NDC comm NWH4020 manual

User’s Guide Version A1 Janua ry 2003 Nationa l Da taco mm Corpora tio n 4 th Fl., No. 24-2, In dustry E. Rd. IV Science-based Industrial Park Hsinchu, Tai wan , R.O.C. Technical Su pport E-mail: tech supt@n dc.com .tw NDC World W ide Web http://www.ndcla n.com/ 11-Mbps USB Wireless LAN Ada p ter NW H4020[...]

ii InstantWave 11-Mbps USB Wireless LAN Adapter T R AD EM ARK S NDC and I nstantW ave are tra demarks of National D atacomm Corporation. A ll other na mes mentio ned in this do cument are trademarks/r egistered trademarks of th eir respective o wners. NDC prov ides this d ocument “ as is,” w ithout warr anty of any kind, either e xpresse d or i[...]

InstantWa ve 11-Mbps USB Wirele ss LAN Adapter iii Packing List The adapter package s hould contain the following items: #" One InstantWave 11- Mbps USB wireless LAN adapter #" One USB cable #" One USB Adapter Driver disk #" Two InstantWave Utilit y disks #" One qui ck setup guide If the optional USB coupler was ordered , m[...]

iv InstantWave 11-Mbps USB Wireless LAN Adapter Table of Contents INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 1 S YSTEM R EQUIREMEN TS ....................................................................................... 1 Hardware ................................................[...]

InstantWa ve 11-Mbps USB Wirele ss LAN Adapter v INDEX ................................................................................................................... 34[...]

vi InstantWave 11-Mbps USB Wireless LAN Adapter List of Figure s F IGURE 1. A D - HOC NETWORK .................................................................................. 2 F IGURE 2. I NFRASTRUCTURE NETWORK ................................................................... 2 F IGURE 3. R OA MABL E MULTI -AP IN FR ASTR UC TU RE N ETWO R K ..[...]

InstantWa ve 11-Mbps USB Wirele ss LAN Adapter 1 Introduction Thank y ou for choosing an InstantWave 11- Mbps wireless networki ng product. This guide gives co mplete instructions on installin g and usi n g the InstantWave NWH4020 11- Mbps USB wi reless LAN adapter, an d also explains how to instal l and use the InstantWave utility program included[...]

2 InstantWave 11-Mbps USB Wireless LA N Adapter Ter m in o logy Used in This G uide Ad-hoc Network An ad- hoc net work i s a wir ele ss local -area netwo rk (W L AN) made up of stati o ns communicating directly with each other th ro ugh their wireless in ter faces. There is no central relay point, and n ormally no connect ion to a wired netw ork. A[...]

InstantWa ve 11-Mbps USB Wirele ss LAN Adapter 3 BSSID, MAC Address A Basic Service Set (BSS) is two or more w ireless devices that are in communication with each other. Li ke every wired Ethernet device, every wi rele ss device has a fixed, unique “media access control” (MAC) addres s. When wireless devices establish co mmunication, they autom[...]

4 InstantWave 11-Mbps USB Wireless LA N Adapter Roaming When APs covering adjacent areas h ave the same SSID and encryption settings, a mobile device that als o shares those settings can communicate through the APs continuously while moving from on e coverage area to another. This is known as roaming . Wh en one A P’s signal begins to w eaken, th[...]

InstantWa ve 11-Mbps USB Wirele ss LAN Adapter 5 Adapter Installation Installing the adapter con sists of connecting it to th e co m p uter and ins talling the driver and the utility program. Soft ware installat ion will begin auto m atica lly the first time y o u connect the adapter to th e computer. Follow these ins tructions carefully to ensure [...]

6 InstantWave 11-Mbps USB Wireless LA N Adapter • When typing the location of the driver, be sure to type a: with a back slash [] and not a sl ash [/]. In Microsoft ® Win dows XP, be sure to type a:xp_driver with a backslash an d not a slash. • It is common for the installation progra m to f ail to find the dr iver on the first try, even th[...]

InstantWa ve 11-Mbps USB Wirele ss LAN Adapter 7 The installation prog ra m will let you specify whether it should s earch for a driver or display a list of drivers. Controls for specifying a search location will also appear. Step 2. Click Searc h for t he best dri ver for your device ( Recomme nded) , put a check m ark on Sp ecify a location , ty [...]

8 InstantWave 11-Mbps USB Wireless LA N Adapter The installation program will install the driver and indicate that installation is co mplete. Step 6. Click Fini sh . After completing the abov e steps, you may be prom pted to restart your computer. Remove th e driver disk and cli ck Yes to allo w the system to restart. Windows XP In Microsof t ® Wi[...]

