3Com 3CRWE777A manual

http://www .3com.com/ http://www .3com.com/productreg AirConnect ® Wir eless PCI Car d User Guide 3CRWE777A Part No. 09-2006-000 Published October 2000[...]

3Com Corporation ■ 5400 Bayfront Plaza ■ Santa Clara, Califor nia, U.S.A. 95052-8145 Copyright © 2000 3Com Corporation. All rights reserved. No part of this documentation may be repr oduced in any form or by any means or used to make any derivative work (such as translation, transformation, or adaptation) without written permission from 3Com C[...]

C ONTENTS 1 O VERVIEW Introduction 1 Package Checklist 1 Hardwar e Description 2 Features 2 Applications 2 Status LED Indicator 3 System Requirements 4 2 I NSTALLATION Introduction 5 Card Installation Pr ocedure 5 Windows 95/98/2000/Me Driver Installation Procedure 7 Windows NT 4.0 Driver Installation Procedure 9 3 N ETWORK C ONFIGURATION AND P LAN[...]

5 T ROUBLESHOOTING Introduction 23 Preliminary T roubleshooting 23 PCI Compatibility 23 Network Connection Problems 24 6 T ECHNICAL S PECIFICATIONS Specifications 27 A T ECHNICAL S UPPORT Online T echnical Services 29 World Wide Web Site 29 3Com FTP Site 29 Support from Y our Network Supplier 30 Support from 3Com 30 Returning Products for Repair 3[...]

1 O VERVIEW Introduction 3Com's Wireless PCI Card is an 11 Mbps wir eless network adapter that seamlessly integrates with existing Ethernet networks to support applications such as mobile users or temporary conferences. This solution of fers a high data rate and reliable wir eless connectivity with considerable cost savings over wired LANs (wh[...]

2 C HAPTER 1: O VERVIEW Hardwar e Description 3Com's Wireless PCI Card supports 1, 2, 5.5, and 11 Mbps half-duplex connections to Ethernet networks. This card is fully compliant with 2.4GHz DSSS CSMA/CA wireless networking as defined in IEEE 802.11b. It is designed to complement PCI Local Bus computers. It supports Windows 95/98/NT/2000/Me. F[...]

Hardware Description 3 ■ Difficult-to-wir e environments: Historic or old buildings, asbestos installations, and open areas wher e wiring is difficult to employ . ■ Frequently changing envir onments: Retailers, manufacturers and banks who fr equently rearrange the workplace and change location. ■ T emporary LANs for special pr ojects or pea[...]

4 C HAPTER 1: O VERVIEW System Requirements Before you install the wir eless PCI card, check your system for the following requir ements: ■ Windows 95/98/NT/2000/Me operating system (prepare the Windows installation CD-ROM for use during installation). ■ A minimum of 500 Kbytes of free disk space for installing the driver and utility program. ?[...]

2 I NSTALLATION Introduction Before Installing the 3Com Wireless PCI Car d, be sure you read and follow the pr ecautions listed here: ■ Network cards ar e sensitive to static electricity . T o pr otect the card, always touch the metal chassis of your computer before handling the car d. ■ Be sure to turn off power to your computer befor e you pl[...]

6 C HAPTER 2: I NSTALLATION Figure 2 5 Secure the car d with the screw that you r emoved earlier . 6 Replace the cover of your PC and plug in the power cord. 7 T ur n on the power to your computer . 8 Depending on your operating system, proceed to either “Windows 95/98/2000/Me Driver Installation Procedur e” or “Windows NT 4.0 Driver Installa[...]

Windows 95/98/2000/Me Driver Installation Procedure 7 Windows 95/98/2000/Me Driver Installation Pr ocedure Y our End User Utilities CD contains all the software drivers available for the 3Com Wireless PCI Card. New or updated drivers can be downloaded from 3Com's web site at http://www .3Com.com. 1 Windows 95/98/2000/Me will automatically dete[...]

8 C HAPTER 2: I NSTALLATION 6 If you are setting up an ad hoc wir eless LAN, set "Channel" to the same radio channel as that used by the other wireless clients in your gr oup. However , if you are connecting to a network via an access point, then use the same channel as that used by the access point (access point default: 3). 7 Set "[...]

Windows NT 4.0 Driver Installation Procedure 9 Windows NT 4.0 Driver Installation Pr ocedure 1 From the Windows desktop, select "Contr ol Panel," double-click "Network," click "Adapters," and then click the "Add" button on the Network dialog box. 2 Windows NT will present a list of all its supported adapters.[...]

