireless network will be disconnected. User should be aware that while the wireless configuration is in AP mode. Radio Off will cause the sub network belonging to the AP to be disconnected with internet. D. Windows Zero Config---External Configuration: select this item will enables you to disable the WLAN Station Configuration Utility and indicates that the station driver is to be configured with Windows XP’s built-in Zero Configuration Utility. This item is only displayed on windows XP systems.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 16 - 2.3.3.2 Available Network This table lists the available wireless networks surrounding you. You can select the network you want in this list (The network with the strongest signal is recommended). You can refresh the connecting network list by clicking the “Refresh” button. Available Network Information: Items Information SSID The name of the IEEE 802.11 wireless network. This field has a maximum limit of 32 characters. Channel Display current channel in use. Encryption Shows the encryption mode in use. There are total 4 modes: None, WEP, TKIP and AES. Network Authentication Shows the authentication mode in use. Signal This percentage shows the strength of the signal. Type The type of network and the station currently connected are shown here.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 19 - (4) Wireless Network Security A. Network Authentication There are 7 types supported: Open System, Shared Key, WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK, and WPA 802.1X, WPA2 802.1X, WEP 802.1X. Please select a type from the drop down list. Select the Security tab in the screen above. To define the security mode, select the desired security mode as follows. z Open System: enable an adapter to attempt authentication regardless of its WEP settings. It will only associate with the access point if the WEP keys on both the adapter and the access point match. z Shared-key: only allows the adapter to associate with access points that have the same WEP key. z 802.1x: This item appears while the environment is set to an open authentication with WEP encryption. The section is also available in WPA and WPA2 authentication types. z Preshared Key (PSK): This is the shared secret between AP and STA. For WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK and WPA-NONE authentication mode, this field must be filled with characters longer than 8 and less than 32 lengths. The following dialog appears if you have input invalid values. z WEP Key: Only available when using WEP encryption algorithm. The key must match AP's key. Only using the same cryptographic key to access the computer, the internet can storage, and decryption the information from other computer. B. Data Encryption: Data encryption There are 4 types supported: Disabled, WEP, TKIP and AES. The available encryption selection will differ from the authentication type you have chosen, the result is shown below: Authentication Available Encryption Selection Open System Disabled, WEP Shared Key , WEP 802.1X WEP WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK, and WPA 802.1X, WPA2 802.1X TKIP, AES Note: Select different Security Options, the configurations are different; you can select the

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 21 - 2.3.3.4 General In this window, there are some items as following: Items Information Status Currently connection status. Speed Show current transmit rate and receive rate. Type Network type in use. Encryption Encryption type in use. SSID The name of the IEEE 802.11 wireless network. This field has a maximum limit of 32 characters. Signal Strength Receive signal strength. Link Quality Display connection quality based on signal strength. Network Address A. MAC Address: The MAC address of the wireless network adapter. B. IP Address: IP address of current connection. C. Subnet Mask: Subnet mask of current connection. D. Gateway: Gateway of current connection.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 23 - The following table describes the items in “Status”. Items Information Manufacturer The name of manufacturing this product. NDIS Driver Version The version of Network Driver Interface Specification. Encryption Here displays the encryption type the device is using. Authenticate This shows whether the server based authentication is used. Channel Set Appears the country you use. MAC Address The MAC address of the wireless network adapter. Data Rate(Auto) Show current transmit rate and receive rate. Channel Frequency Shows the channel in use (1~14). Status Current connection status. SSID The SSID of the wireless system. Network Type The type of network and the station currently connected are shown here. The options include : Infrastructure, Ad Hoc Power Save Mode The power save mode have three modes, as follows : • Max - Selects maximum mode to let the access point buffer incoming messages for the Adapter. The Adapter will detect the