InstantWa ve 11-Mbps USB Wirele ss LAN Adapter 9 Figure 5. Setup progr am Welcome scr een Step 6. Click Next (or press th e Enter or Return key). The Choose Destinat ion Locat ion window w ill appear. Figure 6. Choose Destination Location window The InstantWave Utility is normally installed i n the director y C:Program FilesInstantw a v eHighRat[...]

10 InstantWave 11-Mbps USB Wireles s LAN Adapte r The Select Progr am Fol der window will appear. Figure 7. Select Program Folder window This w indo w lets y o u specify w here in the desktop’s Start menu the InstantWave Utility will appear. Assuming you accepted th e d efault location in the previous windo w, the defa ult action i n t his window[...]

InstantWa ve 11-Mbps USB Wirele ss LAN Adapter 11 Figure 9. Prompt for Disk 2 Step 9. Remove InstantWave Utili t y Disk #1, insert InstantWave Utilit y Disk #2, and click OK (or press the Enter or Return key). Installation will proceed to c ompletion, and the Setup Complete window w ill appear. Figure 10. Comp letion m essage Step 10. Click Fini sh[...]

12 InstantWave 11-Mbps USB Wireles s LAN Adapte r Step 3. In the l ist of installed n etwork components, s elect WLAN miniUSB Ada pt er . Step 4. Click Remo ve . You will be asked if you wish to remove the adapter or “disa ble” it. Step 5. Click OK . You will be asked if you wish to restart the co mputer. Step 6. Click Yes and allow the system [...]

InstantWa ve 11-Mbps USB Wirele ss LAN Adapter 13 T he InstantWa v e Utility The InstantWave HighRate Utilit y is a Microsoft ® Wi ndo ws-based application tha t lets you configure and monitor your InstantWave wireless LAN adapter. The program includes tools for determining the bes t location for the adapter, and for diagn osing wireless network p[...]

14 InstantWave 11-Mbps USB Wireles s LAN Adapte r Figure 12. InstantW ave Utility toolbar step4. 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 L ink Quality In dicator • Station Traffic Monitor • Site Survey Tool step5. Right-click[...]

InstantWa ve 11-Mbps USB Wirele ss LAN Adapter 15 #" Launch Inst antwave Utility on startup au to matically starts the utility at each system boot . #" Show icon on t he Taskbar disp lays an ico n on the taskbar ( Figure 14 ). Figure 14. T askbar ico n The color of th e icon indicates the wireless adapter’s cu rre nt status: Color Sta t[...]

16 InstantWave 11-Mbps USB Wireles s LAN Adapte r Figure 15. Adapter Properties window — Configuration panel Configurat ion The Configurat ion panel ( Figu re 15 ) displays, and allo ws you to modify , so me important param eters of the InstantWave adapter. All parameter chang es are saved and are referred t o by the Ins tantWave driver when the [...]

InstantWa ve 11-Mbps USB Wirele ss LAN Adapter 17 • Transm i ssion Rate — T he transm ission rate at which data packets are transmitted by the station or the AP. You can set this to Fully Auto ma tic , 1Mb (that i s, 1 Mbps), 2Mb , 5. 5Mb , or 11Mb . Usually this s hould be set to Fully Automatic . In an electromagnetically “noisy” envi ron[...]

18 InstantWave 11-Mbps USB Wireles s LAN Adapte r This panel is divided in to three sections: • Type and Versi on — This sectio n sho ws the version numbers of the driver and the adapter’s firmware, as well as the type of chipset in the adapter. • Hard ware Info rmation — Sh o ws the “regulator y domain” the adapter was made for (t ha[...]

InstantWa ve 11-Mbps USB Wirele ss LAN Adapter 19 • Current Channel — The channel number sh o wn here is the channel used f or communication between wireless stations and an AP (or, in an ad- hoc network, between stations). In infrastructure mode, stations will scan for the channel t he AP is using and change to the same channel automatically. [...]

20 InstantWave 11-Mbps USB Wireles s LAN Adapte r Disabled (def ault): Stations co mmunicate with the access p oint without any data encryption. 40-bit W EP : Stations communicate with the access point using 40-bit WEP data encryption. 128-bit WEP : Stations co mmunicate with th e access point using 128-bit WEP data encryption. In order to decode d[...]

InstantWa ve 11-Mbps USB Wirele ss LAN Adapter 21 Figure 19. Adapter Properties window — Troubleshooting panel A diagn osis program will run and dis play a diagnos tic message. Fol low the on- screen instructions to s end the message, together with a description of the symptoms , to NDC’s techni cal support via e-m ail. Site Surve y Site Survey[...]

22 InstantWave 11-Mbps USB Wireles s LAN Adapte r Figure 20. Site Survey Scan Click Sca n to obtain and display u pdated survey inform ation. You may need t o wait a short time until the sca n is completed. Join Selecting an AP in the list will enable the Join button . T he Join command allows you to manually conn ect to a specific network. Note th[...]

