ZyXEL Communications 100 manual

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card User’s Guide Version 1.0 September, 2000[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card ii Copyright ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card COPYRIGHT Copyright © 2000 by ZyXEL Communications Corporation. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in any part or as a whole, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, translated into any language, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechani[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card FCC Statement iii Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Interference Statement (No. M4Y-XI-300 ) This device complies with Part 15 of FCC rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: This device may not cause harmful interference. This device must accept any interference received, including interference [...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card iv Canadian Users Information for Canadian Users The Industry Canada label identifies certified equipment. This certification means that the equipment meets certain telecommunications network protective, operation and safety requirements. The Industry Canada does not guarantee that the equipment will operate to a user&apo[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Warranty v ZyXEL Limited Warranty ZyXEL warrants to the original end user (purchaser) that this product is free from any defects in materials or workmanship for a period of up to two years from the date of purchase. During the warranty period and upon proof of purchase, should the product have indications of failure due t[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card vi Customer Support Customer Support If you have questions about your ZyXEL product or desire assistance, contact ZyXEL Communications Corporation offices worldwide, in one of the following ways: EMAIL – Support Telephone Web Site Method Region EMAIL – Sales Fax FTP Site Regular Mail support@zyxel.com.tw support@europ[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Table of Contents vii T able of Contents Customer Support ................................................................................................................... vi Table of Contents ................................................................................................................... vii List of [...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card viii Table of Contents Chapter 5 Troubleshooting ...................................................................................................... 5-1 5.1 Problems During Installation ......................................................................................................... 5-1 5.2 Problems With the Co[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card List of Figures/Tables ix List of Figures Figure 2 -1 Inserting the ZyAIR 100 into the Notebook Computer ................................................................. 2-2 Figure 4 -1 Utility – Main Menu ..................................................................................................................[...]

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ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Preface xi Preface About Your ZyAIR 100 Congratulations on your purchase of the ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card. Online Registration Do not forget to register your ZyAIR 100 (fast, easy online registration at www.zyxel.com for free future product updates and information. With the built-in Access Point and the powerful routing [...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card xii Preface Syntax Conventions • “Enter” means for you to type one or more characters and press the carriage return. “Select” or “Choose” means for you to select one from the predefined choices. • A single keystroke is in Arial font and enclosed in square brackets, for instance, [ Enter ] means the Enter, [...]

Getting Started I Part I: GETTING STARTED Chapters 1 to 3 are structured as a step-by-step guide to help you connect, install and setup your ZyAIR 100 to operate on your notebook computer.[...]