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 24 - access point if any messages are waiting periodically. • Min – Min mode uses minimum when retrieving a large number of packets, then switches back to power save mode after retrieving the packets. • None - Turns power saving off, thus powering up the Wireless USB Adapter continuously for a short message response time. Associated AP MAC The MAC Address of associated AP. Up Time Record life time. Note to US model owner: To comply with US FCC regulation, the country selection function has been completely removed from all US models. The above function is for non-US models only. 2.3.3.7 Statistics Statistics page displays the detail counter information based on 802.11 MIB counters. This page translates the MIB counters into a format easier for user to understand. It show receiving and transmitting statistical information about the following receiving and transmitting diagnostics for frames received by or transmitted to the wireless network Adapter.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 25 - Items Information TX OK Successfully transmitted frames numbers. TX Error Frames numbers transmitting with error. RX OK Successfully received frames numbers. Rx Packet Count The packets of receiving frames. RX Retry Frames numbers re-receiving. RX ICV Error Integrity Check Value receiving with error. Reset Counter Reset counters to zero. 2.3.3.8 Wi-Fi Protect Setup The primary goal of Wi-Fi Protected Setup (Wi-Fi Simple Configuration) is to simplify the security setup and management of Wi-Fi networks. This Adapter supports the configuration setup using PIN configuration method or PBC configuration method. If the connected wireless Router/AP support Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS), you can use this USB Adapter to establish a wireless connection using either Push Button Configuration (PBC) method or PIN method.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 26 - Here we will introduce two ways to configure the QSS (QSS is known as rapid security settings, by pressing the wireless router and this Adapter on the QSS button to automatically set up WPA2 secure connection level without the router or network adapter management software to conduct the cumbersome interface settings, greatly simplifying the operation of the wireless security settings.) Pin Code: 8-digit numbers. It is randomly generated from system. 1. PIN method Click the button “Pin Input Config (PIN)”, and then come to the following figure. Click the button “Yes”, and then select one of the AP. Also, you can click these buttons by “Refresh / Select / Cancel” for any change. When the following interface pops up, double click the Internet WEB browser icon on your desktop screen. Type the IP address of you selected Router/AP into the URL and press “Enter”, and then you can enter the configuration. Please enter the WPS (Wi-Fi ) configuration page, type the PIN code of adapter and click confirm button to build WPS connection.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 27 - When the “General” window appears, WPS is configured successfully. 2. PBC (Push Button Configuration) method After pushing the PBC button, please push the physical button on your Router/AP or visual button on the WPS config page, then come to the following figure.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 29 - 2.3.4 AP Mode Management Guide for Windows XP User If you wish to share the Internet access with the wireless stations in your environment, you can configure this wireless adapter as a software access point (Soft AP). In this mode, this wireless adapter becomes the wireless access point that provides local area network and Internet access for your wireless stations.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 30 - Software Access Point (Soft AP) Application: 2.3.4.1 General To use this Adapter as an access point, please click the “Mode” on the menu bar and select “Access Point”. Then switch from station mode to AP: At the same time, you will find that the icon on the system tray is changed.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 31 - The following interface is under AP mode: Please refer to the following information about this AP mode utility. Items Information SSID AP name of user type. BSSID The MAC address of locally-managed, generating from a 46 random code. AID Raise value by current connection. MAC Address The station MAC address of current connection. Life Time (mm:ss) Record life time. Click the “Config” button, then you can configure the wireless network properties. This page provides overall configuration to this Adapter.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 32 - SSID: AP name of user type. Channel: Manually force the AP using the channel. System default is channel 1. Security Setting: Authentication mode and encryption algorithm used within the AP. System default is no authentication and encryption. Cancel: Cancel the above changes. OK: Apply the above changes. Network Authentication: Select the Security tab in the screen above. To define the security mode, select the desired security mode as follows. There are 4 types supported: Open System, Shared Key, WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK. Please select a type from the drop down list. Data Encryption: Data encryption There are 4 types supported: Disabled, WEP, TKIP and AES. The available encryption selection will differ from the authentication type you have chosen, the result is shown below: Authentication Available Encryption Selection Open System Disabled, WEP Shared Key WEP WPA-PSK, TKIP, AES

