1-Mbps USB Wireless LAN Adapter User’s Guide Version A1 January 2003 NWH4020 National Datacomm Corporation 4th Fl., No. 24-2, Industry E. Rd. IV Science-based Industrial Park Hsinchu, Taiwan, R.O.C. Technical Support E-mail: techsupt@ndc.com.tw NDC World Wide Web http://www.ndclan.
TRADEMARKS NDC and InstantWave are trademarks of National Datacomm Corporation. All other names mentioned in this document are trademarks/registered trademarks of their respective owners. NDC provides this document “as is,” without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
Packing List The adapter package should contain the following items: #" One InstantWave 11-Mbps USB wireless LAN adapter #" One USB cable #" One USB Adapter Driver disk #" Two InstantWave Utility disks #" One quick setup guide If the optional USB coupler was ordered, make sure it is in the package as well.
Table of Contents INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ....................................................................................... 1 Hardware ......................................................................................................... 1 Software............................................................................................................ 1 TERMINOLOGY USED IN THIS GUIDE....
INDEX...................................................................................................................
List of Figures FIGURE 1. AD-HOC NETWORK .................................................................................. 2 FIGURE 2. INFRASTRUCTURE NETWORK ................................................................... 2 FIGURE 3. ROAMABLE MULTI-AP INFRASTRUCTURE NETWORK ............................... 3 FIGURE 4. PARTS OF THE ADAPTER .......................................................................... 4 FIGURE 5. SETUP PROGRAM WELCOME SCREEN ...................................................
Introduction Thank you for choosing an InstantWave 11-Mbps wireless networking product. This guide gives complete instructions on installing and using the InstantWave NWH4020 11-Mbps USB wireless LAN adapter, and also explains how to install and use the InstantWave utility program included with the adapter. The NWH4020 is part of a family of easy-to-use high-performance wireless communication products.
Terminology Used in This Guide Ad-hoc Network An ad-hoc network is a wireless local-area network (WLAN) made up of stations communicating directly with each other through their wireless interfaces. There is no central relay point, and normally no connection to a wired network. Ad-hoc mode is sometimes referred to as peer-to-peer, computer-to-computer, or Independent Basic Service Set (IBSS) mode. Figure 1 shows a typical ad-hoc network. Figure 1.
BSSID, MAC Address A Basic Service Set (BSS) is two or more wireless devices that are in communication with each other. Like every wired Ethernet device, every wireless device has a fixed, unique “media access control” (MAC) address. When wireless devices establish communication, they automatically select the MAC address of one BSS member as an identifier for the group; this is the BSSID.
Roaming When APs covering adjacent areas have the same SSID and encryption settings, a mobile device that also shares those settings can communicate through the APs continuously while moving from one coverage area to another. This is known as roaming.
Adapter Installation Installing the adapter consists of connecting it to the computer and installing the driver and the utility program. Software installation will begin automatically the first time you connect the adapter to the computer. Follow these instructions carefully to ensure successful installation. Connecting the Adapter for the First Time Step 1. If the computer does not have a built-in 3.5-inch floppy-disk drive, connect its external drive. Step 2.
• When typing the location of the driver, be sure to type a:\ with a backslash [\] and not a slash [/]. In Microsoft® Windows XP, be sure to type a:\xp_driver with a backslash and not a slash. • It is common for the installation program to fail to find the driver on the first try, even though the location you type is correct. You will be prompted again to insert the disk and type the location; simply type the same location again.
The installation program will let you specify whether it should search for a driver or display a list of drivers. Controls for specifying a search location will also appear. Step 2. Click Search for the best driver for your device (Recommended), put a check mark on Specify a location, type a:\ into the location box, and then click Next. You may be instructed again to insert the disk and specify the driver’s location. If this happens, click OK, type a:\ under Copy files from, and click OK again.
The installation program will install the driver and indicate that installation is complete. Step 6. Click Finish. After completing the above steps, you may be prompted to restart your computer. Remove the driver disk and click Yes to allow the system to restart. Windows XP In Microsoft® Windows XP, the window that appears when you first connect the adapter is titled Found New Hardware Wizard. Install the driver as follows: Step 1.
Figure 5. Setup program Welcome screen Step 6. Click Next (or press the Enter or Return key). The Choose Destination Location window will appear. Figure 6. Choose Destination Location window The InstantWave Utility is normally installed in the directory C:\Program Files\Instantwave\HighRate Utility. To specify a different location, click Browse and follow the on-screen instructions. You will be returned to the Choose Destination Location window when you are done. Step 7.