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ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Getting to Know Y our Wireless PC Card 1-1 Chapter 1 Getting to Know Your ZyAIR 100 This chapter introduces the main features and applications of the ZyAIR 100. 1.1 The ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card The ZyAIR 100 is an 11 Mbps IEEE 802.11(b) Wireless PC Card and standard PCMCIA adapter that fits into any standard PCMCIA Type[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card 1-2 Getting to Know Y our Wireless PC Card 1.3 Applications for ZyAIR 100 ZyAIR 100 offers a fast, reliable and cost-effective solution for wireless client access to the network with applications such as these: l Remote Access to Corporate Network Information For accessing emails, file transfer and terminal emulation. l D[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Hardware Installation 2-1 Chapter 2 Hardware Installation This chapter shows you how to properly install the hardware. 2.1 System Requirements In order to use the ZyAIR 100, your computer must be equipped with the following: l Available PCMCIA Type II slot and a PCMCIA card and socket services that is Revision 2.1- compli[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card 2-2 Hardware Installation Figure 2 - 1 Inserting the ZyAIR 100 into the Notebook Computer NOTE: The PCMCIA slot allows “hot swapping ” of PCMCIA adapter , allowing you to insert or remove the ZyAIR 100 from the slot whenever you like, even when the power to your computer is on. However, you are advised to always disab[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Software Installation 3-1 Chapter 3 Software Installation This chapter shows you how to install the driver for using the ZyAIR 100 on the Windows® 95 (OSR2) / 98 / NT 4.0 / 2000 Operating Systems. 3.1 Setting Up the ZyAIR 100 for Windows® 95 (OSR2) / 98 NOTE: Before starting driver installation, make sure that the ZyAIR[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card 3-2 Software Installation Step 3. Insert the ZyAIR Support CD-ROM disc into the CD-ROM drive and select the location where the corresponding driver is located, then click on the Next button.[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Software Installation 3-3 Step 4. Windows® 95 (OSR2) / 98 will locate ZyAIR 100 PCMCIA , then click on the Next button. Step 5. Click on the Next button to install the necessary driver to support your new ZyAIR 100.[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card 3-4 Software Installation Step 6. Set the parameters for the ZyAIR 100, then click on the OK button (refer to the next chapter for the definition of each parameter).[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Software Installation 3-5 Step 7. Click on the Finish button to complete the driver installation.[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card 3-6 Software Installation Step 8. Click on the Yes button when you are prompted to restart your computer. Step 9. Click on the Start button (Windows® taskbar), then Control Panel/System/Device Manager . Check the item Network Adapters to see if any error icon appears. If no, that means your ZyAIR 100 is working well with[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Software Installation 3-7 Step 10. Click on the OK button. This completes your driver installation for Windows® 95 (OSR2) / 98 operating system. 3.2 Setting Up the ZyAIR 100 for Windows® NT 4.0 NOTE: Before starting driver installation, make sure that the ZyAIR 100 has been inserted into a standard type II PCMCIA slot o[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card 3-8 Software Installation Step 2. Click on the Start button (Windows® taskbar), then Control Panel . Double-click on Network, click on the Adapters tab, then click on the Add button. Step 3. Windows® NT will present a list of all the supported adapters. Select OTHERS , or click on the Have Disk button.[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Software Installation 3-9 Step 4. Windows® NT will ask for the drive/path containing the ZyAIR 100 drivers. Insert the ZyAIR Support CD-ROM disc into the CD-ROM drive and type the location where it is located. Step 5. Windows® NT will attempt to locate the INF file in the specified path. If you have entered the path nam[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card 3-10 Software Installation Step 6. The ZyAIR 100 setup dialog box will appear. Select the Default Channel , Network Type and ESSID manually according to the setting in the next figure. Your ZyAIR 100 will thereafter work on this configuration under Windows® NT. Click on the OK button to continue.[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Software Installation 3-11 Step 7. The driver should now be copied. Click on the Start button (Windows® taskbar), then Control Panel . Double-click on Network, click on the Adapters tab, then click on the Properties button. Please specify each parameters required for the network to operate on such as IP Address , Subnet [...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card 3-12 Software Installation Step 9. To find out if the ZyAIR 100 can function properly or not, click on the Start button (Windows® taskbar), then Control Panel . Double-click on Devices, then verify whether the ZyAIR 100 has Started by looking on the Status column. Click on the Close button to exit. 3.3 Setting Up the ZyA[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Software Installation 3-13 Step 3. Follow the on screen instructions to complete driver installation. NOTE: Restart your computer when you are prompted to do so. 3.4 Basic Setup Complete Well Done! You have successfully installed and set up your ZyAIR 100 to operate on your notebook computer.[...]

Part II: ADVANCED MANAGEMENT, TROUBLESHOOTING, APPENDICES, GLOSSARY AND INDEX Chapter 4 provides information on configuring parameters, solving common problems, followed by some Appendices, a Glossary of Terms and an Index.[...]