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 33 - WPA2-PSK Note: Select different security options, the configurations are different; you can select the appropriate security option and configure the exact key as your need. 2.3.4.2 Advanced Items Information Beacon Interval Beacon frequency spacing. DTIM Period Delay transmission indicator map (DTIM) is enabled for power management of the client. If any client power management is enabled, the DTIM should be retained for 1 (the default). Support this parameter range from 1 to 255. Preamble Mode Select the options from the drop list, (Long / Short). Set Defaults Setting the default value of General. Apply Apply the above changes. 2.3.4.3 Statistics Statistics page displays the detail counter information based on 802.11 MIB counters.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 34 - Items Information TX OK Successfully transmitted frames numbers. TX Error Frames numbers transmitting with error. RX OK Successfully received frames numbers. Rx Packet Count The packets of receiving frames. RX Retry Frames numbers re-receiving. RX ICV Error Integrity Check Value receiving with error. Reset Counter Reset counters to zero.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 35 - 2.3.4.4 ICS In this function, you can set the device sharing with Internet. Click the button “Apply”, and then Prompt box pops up. Select “OK”. When the connection is successful, you will find that the tray “Local Area Connection” has been changed.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 36 - Chapter 3 Management Guide for Vista User 3.1 Hardware Installation The installation of the Adapter is very simple. You could plug the Adapter directly to the USB port on your computer. The LED will light up when the Adapter is installed successfully and the PC is on. 3.2 Soft Installation 3.2.1 Overview The following Setup Wizard will guide you through the Installation procedure for Vista. The Setup Wizard will install the REALTEK 11n USB Wireless LAN Driver and Utility. When you install the hardware before installing the software, the system will prompt “Found New Hardware Wizard”, click “Cancel”, and run the Setup Wizard program on the CD-ROM. 3.2.2 Installation Procedures 1. Insert the CD into your CD-Rom, and find the setup driver in the CD. Then click the setup icon to start the installation. 2. The language-selecting window pops up. Please select the language you use and click “Next”. 3. The welcome window pops up. Click the “Next” button to proceed.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 37 - 4. Please wait again while installation 5. After all the steps above, you will see the screen below, Select “Yes” to reboot the system, then click “Finish”.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 38 - 3.3 Management Guide This guide describes how to configure your Adapter for wireless connectivity on your Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) and use the data security encryption features. After Installing the Adapter, the Adapter’s tray icon will appear in your system tray. It appears at the bottom of the screen, and shows the signal strength using color and the received signal strength indication (RSSI). 3.3.1 Interface After the driver installation, the icon will appear on your desktop. Double click this icon and the following interface appears: Note: 1. Functional Buttons: on the upper side of the utility window, you can click each button to access each configuration window for the detail information in the center area. 2. Optional Table: at the bottom: “Show Tray Icon”, “Disable Adapter”, “Radio off”. A. Show Tray Icon---Clicking "Show Tray Icon" and “Close” button, the management GUI will be