10 C HAPTER 2: I NSTALLATION ■ Mode - Set to "ad hoc" or "infrastructure", depending on the type of network you want to connect to. ■ SSID - Set the "SSID" identifier to the same as that used by the ad hoc workgroup or access point you want to connect to. (access point default: 101). ■ Channel - If you are setti[...]

Windows NT 4.0 Driver Installation Procedure 11 9 Restart your computer when prompted. 10 T o ensur e that the 3Com Wireless PCI Card works correctly , go to the Windows Control Panel and double-click Devices . The 3Com Wireless PCI Car d driver status should be “Started.”[...]

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3 N ETWORK C ONFIGURATION AND P LANNING Introduction 3Com's Wireless Solution supports a stand-alone wireless network configuration, as well as an integrated configuration with 10 Mbps Ethernet LANs. The Wireless PCI card can be configur ed as: • Ad hoc for departmental or SOHO LANs • Infrastructure for enterprise LANs Network T opologi[...]

14 C HAPTER 3: N ETWORK C ONFIGURATION AND P LANNING Infrastructure Wir eless LAN The wireless PCI car d can also provide access to a wir ed LAN for wireless workstations. An integrated wir ed and wireless LAN is called an infrastructur e configuration. A Basic Service Set (BSS) consists of a group of wir eless PC users, and an access point that i[...]

Setting the Communication Domain 15 Setting the Communication Domain Stationary Wireless PCs The Basic Service Set (BSS) is the communication domain for each 3Com wireless access point (AP). For wir eless PCs that do not need to support roaming, set the domain identifier (SSID) for the wireless car d to the BSSID of the AP you want to connect to. [...]

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4 C ONFIGURATION AND D IAGNOSTIC U TILITY Introduction 3Com's Wireless PCI Card pr ovides free optional management software for quick network configuration and easy diagnostics. The CD that comes with your package contains a user -friendly utility for configuring the wireless PCI car d. Installing the Wireless LAN Configuration Utility T o [...]

18 C HAPTER 4: C ONFIGURATION AND D IAGNOSTIC U TILITY Link Information Screen When you start the wireless LAN utility , the hardwar e information window for the wireless PCI car d is shown on the first folder of the utility windows. Click on the "Link Information" tab to monitor the network status of the wireless adapter , including the[...]

Using the Wireless LAN Confi guration Utility 19 Configuration Screen The Configuration screen allows you to check and modify the configuration of the adapter .[...]

20 C HAPTER 4: C ONFIGURATION AND D IAGNOSTIC U TILITY The user -configurable parameters are: ■ Mode - Set the station operation mode to AdHoc for network configurations that do not have any access points, or to Infrastructure for configurations with access points ("Ad hoc" is the default setting). ■ SSID - Input an SSID number if [...]

Using the Wireless LAN Confi guration Utility 21 Encryption Screen The WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) implemented in 3Com's wireless PCI car d is based on an RC4 encryption algorithm and provides a 40-bit security key to ensur e data confidentiality . This WEP security protects your wireless LAN against eavesdropping and unauthorized access [...]

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5 T ROUBLESHOOTING Introduction This chapter describes troubleshooting pr ocedures you can perform to solve basic problems. Preliminary T roubleshooting Check the following items before contacting 3Com T echnical Support. PCI Compatibility Some PCI computers are not self-configuring and r equire you to perform some or all of the following function[...]

24 C HAPTER 5: T ROUBLESHOOTING ■ Make sure the PCI slot is configur ed to support INT A. ■ Be sure that INT A for the slot is assigned to a free interrupt (IRQ) number . ■ If it still does not work, remove the wir eless adapter . Delete the appropriate system file (see list below) fr om c:windowssystem: ■ Windows 9x: cw10.sys ■ Windo[...]

Preliminary T roubleshooting 25 If your wireless station cannot communicate with a computer in the Ethernet LAN when configured for Infrastructure mode, check the following: ■ Make sure the access point which the station associated with is powered on. ■ Make sure your wir eless station is configured with the same operating radio channel as th[...]

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6 T ECHNICAL S PECIFICATIONS Specifications General Specifications Functional Criteria Data Rate: 1, 2, 5.5, 11 Mbps T ransmission Mode Half duplex Network Connection IEEE 802.11b - wireless Operating Range Up to 30m (100 ft) at 11Mbps Up to 100m (300 ft) at 5.5 Mbps or lower Interrupt INT A Radio Signal Signal T ype Direct Sequence Spr ead-Spect[...]

28 C HAPTER 6: T ECHNICAL S PECIFICATIONS Certification CE Mark EN55022 Class B, EN 55024, IEC 61000-4-2/3/4/6/11 Emissions FCC Part 15(B), ETS 300-328, RCR STD-33 A Software Drivers NDIS Drivers Windows 95 Windows 98 Windows 2000 Windows NT 4.0 Windows Millennium Edition[...]