The Select Program Folder window will appear. Figure 7. Select Program Folder window This window lets you specify where in the desktop’s Start menu the InstantWave Utility will appear. Assuming you accepted the default location in the previous window, the default action in this window is to add the entry Instantwave to the Programs section of the Start menu, create the subentry HighRate utility within it, and place the utility within that.
Figure 9. Prompt for Disk 2 Step 9. Remove InstantWave Utility Disk #1, insert InstantWave Utility Disk #2, and click OK (or press the Enter or Return key). Installation will proceed to completion, and the Setup Complete window will appear. Figure 10. Completion message Step 10. Click Finish (or press the Enter or Return key).
Step 3. In the list of installed network components, select WLAN miniUSB Adapter. Step 4. Click Remove. You will be asked if you wish to remove the adapter or “disable” it. Step 5. Click OK. You will be asked if you wish to restart the computer. Step 6. Click Yes and allow the system to restart. Microsoft® Windows 2000 or XP: To remove the driver from a computer running Windows 2000 or XP, carry out the following steps: Step 1. Disconnect the adapter.
The InstantWave Utility The InstantWave HighRate Utility is a Microsoft® Windows-based application that lets you configure and monitor your InstantWave wireless LAN adapter. The program includes tools for determining the best location for the adapter, and for diagnosing wireless network problems. The utility lets you specify the wireless network type (infrastructure or ad-hoc), domain name (SSID), and security (WEP) settings.
Figure 12. InstantWave Utility toolbar step4. step5. Click the icon for the task you wish to perform. The functions provided by the utility program are, reading from left to right: • Adapter Properties • Radio Link Quality Indicator • Station Traffic Monitor • Site Survey Tool Right-click the InstantWave toolbar’s title bar. Four functions are available: #" Move is used to move the toolbar to a suitable screen position. #" Close is used to close the toolbar.
#" Launch Instantwave Utility on startup automatically starts the utility at each system boot. #" Show icon on the Taskbar displays an icon on the taskbar (Figure 14). Figure 14.
Figure 15. Adapter Properties window — Configuration panel Configuration The Configuration panel (Figure 15) displays, and allows you to modify, some important parameters of the InstantWave adapter. All parameter changes are saved and are referred to by the InstantWave driver when the system boots. • Network Mode — The IEEE 802.11 and IEEE 802.11b wireless specifications allow for two types of network, Infrastructure and Ad hoc. Infrastructure is used when networking with an access point (AP).
• Transmission Rate — The transmission rate at which data packets are transmitted by the station or the AP. You can set this to Fully Automatic, 1Mb (that is, 1 Mbps), 2Mb, 5.5Mb, or 11Mb. Usually this should be set to Fully Automatic. In an electromagnetically “noisy” environment, a lower rate can provide more stable transmission quality. • Channel — Ad-hoc networks only.
This panel is divided into three sections: • Type and Version — This section shows the version numbers of the driver and the adapter’s firmware, as well as the type of chipset in the adapter. • Hardware Information — Shows the “regulatory domain” the adapter was made for (that is, the country or region it has the proper number and selection of channels for) and the “station address,” that is, the adapter’s factory-set MAC (Media Access Control) address.
• Current Channel — The channel number shown here is the channel used for communication between wireless stations and an AP (or, in an ad-hoc network, between stations). In infrastructure mode, stations will scan for the channel the AP is using and change to the same channel automatically. In ad-hoc node, the channel number must be set manually on each station that wishes to connect. • Current Tx Rate — Shows the current transmission rate of the adapter.
Disabled (default): Stations communicate with the access point without any data encryption. 40-bit WEP: Stations communicate with the access point using 40-bit WEP data encryption. 128-bit WEP: Stations communicate with the access point using 128-bit WEP data encryption. In order to decode data transmissions, all wireless stations on the network must use the same key or keys. WEP Key Generation: There are two ways to generate a WEP key or keys.
Figure 19. Adapter Properties window — Troubleshooting panel A diagnosis program will run and display a diagnostic message. Follow the onscreen instructions to send the message, together with a description of the symptoms, to NDC’s technical support via e-mail. Site Survey Site Survey scans the wireless networking frequency band and displays the results.
Figure 20. Site Survey Scan Click Scan to obtain and display updated survey information. You may need to wait a short time until the scan is completed. Join Selecting an AP in the list will enable the Join button. The Join command allows you to manually connect to a specific network. Note that to join an ad-hoc network in this way, you must first choose ad-hoc mode through the Adapter Properties window’s Configuration panel.