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 39 - minimized and stay on the tray icon located at the right bottom corner of Windows. If not, management GUI will shut down by only click "Close" button with unchecked condition. B. Disable Adapter---Disable this wireless PCI card. C. Radio off---It can save power while turning off the radio. While the radio is off, the links with other wireless network will be disconnected. User should be aware that while the wireless configuration is in AP mode. The radio off will cause the sub network belonging to the AP to be disconnected with internet. 3.3.2 Available Network This network lists the available wireless networks. The Utility connects to a wireless network with best signal strength automatically. You can refresh the connecting network by clicking on the network name and click the “Refresh” button.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 42 - (3). Channel (Country Region Code): seven countries to choose. Country channel list: Country Channel Range Country Channel Range USA CH1 ~ CH11 FRANCE CH1 ~ CH13 CANADA CH1 ~ CH11 JAPAN CH1 ~ CH14 ETSI CH1 ~ CH13 ISRAEL CH1 ~ CH13 SPAIN CH1 ~ CH11 The availability of some specific channels and/or operational frequency bands are country dependent and are firmware programmed at the factory to match the intended destination. The firmware setting is not accessible by the end user. (4) Wireless Network Security A. Network Authentication Select the Security tab in the screen above. To define the security mode, select the desired security mode as follows. There are 7 types supported: Open System, Shared Key, WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK, and WPA 802.1X, WPA2 802.1X, WEP 802.1X, Please select a type from the drop down list z Open System: enable an adapter to attempt authentication regardless of its WEP settings. It will only associate with the access point if the WEP keys on both the adapter and the access point match. z Shared-key: only allows the adapter to associate with access points that have the same WEP key. z 802.1x: This item appears while the environment is set to an Open authentication with WEP encryption. Mark the checkbox to make the section available. The section is also available in WPA and WPA2 authentication types. z Preshared Key(PSK): This is the shared secret between AP and STA. For WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK and WPA-NONE authentication mode, this field must be filled with characters longer than 8 and less than 32 lengths. The following dialog appears if you have input invalid values. z WEP Key: Only available when using WEP encryption algorithm. The key must match AP's key. Only using the same cryptographic key to access the computer, the internet can storage, and decryption the information from other computer.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 46 - you may slightly increase your fragmentation threshold within the value range of 256 to 2432. Setting the fragmentation threshold too low may result in poor performance. (2) RTS Threshold Request To Send Threshold. This value should remain at its default setting of 2346. If you encounter inconsistent data flow, only minor modifications to the value range between 0 and 2432 are recommended. 3.3.6 Status The Status tab contains general information about the program and its operations. The current Status tab needn’t any configurations. The following table describes the items found on the Status screen. Items Information Manufacturer The name of manufacturing this product. NDIS Driver Version The version of Network Driver Interface Specification. Encryption Here displays the encryption type the device is using.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 47 - Authenticate This shows whether the server based authentication is used. Channel Set Appears the country you use. MAC Address The MAC address of the wireless network adapter. Data Rate(Auto) Show current transmit rate and receive rate. Channel Frequency Shows the channel in use (1~14). Status Current connection status. SSID The SSID of the wireless system. Network Type The type of network and the station currently connected are shown here. The options include : Infrastructure, Ad Hoc Power Save Mode The power save mode have three mode: Max, Min, None Associated AP MAC The MAC Address of associated AP. Up Time Record life time. 3.3.7 Statistics Statistics page displays the detail counter information based on 802.11 MIB counters. This page translates the MIB counters into a format easier for user to understand. It show receiving and transmitting statistical information about the following receiving and transmitting diagnostics for frames received by or transmitted to the wireless network adapter.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 48 - Items Information TX OK Successfully transmitted frames numbers. TX Error Frames numbers transmitting with error. RX OK Successfully received frames numbers. Rx Packet Count The packets of receiving frames. RX Retry Frames numbers re-receiving. RX ICV Error Integrity Check Value receiving with error. Reset Counter Reset counters to zero. 3.3.8 Wi-Fi Protect Setup The primary goal of Wi-Fi Protected Setup (Wi-Fi Simple Configuration) is to simplify the security setup and management of Wi-Fi networks. This adapter supports the configuration setup using PIN configuration method or PBC configuration method. If the connected wireless Router/AP supports Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS), you can use this adapter to establish a wireless connection by either Push Button Configuration (PBC) method or PIN method.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 49 - Here we will introduce two ways to configure the QSS (QSS is known as rapid security settings, by pressing the wireless Router and this adapter on the QSS button to automatically set up WPA2 secure connection level without the Router or network adapter management software to conduct the cumbersome interface settings, greatly simplifying the operation of the wireless security settings.) Pin Code: 8-digit numbers. It is randomly generated from system 1. PIN method Click the button “Pin Input Config (PIN)”, and then come to the following figure.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 50 - Click the button “Yes”, and then select one of the AP. Also, you can click these buttons by “Refresh / Select / Cancel” for any change. When the following interface pops up, double click the Internet WEB browser icon on your desktop screen. Type the IP address of you selected Router/AP into the URL and press “Enter”, and then you can enter the configuration. Please enter the WPS (Wi-Fi ) configuration page, type the PIN code of adapter and click confirm button to build WPS connection.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 51 - When the “General” window appears, WPS is configured successfully. 2. PBC (Push Button Configuration) method After pushing the PBC button, Please push the physical button on your Router/AP or visual button on the WPS config page, then come to the following figure.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 53 - tray is changed. Please refer to the following information about this AP mode utility. Items Information SSID AP name of user type. BSSID The IEEE MAC address of locally-managed, generating from a 46 random code. AID Raise value by current connection. MAC Address The station MAC address of current connection. Life Time (mm:ss) Record life time. Click the “Config” button, then you can configure the wireless network properties. This page provides overall configuration to this adapter.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 54 - SSID: AP name of user type. Channel: Manually force the AP using the channel. System default is channel 1. Security Setting: Authentication mode and encryption algorithm used within the AP. System default is no authentication and encryption. Cancel: Cancel the above changes. OK: Apply the above changes. Network Authentication: Select the Security tab in the screen above. To define the security mode, select the desired security mode as follows. There are 4 types supported: Open System, Shared Key, WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK. Please select a type from the drop down list. Data Encryption: Data encryption There are 4 types supported: Disabled, WEP, TKIP and AES. The available encryption selection will differ from the authentication type you have chosen, the result is shown below: Authentication Available Encryption Selection Open System Disabled, WEP Shared Key WEP WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK TKIP, AES

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 55 - Note: Select different Security Options, the configurations are different; you can select the appropriate security option and configure the exact key as your need. 3.4.2 Advanced Items Information Beacon Interval Beacon frequency spacing. DTIM Period Delay transmission indicator map (DTIM) is enabled for power management of the client. If any client power management is enabled, the DTIM should be retained for 1 (the default). Support this parameter range from 1 to 255. Preamble Mode Select the options from the drop list, (Long / Short). Set Defaults Setting the default value of General. Apply Apply the above changes.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 56 - 3.4.3 Statistics Statistics page displays the detail counter information based on 802.11 MIB counters. Items Information TX OK Successfully transmitted frames numbers. TX Error Frames numbers transmitting with error. RX OK Successfully received frames numbers. Rx Packet Count The packets of receiving frames. RX Retry Frames numbers re-receiving. RX ICV Error Integrity Check Value receiving with error. Reset Counter Reset counters to zero.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 57 - 3.4.4 ICS In this function, you can set the device sharing with Internet. Click the button “Apply”, Prompt box pops up. Select “OK”, then the Internet connection is sharing.