A T ECHNICAL S UPPORT Online T echnical Services 3Com offers worldwide pr oduct support 24 hours a day , 7 days a week, through the following online systems: ■ World Wide Web site ■ 3Com FTP site World Wide W eb Site Access the latest networking information on the 3Com Corporation World Wide Web site by entering the URL into your Internet brows[...]

30 A PPENDIX A: T ECHNICAL S UPPORT Support from Y our Network Supplier If additional assistance is requir ed, contact your network supplier . Many suppliers are authorized 3Com service partners who are qualified to pr ovide a variety of services, including network planning, installation, hardwar e maintenance, application training, and support se[...]

Support from 3Com 31 Country Telephone Number Country Telephone Number Asia Pacific Rim Australia Hong Kong India Indonesia Japan Malaysia New Zealand Pakistan Philippines 1 800 678 515 800 933 486 +61 2 9937 5085 001 800 61 009 03 5783 1270 1800 801 777 0800 446 398 +61 2 9937 5085 1235 61 266 2602 P.R. of China Singapore S. Korea From anywhere i[...]

32 A PPENDIX A: T ECHNICAL S UPPORT Retur ning Products for Repair Before you send a pr oduct directly to 3Com for r epair , you must first obtain a Return Materials Authorization (RMA) number . Products sent to 3Com without RMA numbers will be returned to the sender unopened, at the sender’ s expense. T o obtain an RMA number , call or fax: Cou[...]

I NDEX Numbers 3Com FTP site 29 3Com technical support telephone numbers 30 3Com URL 29 A Ad hoc mode 20 Ad hoc wireless LAN 13 Applications 2 B Basic Service Set (BSS) 14, 15 C Card installation 5 Certification 28 Channel configuring 20 Characteristics environmental 27 operating range 27 physical 27 Configuration screen 19 Configuring channel [...]

34 I NDEX M MIBs 29 Mode ad hoc 20 configuring 20 infrastructure 20 N Network connection, troubleshooting 24 Network topologies ad hoc 13 infrastructure 14 O Online technical services 29 Operating frequency 27 Operating range 27 P Package checklist 1 R Radio signal type 27 Range, operating 27 Returning products for repair 32 Roaming wireless PCs 1[...]

W ARRANTY AND R EGULATORY C OMPLIANCE 3Com Corporation Limited Warranty This warranty applies to customers located in the United States, Australia, Canada (except Quebec), Ireland, New Zealand, U.K., and other English language countries, and countries for which a translation into the local language is not provided 3Com AirConnect 11 Mbps Wireless L[...]

Y EAR 2000 W ARRANTY In addition to the Hardware Warranty and Software Warranty stated above, 3Com warrants that each product sold or licensed to Customer on and after January 1, 1998 that is date sensitive will continue performing properly with regard to such date data on and after January 1, 2000, provided that all other products used by Customer[...]

3COM SHALL NOT BE LIABLE UNDER THIS WARRANTY IF ITS TESTING AND EXAMINATION DISCLOSE THAT THE ALLEGED DEFECT OR MALFUNCTION IN THE PRODUCT DOES NOT EXIST OR WAS CAUSED BY CUSTOMER'S OR ANY THIRD PERSON'S MISUSE, NEGLECT, IMPROPER INSTALLATION OR TESTING, UNAUTHORIZED ATTEMPTS TO OPEN, REPAIR OR MODIFY THE PRODUCT, OR ANY OTHER CAUSE BEYON[...]

CSA S TATEMENT (C ANADA ) This digital apparatus does not exceed the Class B limits for radio noise emissions from digital apparatus set out in the Radio Interference Regulations of Industry Canada. Le présent appareil numérique n'émet pas de bruits radio-électriques dépassant les limites applicables aux appareils numériques de la classe[...]

3Com End User Software License Agreement IMPORT ANT : Read Before Using This Product YOU SHOULD CAREFULL Y READ THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS BEFORE USING THIS PRODUCT . IT CONT AINS SOFTWARE, THE USE OF WHICH IS LICENSED BY 3COM CORPORA TION (“3COM”) TO ITS CUSTOMERS FOR THEIR USE ONL Y AS SET FORTH BELOW . IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERM[...]

TERM AND TERMINA TION: This license will expire fifty (50) years from the date that you first use the Software, if it is not earlier terminated. You may terminate it at any time by destroying the Software and documentation together with all copies and merged portions in any form. It will also terminate immediately if you fail to comply with any ter[...]