Figure 22. Station Traffic Monitor This tool shows the amount of data transmitted and received by the station. This information is useful when diagnosing networking throughput problems.
Driver/Utility Upgrade Procedure New drivers and utilities are released from time to time. Check http://www.ndc.com.tw/support/driver.htm for the latest releases. To upgrade the InstantWave adapter driver or HighRate Utility, you need to uninstall the current driver or utility first. See the index (last pages in this User Guide) to find the location of detailed uninstallation instructions for your operating system.
Troubleshooting This section provides you with some troubleshooting information in case you encounter installation or operation problems with an InstantWave product. If your problem still cannot be remedied after going through this section, check the FAQs at http://www.ndc.com.tw/support/insfaq.htm If you still have a problem, call the reseller from whom you purchased the InstantWave product, or contact NDC technical support for assistance (see Technical Support, page 27).
1. Move the computer closer to the access point (AP) The wireless network is to find a better signal. If the signal is still weak, try often interrupted (the changing the adapter’s height or orientation. taskbar icon shows red, or the link quality indicator 2. There may be interference, possibly caused by a shows black). microwave oven, 2.4-GHz wireless phone, or metal objects. Move these interference sources or change the location of the computer or AP. 3. Change the wireless channel on the AP.
Technical Support Support from Your Network Supplier If assistance is required, call your supplier for help. Have the following information ready before you make the call. 1. LED status 2. A list of the product hardware (including revision levels), and a brief description of the network structure 3. Details of recent configuration changes, if applicable Support from NDC If you have any problems that you cannot resolve with the information in troubleshooting, or the FAQs at http://www.ndc.com.
NDC Limited Warranty Hardware NDC warrants its products to be free of defects in workmanship and materials, under normal use and service, for a period of 12 months from the date of purchase from NDC or its Authorized Reseller, and for the period of time specified in the documentation supplied with each product.
2. Inform the distributor or retailer. 3. Ship the product back to the distributor/retailer with prepaid freight. The purchaser must pay the shipping fee from the distributor/retailer to NDC. Any package sent C.O.D. (Cash On Delivery) will be refused. Charges: Usually RMA (Returned Material Authorization) items will be returned to the purchaser via airmail, prepaid by NDC. If an item is returned by another carrier, the purchaser will pay the difference.
Specifications General Regulatory Approval USA: FCC Part 15 B and 15 C Europe: CE ETS 300 328, ETS 300 826, and EN60950 Japan: TELEC ARIB STD-T33 and STD-T66 JATE Interface to Host USB version 1.1 Standards Compliance IEEE 802.11b, USB 1.1, and Wi-Fi compliant OS Support Microsoft Windows 98, ME, 2000, and XP Software Features 40-bit and 128-bit WEP encryption, dynamic rate shifting (11/5.5/2/1 Mbps), Site Survey function, automatic roaming, one-click diagnostics Data Rates 11, 5.
Wireless RF Spreading Scheme Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) RF Frequency Range 2400 to 2483.5 MHz (North America, Europe, and Japan) 2445 to 2475 MHz (Spain) 2446.5 to 2483.5 MHz (France) Transmitter Characteristics RF output power: 15 dBm (typical) Data Modulation Methods: BPSK (1 Mbps), QPSK (2, 5.5, and 11 Mbps) Data Modulation Speeds: 11, 5.
EC DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY For the following equipment: Product Name : InstantWave 11-Mbps USB Wireless LAN Adapter Model Number : NWH4020 is hereby confirmed to comply with the requirements set out in the Council Directive on the Approximation of the Laws of the Member States relating to R&TTE Directive(99/ 5/ EC). For the evaluation regarding the electromagnetic compatibility, the following standards were applied.
Appendix The appendix lists the channels supported by the world’s regulatory domains. The channel numbers, channel center frequencies, and regulatory domains are shown in the table.
Index Infrastructure Network.................... 2 InstantWave Utility....................... 13 A Adapter Bus type.......................... 18 Adapter Properties........................ 15 Adapter Status .............................. 18 Ad-hoc Network............................. 2 Advanced Information.................. 17 Appendix ...................................... 33 B Basic Service Set............................ 3 BSSID ............................................ 3 C Cable, USB.................
Signal Strength ........................19, 21 Site Survey .................................. 21 Sound ........................................... 15 SSID ....................................3, 13, 16 State.............................................. 18 Station Address ............................ 18 Station Traffic Monitor ................ 22 T Taskbar Icon................................. 15 Technical Support ........................ 27 Toolbar ....................................13, 14 Traffic Monitor.