Chapter 4 Introduction for Windows 7 User 4.1 Hardware Installation The installation of the Adapter is very simple. You could plug the Adapter directly to the USB port on your computer. The LED will light up when the Adapter is installed successfully and the PC is on. 4.2 Software Installation 4.2.1 Overview The following Setup Wizard will guide you through the Installation procedure for Windows 7. The Setup Wizard will install the REALTEK 11n USB Wireless LAN Driver and Utility. When you install the hardware before installing the software, the system will prompt “Found New Hardware Wizard” on your screen, click Cancel, and run the Setup Wizard program on the CD-ROM. 4.2.2 Installation procedures 1. Insert the CD into your CD-Rom, and find the setup driver in the CD. Then click the setup icon to start the installation. 2. The language-selecting window pops up. Please select the language you use and click “Next”. 3. Please wait while “Preparing Setup” appears.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 59 - 4. Here comes the welcome window. Click the “Next” button to proceed. 5. Please wait again while install. 6. After all the steps above, you will see the screen below, Select “Yes” option to reboot the system..

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 60 - 4.3 Management Guide This guide describes how to configure your Adapter for wireless connectivity on your Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) and use the data security encryption features. After Installing the Adapter, the Adapter’s tray icon will appear in your system tray. It appears at the bottom of the screen, and shows the signal strength (the icon will change its color) and the received signal strength indication (RSSI). 4.3.1 Interface After the driver installation, the icon will appear on your desktop. Double click this icon and the following interface appears:

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 61 - Note: 1. Functional Buttons: on the upper side of the utility window, you can click each button to access each configuration window for the detail information in the center area. 2. Optional Table: at the bottom: “Show Tray Icon”, “Disable Adapter”, “Radio off”. A. Show Tray Icon---Clicking "Show Tray Icon" and “Close” button, the management GUI will be minimized and stay on the tray icon located at the right bottom corner of Windows. If not, management GUI will shut down by only click "Close" button with unchecked condition. B. Disable Adapter---Disable this wireless PCI card. C. Radio off---It can save power while turning off the radio. While the radio is off, the links with other wireless network will be disconnected. User should be aware that while the wireless configuration is in AP mode. The radio off will cause the sub network belonging to the AP to be disconnected with internet.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 62 - 4.3.2 Available Network The above picture shows you the available wireless network lists. The Utility will connect to a wireless network with best signal strength automatically. You can refresh the connecting network by clicking on the network name and click the “Refresh” button. In the center of the Utility windows, you will see detail information of each network. Available Network Information: Items Information SSID The name of the IEEE 802.11 wireless network. This field has a maximum limit of 32 characters. Channel Display current channel in use. Encryption Shows the encryption mode in use. There are total 4 modes: None, WEP, TKIP and AES.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 65 - (4) Wireless Network Security A. Network Authentication Select the Security tab in the screen above. To define the security mode, select the desired security mode as follows. There are 7 types supported: Open System, Shared Key, WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK, and WPA 802.1X, WPA2 802.1X, WEP 802.1X, and you can select a type from the drop down list if you click the button beside ”Network Authentication”. z Open System: enable an adapter to attempt authentication regardless of its WEP settings. It will only associate with the access point if the WEP keys on both the adapter and the access point match. z Shared-key: only allows the adapter to associate with access points that have the same WEP key. z 802.1x: This item appears while the environment is set to an Open authentication with WEP encryption. Mark the checkbox to make the section available. The section is also available in WPA and WPA2 authentication types. z Preshared Key(PSK): This is the shared secret between AP and STA. For WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK and WPA-NONE authentication mode, this field must be filled with characters longer than 8 and less than 32 lengths. The following dialog appears if you have input invalid values. z WEP Key: Only available when using WEP encryption algorithm. The key must match AP's key. Only using the same cryptographic key to access the computer, the internet can storage, and decryption the information from other computer.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 66 - B. Data Encryption: Data encryption There are 4 types supported: Disabled, WEP, TKIP and AES. The available encryption selection will differ from the authentication type you have chosen, the result is shown below: Authentication Available Encryption Selection Open System Disabled, WEP Shared Key WEP WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK, and WPA 802.1X, WPA2 802.1X TKIP, AES WEP 802.1X WEP Note: Select different Security Options, the configurations are different; you can select the appropriate security option and configure the exact key as your need. z TKIP: "Temporary Key Integration communication Protocol", it provide each packet's key mixture, message integration and key reconstruction mechanism. TKIP can use with personal or the enterprise network validation. z AES: “Advanced Encryption Standard”, It is a new method that the wireless transmission of privacy protection. AES encryption methods provides more careful than TKIP.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 68 - 4.3.4 General In this window, there are some items as following: Items Information Status Currently connection status. Speed Show current transmit rate and receive rate. Type Network type in use. Encryption Encryption type in use. SSID The name of the IEEE 802.11 wireless network. This field has a maximum limit of 32 characters. Signal Strength Receive signal strength. Link Quality Display connection quality based on signal strength. Network 1. MAC Address : The MAC address of the wireless network adapter.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 70 - Setting the fragmentation threshold too low may result in poor performance. (2) RTS Threshold Request To Send Threshold. This value should remain at its default setting of 2346. If you encounter inconsistent data flow, only minor modifications to the value range between 0 and 2432 are recommended. 4.3.6 Status The Status tab contains general information about the program and its operations.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 71 - The following table describes the items found on the Status screen. Items Information Manufacturer The name of manufacturing this product. NDIS Driver Version The version of Network Driver Interface Specification. Encryption Here displays the encryption type the device is using. Authenticate This shows whether the server based authentication is used. Channel Set Appears the country you use. MAC Address The MAC address of the wireless network adapter. Data Rate(Auto) Show current transmit rate and receive rate. Channel Frequency Shows the channel in use (1~14). Status Current connection status. SSID The SSID of the wireless system. Network Type The type of network and the station currently connected are shown here. The options include : Infrastructure, Ad Hoc Power Save Mode The power save mode have three mode: Max, Min, None Associated AP MAC The MAC Address of associated AP. Up Time Record life time. 4.3.7 Statistics Statistics page displays the detail counter information based on 802.11 MIB counters. This page translates the MIB counters into a format easier for user to understand. It show receiving and transmitting statistical information about the following receiving and transmitting diagnostics for frames received by or transmitted to the wireless network adapter.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 72 - Items Information TX OK Successfully transmitted frames numbers. TX Error Frames numbers transmitting with error. RX OK Successfully received frames numbers. Rx Packet Count The packets of receiving frames. RX Retry Frames numbers re-receiving. RX ICV Error Integrity Check Value receiving with error. Reset Counter Reset counters to zero.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 73 - 4.3.8 Wi-Fi Protect Setup The primary goal of Wi-Fi Protected Setup (Wi-Fi Simple Configuration) is to simplify the security setup and management of Wi-Fi networks. This adapter supports the configuration setup using PIN configuration method or PBC configuration method. If the wireless card supports Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS), you can establish a wireless connection between wireless card and router using either Push Button Configuration (PBC) method or PIN method. Here we will introduce two ways to configure the QSS (QSS is known as rapid security settings, by pressing the wireless router and wireless card on the QSS button to automatically set up WPA2 secure connection level without the router or network adapter management software to conduct the cumbersome interface settings, greatly simplifying the operation of the wireless security settings.) Pin Code: 8-digit numbers. It is randomly generated from system. (1) PIN method Click the button “Pin Input Config (PIN)”, and then come to the following figure.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 74 - Click the button “Yes”, and then select one of the AP. Also, you can click these buttons by “Refresh / Select / Cancel” for any change. When the following interface pops up, double click the Internet WEB browser icon on your desktop screen. Type the IP address of you selected Router/AP into the URL and press “Enter”, and then you can enter the configuration. Please enter the WPS (Wi-Fi ) configuration page, type the PIN code of adapter and click confirm button to build WPS connection.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 75 - When the “General” window appears, WPS is configured successfully. 2. PBC (Push Button Configuration) method After pushing the PBC button, Please push the physical button on your AP or visual button on the WPS config page, then come to the following figure.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 76 - When the “General” window appears, WPS is configured successfully. 4.3.9 Virtual WiFi Click the check box of “Virtual WiFi disallowed” at the bottom of the window to activate Virtual WiFi. Virtual WiFi , abbreviated to VWiFi, is a software layer that abstracts the wireless LAN card hardware into multiple virtual adapters. The software handles the connections of each adapter to ensure every adapter has an opportunity to connect to their respective networks limited by time. And you act as if you have multiple WLAN hardware adapters working independently.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 77 - Items Information SSID The name of connected IEEE 802.11 wireless network. This field has a maximum limit of 32 characters. BSSID a locally administered MAC address of the wireless network generated from a 64-bit random number Association Table It is the list of joined stations to this adapter AID Association ID Mac Address It is the six two-digit numbers that assemble the MAC address of respected joined station Life time It is the timer that counts down from 10 minutes whenever the adapter connects the station successfully. If an STA associated to SW adapter does not have any interaction with the adapter in 10 minutes, it will be disassociated from the Infra-structure BSS config A dialog of this adapter is shown for configuration modification Click config button and the network properties interface pops up. You can key in the network key to set up the security accessing authority and click OK to finish the configuration.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 78 - The other connecter can share the same network by typing in the network key. In this way the connecter is connected to the adapter.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 79 - Setting Internet Connection Sharing(ICS) 1. Click the checkbox of ICS, a box asks for waiting will pop up, and “Auto Select Public Network” is enabled automatically. 2. If you want to select the “Shared network” manually, you can enable “Auto Select Public Network” and choose the “Shared network” you want by the drop-down list as follow:

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 80 - 3. After selecting the shared network, click the button “Apply”, and then Prompt box pops up. 4. Select “OK”. When the connection is successful, you will find that the tray “Local Area Connection” has been changed.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 81 - 4.4 AP mode Management Guide for Window 7 User If you wish to share the Internet access with the wireless stations in your environment, you can configure this wireless adapter as a software access point (Soft AP). In this mode, this wireless adapter becomes the wireless access point that provides local area network and Internet access for your wireless stations. 4.4.1 General To use this adapter as an access point, please click the “Mode” on the menu bar and select “Access Point”. At this time a box pops up: Then switching from station mode to AP: At the same time, you will find that the icon on the system tray is changed form to

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 82 - Please refer to the following information about this AP mode utility. Items Information SSID AP name of user type. BSSID The IEEE MAC address of locally-managed, generating from a 46 random code. AID Raise value by current connection. MAC Address The station MAC address of current connection. Life Time (mm:ss) Record life time. Click the “Config” button, then you can configure the wireless network properties. This page provides overall configuration to this adapter.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 83 - SSID: AP name of user type. Channel: Manually force the AP using the channel. System default is channel 1. Security Setting: Authentication mode and encryption algorithm used within the AP. System default is no authentication and encryption. Cancel: Cancel the above changes. OK: Apply the above changes. A. Network Authentication Select the Security tab in the screen above. To define the security mode, select the desired security mode as follows. There are 4 types supported: Open System, Shared Key, WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK. Please select a type from the drop down list. B. Data Encryption:

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 84 - Data encryption There are 4 types supported: Disabled, WEP, TKIP and AES. The available encryption selection will differ from the authentication type you have chosen, the result is shown below: Authentication Available Encryption Selection Open System Disabled, WEP Shared Key WEP WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK TKIP, AES Note: Select different Security Options, the configurations are different; you can select the appropriate security option and configure the exact key as your need. 4.4.2 Advanced Items Information Beacon Interval Beacon frequency spacing. DTIM Period Delay transmission indicator map (DTIM) is enabled for power management of the client. If any client power management is enabled, the DTIM should be retained for 1 (the default). Support this parameter range from 1 to 255. Preamble Mode Select the options from the drop list. (Long / Short). Set Defaults Setting the default value of General. Apply Apply the above changes.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 85 - 4.4.3 Statistics Statistics page displays the detail counter information based on 802.11 MIB counters. Items Information TX OK Successfully transmitted frames numbers. TX Error Frames numbers transmitting with error. RX OK Successfully received frames numbers. Rx Packet Count The packets of receiving frames. RX Retry Frames numbers re-receiving. RX ICV Error Integrity Check Value receiving with error. Reset Counter Reset counters to zero.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 86 - 4.4.4 ICS When a dialogue box appears and asks for checking the connection status appears.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 87 - Select “OK”, then the Internet connection is sharing.