InstantWa ve 11-Mbps USB Wirele ss LAN Adapter 23 Figure 22. Station Traffic Monitor This tool sho ws the amount of data transmitted and received b y the station. This info rmatio n is u seful when d iagno s ing ne twor king t hrou ghput pro blems.[...]

24 InstantWave 11-Mbps USB Wireles s LAN Adapte r Driv er/Utility U pg rade Pr ocedure New drivers and utilities are released from time to time. Check http:/ /www.ndc.com.tw /support/driver.h tm for the latest releases. To upgrade the Ins tantWa ve adapter driver o r HighRate Utility, you need to uninstall the current driv er or utility first. See [...]

InstantWa ve 11-Mbps USB Wirele ss LAN Adapter 25 T roubleshooting This section provides you with some troubleshooti ng information in case you encounte r installation or opera tion problem s with an Inst antWave product. If y our problem still cannot be re m edied after going through this sec tio n, check the FAQs at http://www.ndc.com.tw/support/[...]

26 InstantWave 11-Mbps USB Wireles s LAN Adapte r The wirele ss network i s often inte rrupted (t he taskbar icon shows r ed, or the link qua lity indicator shows bl ack). 1. Move the compu ter closer to the access point (AP) to find a better signal. If the signal is still weak, try changing th e adapter’s height or orientation. 2. There m ay be [...]

InstantWa ve 11-Mbps USB Wirele ss LAN Adapter 27 T echnical Suppor t Support from Your Network Supplier If assistance is required, call your supplier for help. Have the follo wing information ready before you make the call. 1. LED status 2. A list of the product h ardware (inclu ding revision l evels), and a brief desc r iptio n of the netwo rk st[...]

28 InstantWave 11-Mbps USB Wireles s LAN Adapte r NDC Limited War r anty Hardwa re NDC warran ts its products to be free of defects in workmanship an d materials, under n or mal use and service, f or a period of 12 m onths from the date of purch ase from NDC or its Authorized R e seller, and for the period of time specified in the documentation sup[...]

InstantWa ve 11-Mbps USB Wirele ss LAN Adapter 29 2. Inform the dis tributor or retailer. 3. Ship the produ ct back to the dis tributor/retai ler with prepaid f reight. The purchas er must pay the shipping fee fro m the distributor/retailer to NDC. Any package sent C.O.D. (Cash On Deliver y) w ill be refused. Charges: Usuall y RMA (Returned Materia[...]

30 InstantWave 11-Mbps USB Wireles s LAN Adapte r Specifications Genera l Regul atory Approval USA: FCC Part 15 B and 15 C Europe: C E ETS 30 0 328, ETS 3 00 826, a nd EN6095 0 Japan: T ELEC A RIB STD -T33 and ST D-T66 J ATE Interface to Host USB v ersion 1.1 Standar ds Compliance IEEE 802.11b, USB 1.1, and Wi-Fi compliant OS Su pport Microsof t ®[...]

InstantWa ve 11-Mbps USB Wirele ss LAN Adapter 31 Wireless RF Spreading Scheme Direct Se quence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) RF Frequency Rang e 2400 to 24 83.5 MHz (N orth Am erica , Europe, an d Japan) 2445 to 24 75 MH z (Spai n) 2446. 5 to 2483. 5 MHz (Fra nce) Transm itter Characteri stics RF output power : 15 dBm ( typical) Data Modu lation Met hods[...]

32 InstantWave 11-Mbps USB Wireles s LAN Adapte r EC DECLA RA TION O F CONF ORMI TY For the f ollowing equipm ent : Product Name : Instant Wave 11-M bps USB W ireless L AN Adapter Model Number : NWH4020 is hereb y confirm ed to compl y with the req uirem ents set out i n the Counc il Directi ve on the Appr oxim ation of the Laws of the Mem ber Stat[...]

InstantWa ve 11-Mbps USB Wirele ss LAN Adapter 33 Appendix The appendix l ists the channels s upported by the world’s regu latory domains . The channel num bers, channel center frequ encies, and regulatory domains are shown in the table. Channel Number Center Frequency (MHz) FCC/ Canada ETSI Spain France Japan 1 2412 O O O 2 2417 O O O 3 2422 O O[...]

34 InstantWave 11-Mbps USB Wireles s LAN Adapte r Inde x A Adapter Bus type .......................... 18 Adapter Properties ........................ 15 Adapter Status .............................. 18 Ad-hoc Netw ork ............................. 2 Advanced Inf or mation .................. 17 Appendix ...................................... 33 B Ba[...]

InstantWa ve 11-Mbps USB Wirele ss LAN Adapter 35 Signal Strength ........................19, 21 Site Survey .................................. 21 Sound ........................................... 15 SSID ....................................3, 13, 16 State .............................................. 18 Station Addres s ..........................[...]