Step 6: After switch to AP mode, Ralink Wireless Utility will automatically pup-up. The Wireless Default SSID is assigned as “SoftAP-2C”. Step 7: To make sure your Soft AP is working properly, you need to use another computer which with Wireless LAN feature to access SoftAP-2C AP. In the below example, use another PC with Wireless feature in Vista Operation System. Go to Start Î Control Panel Î Choose “Network and Sharing Center” option Î Click “Connect to a network” to search the available networks.
Step 8: Select the network “SoftAP-2C” and click “Connect” to establish the connection. Step 9: After the computer is successful connected to SoftAP-2C, Network and Sharing Center screen will be shown as below. Click “View Status” to see the detail.
Step 10: In General tab, click “Detail…”, and then you can see the current Network connection details. If this computer is successful connect to SoftAP-2C Access Point, the DHCP server will be assigned to same IP address.
3.2 For Windows Vista Ralink wireless utility is shown as below. There are 6 setting pages in Ralink wireless utility: Profile Page: Manage the profile. Link Status Page: Display current connection information. Site Survey Page: Display the available networks. Statistics Page: Display the packet counters WPS Configuration Page: Connect to WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) capable APs.
Profiles Name: The Profiles List displays all the profiles and the relative settings of the profiles including Profile Name, SSID, and Channel…etc; preset to PROF* (* indicate 1,2,3,…) SSID: AP to Ad-hoc name. Channel: Channel in use for Ad-Hoc mode. Authentication: Authentication mode. Encryption: Security algorithm in use. Network Type: Network’s type, including Infrastructure and Ad-hoc. Indicate connection is successful on currently activated profile.
3.2.1.1 Add a profile By either pushing the “Add” button on Profile Page or the “Add to Profile” button on Site Survey Page, it brings up the profile setting sheet which contains two setting pages -“Configuration” page and “Authentication and Security” page.
[Configuration page] Profile Name: Name of the profile SSID: Name of the desire network Network Type: Netowork of the desired network, either infrastructure or Ad-Hoc. Infrastructure – This operation mode requires the presence of a wireless Access Point. All communication is done via the Access Point or Router. Ad-Hoc – Select this mode if you want to connect to another wireless station in the Wireless LAN network without through an Access Point or Router.
[Authentication and Security page] Authentication Type: The authentication of the desired network. For infrastructure network, the available modes are Open, Shared, WPA, WPA-PSK, WPA2, and WPA2-PSK. Open: No authentication is needed among the wireless devices. Shared: Only Wireless device using a shared key (WEP Key identified) is allowed to connecting each other. Setup the same key as the wireless device that the adapter intends to connect.
WPA2 – Like WPA, WPA2 supports IEEE 802.1x/EAP authentication or PSK technology. It also includes a new advanced encryption mechanism using the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). AES is required to the corporate user or government users. The different between WPA and WPA2 is that WPA2 provides data encryption via the AES. In contrast, WPA uses Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP). WPA2-PSK – WPA2-PSK is also for home and small business.
3.2.1.2 Edit a profile Selecting an exiting profile then clicking the “Edit” button on Profile Page brings up the profile setting sheet filled with the profile information for user modification. 3.2.1.3 Delete a profile Selecting an exiting profile then clicking the “Delete” button on Profile Page to deletes the profile.
3.2.1.4 Active a profile Selecting an exiting profile then clicking the “Active” button on Profile Page activates the profile.
3.2.2 Link Status In this section, you can immediately monitor the current connected link status, such as Link Speed, Throughput, Link Quality, Signal Strength, Noise Level …etc.
Status: Current connection status. If no connection, it will show Disconnected. Otherwise, the SSID and BSSID will show here. Extra Info: Display the link status and current channel in use. Channel: Display the number of the radio channel and the frequency used for the networking. Link Speed (Mbps): Display the transmission and reception rate of the network. The maximum transmission rate is 300/150Mpbs (depend on model).
SSID: Name of BBS of IBSS network. BSSID: MAC address of AP or randomly generated of IBSS. Signal: Receive signal strength of specified network. Channel: Channel in use. Encryption: Encryption algorithm used within than BBS or IBSS. Valid value includes WEP, TKIP, AES, and Not Use. Authentication: Authentication mode used within then network, including Unknown, WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK, WPA and WPA2. Network Type: Network type in use, Infrastructure or Ad-Hoc.
(2) If user wants to connect to other AP, he can double-click mouse on the intended AP to make connection. (3) If the intended network has encryption other than “Not Use”, Raconfig will bring up the security page and let use input the appropriate information to make the connection. This icon indicates the changes is successful.
Ф Example 2: WEP-Encrypted Step 1 – Choose “Open” or “Shared” authentication type Step 2 – Choose “WEP” encryption type Step 3 –Enter the WEP KEY Step 4 –After the profile is saved, click the “Activate” button on Profile Page to active the profile.
Ф Example 3: WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK Step 1 – Choose “WPA-PSK” or “WPA2-PSK” authentication type Step 2 – Choose “TKIP” or “AES” encryption type Step 3 –Enter the pre-shared KEY Step 4 –After the profile is saved, click the “Activate” button on Profile Page to active the profile.
Ф Example 4:WPA/WPA2 Step 1 – Choose “WPA” or “WPA2” authentication type Step 2 – Choose “TKIP” or “AES” encryption type Step 3 –After the profile is saved, click the “Activate” button on Profile Page to active the profile.
Step 4 –The Windows profile setting dialog is popped-up for user to modify. 3.2.4 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. You may reset the counters to Zero by clicking “Reset Counter”.
[Transmit Statistics] Frames Transmitted Successfully: Frames successfully sent Frames Transmitted Successfully After Retry: Frames sent successfully with retry. Frames Fail to Receive ACK After All Retries: Frames failed transmit after hitting retry limit. RTS Frames Successfully Receive CTS: Successfully receive CTS after sending RTS frames. RTS Frames Fail To Receive CTS: Failed to receive CTS after sending RTS frames. [Receive Statistics] Frames Received Successfully: Frames received successfully.