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 88 - Appendix A: Specifications Standard IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11b Interface Complies with USB 2.0 Security 64/128-bit WPA , WPA2 Channel USA 11, Europe 13, Japan 14 Network Data Rate 802.11b: 1,2,5.5 and 11 Mbps 802.11g: 6,9,12,18,24,36,48 and 54 Mbps 802.11n: up to 150 Mbps (Type A, B and D) or 300Mbps (Type C) Range Coverage Indoor 35~100 meters Outdoor 100~300 meters Temperature Operating: 0°C ~ 40°C (32°~104°F) Storage: -20°C ~ 70°C (-4°~158°F) Humidity Operating: 10% ~ 90% RH, non-condensing Storage: 5%~90% RH, non-condensing Emission FCC, CE, VCCI Class B

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 89 - Appendix B: Glossary z 802.11b - The 802.11b standard specifies a wireless product networking at 11 Mbps using direct-sequence spread-spectrum (DSSS) technology and operating in the unlicensed radio spectrum at 2.4GHz, and WEP encryption for security. 802.11b networks are also referred to as Wi-Fi networks. z 802.11g - specification for wireless networking at 54 Mbps using direct-sequence spread-spectrum (DSSS) technology, using OFDM modulation and operating in the unlicensed radio spectrum at 2.4GHz, and backward compatibility with IEEE 802.11b devices, and WEP encryption for security. z 802.11n - 802.11n builds upon previous 802.11 standards by adding MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output). MIMO uses multiple transmitter and receiver antennas to allow for increased data throughput via spatial multiplexing and increased range by exploiting the spatial diversity, perhaps through coding schemes like Alamouti coding. The Enhanced Wireless Consortium (EWC) was formed to help accelerate the IEEE 802.11n development process and promote a technology specification for interoperability of next-generation wireless local area networking (WLAN) products. z Ad-hoc Network - An ad-hoc network is a group of computers, each with a Wireless Adapter, connected as an independent 802.11 wireless LAN. Ad-hoc wireless computers operate on a peer-to-peer basis, communicating directly with each other without the use of an access point. Ad-hoc mode is also referred to as an Independent Basic Service Set (IBSS) or as peer-to-peer mode, and is useful at a departmental scale or SOHO operation. z DSSS - (Direct-Sequence Spread Spectrum) - DSSS generates a redundant bit pattern for all data transmitted. This bit pattern is called a chip (or chipping code). Even if one or more bits in the chip are damaged during transmission, statistical techniques embedded in the receiver can recover the original data without the need of retransmission. To an unintended receiver, DSSS appears as low power wideband noise and is rejected (ignored) by most narrowband receivers. However, to an intended receiver (i.e. another wireless LAN endpoint), the DSSS signal is recognized as the only valid signal, and interference is inherently rejected (ignored). z Infrastructure Network - An infrastructure network is a group of computers or other devices, each with a Wireless Adapter, connected as an 802.11 wireless LAN. In infrastructure mode, the wireless devices communicate with each other and to a wired network by first going through an access point. An infrastructure wireless network connected to a wired network is referred to as a Basic Service Set (BSS). A set of two or more BSS in a single network is referred to as an Extended Service Set (ESS). Infrastructure mode is useful at a corporation scale, or when it is necessary to connect the wired and wireless networks. z SSID - A Service Set Identification is a thirty-two character (maximum) alphanumeric key

Wireless 11n USB Adapter - 90 - identifying a wireless local area network. For the wireless devices in a network to communicate with each other, all devices must be configured with the same SSID. This is typically the configuration parameter for a wireless PC card. It corresponds to the ESSID in the wireless Access Point and to the wireless network name. See also Wireless Network Name and ESSID. z WEP - (Wired Equivalent Privacy) - A data privacy mechanism based on a 64-bit or 128-bit or 152-bit shared key algorithm, as described in the IEEE 802.11 standard. To gain access to a WEP network, you must know the key. The key is a string of characters that you create. When using WEP, you must determine the level of encryption. The type of encryption determines the key length. 128-bit encryption requires a longer key than 64-bit encryption. Keys are defined by entering in a string in HEX (hexadecimal - using characters 0-9, A-F) or ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange – alphanumeric characters) format. ASCII format is provided so you can enter a string that is easier to remember. The ASCII string is converted to HEX for use over the network. Four keys can be defined so that you can change keys easily. z Wi-Fi - A trade name for the 802.11b wireless networking standard, given by the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA, see http://www.wi-fi.net), an industry standards group promoting interoperability among 802.11b devices. z WLAN - (Wireless Local Area Network) - A group of computers and associated devices communicate with each other wirelessly, which network serving users are limited in a local area. z WPA - (Wi-Fi Protected Access) - A wireless security protocol use TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol) encryption, which can be used in conjunction with a RADIUS server 61NB-W121C0+217

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