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ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Parameter Configuration 4-1 Chapter 4 Parameter Configuration This chapter shows you how to install the utility for using the ZyAIR 100. 4.1 Setting Up the ZyAIR 100 Utility Step 1. Insert the ZyAIR 100 Support CD-ROM disc into your CD-ROM drive and run the setup.exe file found in the Utility folder. Follow the on-screen [...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card 4-2 Parameter Configuration Step 3. Proceed to the next section to configure your ZyAIR 100. 4.2 Using the ZyAIR 100 Utility Your ZyAIR 100 is a plug-and-play device and its default settings can be set for a typical Infrastructure Wireless LAN . Simply install the ZyAIR 100 into your computer and it is ready for use. In s[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Parameter Configuration 4-3 Figure 4 - 1 ZyAIR 100 Utility – Main Menu 4.2.1 Main Menu When the Main Menu appears, the ZyAIR 100 hardware information is displayed in real time. Shown is the current adapter configuration information in terms of MAC Address , Firmware Version , Frequency Domain , BSS connected with , Curr[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card 4-4 Parameter Configuration Figure 4 - 2 ZyAIR 100 Utility – Network Configuration Screen ESS ID The ESSID is a unique ID given to the Access Point. Wireless clients associating to any Access Point must have the same ESSID. Select Specified ESSID as and enter a specific ESSID (Access Point) you desire to connect with. A[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Parameter Configuration 4-5 When moving your computer to another location within the network environment and it becomes out-of- range of the current Access Point, the roaming function will automatically connect your computer to another Access Point. NOTE: Once the ESSID is set on the initial ZyAIR 100 and the rest of the [...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card 4-6 Parameter Configuration Figure 4 - 3 RTS Threshold Thus, the RTS Threshold mechanism provides a solution to prevent data collision s. When you enable RTS Threshold on a possible hidden station , this station and its Access Point will use a Request to Send /Clear to Send protocol (RTS /CTS ). The station will send an R[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Parameter Configuration 4-7 Figure 4 - 4 ZyAIR 100 Utility – WEP Encryption Screen The Encryption dialog box enables you to identify 4 different encryption key and select one of them to encrypt your transmission data. The key value of your choice may either be: l Five ASCII character string, or; l 10-digit hexadecimal v[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card 4-8 Parameter Configuration Power Save The Power Save function is used to conserve the battery life of your computer. When Power Save is enabled, your ZyAIR 100 will go into sleep mode to minimize power consumption. NOTE: The Power Save function is only supported in the Ad-hoc Network Type. The Infrastructure Network Type[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Parameter Configuration 4-9 Figure 4 - 5 Diagnostic Tools Screen The instructions for performing each diagnostic tool are as follows: Site Survey When the Site Survey screen is displayed, the channel quality of all 14 radio channel s will be displayed. These channel quality measurements are shown on each gauge for the 14 [...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card 4-10 Parameter Configuration Figure 4 - 6 Diagnostic Tools – Site Survey Screen Link Quality Test The Link Quality Test is a useful diagnostic tool for you to test point-to-point data transmission quality between two wireless LAN stations. Or, if you use the Infrastructure wireless LAN configuration ( Network Type ), yo[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Parameter Configuration 4-11 Figure 4 - 7 Diagnostic Tools – Link Quality Test (Master Test Station) The following table explains the status/statistical information found in the Master Test Station screen. Table 4 - 1 Diagnostic Tools – Link Quality Test Menu Fields (Master Test Station) ITEM DESCRIPTION Slave/Test Ad[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card 4-12 Parameter Configuration l Act as a Slave Test Station ( Ad-hoc Network Type) Click on the Start button to start the Slave Test Station and display the following screen. Figure 4 - 8 Diagnostic Tools – Link Quality Test (Slave Test Station) The following table explains the status/statistical information found in the[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Parameter Configuration 4-13 Signal Level The signal level when receiving the last test packet. The signal level is calculated as the percentage of its signal level measurement relative to the full signal level. l Loopback Through the Access Point ( Infrastructure Network Type ) If you use the Infrastructure wireless LAN [...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card 4-14 Parameter Configuration Table 4 - 3 Diagnostic Tools – Link Quality Test Menu (Loopback Through Access Point) ITEM DESCRIPTION Packet Sent Total test packets that have been sent. Packet Received Total responding packets that have been received. Time Elapsed Total test time. Signal Level The signal level when receiv[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Parameter Configuration 4-15 Table 4 - 4 Diagnostic Tools – Access Point Browser Screen Menu Fields ITEM DESCRIPTION BSS_ID The BSS ID (MAC address ) of the Access Point. ESS_ID The ESS ID of the Access Point. Channel The operating channel of the respective Access Point. Beacon Each Access Point broadcasts beacon period[...]

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ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Troubleshooting 5-1 Chapter 5 Troubleshooting This chapter covers the potential problems you may run into and the possible remedies. After each problem description , some instructions are provided to help you to diagnose and to solve the problem. 5.1 Problems During Installation Table 5 - 1 Troubleshooting the Installatio[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card 5-2 Troubleshooting 5.2 Problems With the Configuration Table 5 - 2 Troubleshooting the Configuration PROBLEM CORRECTIVE ACTION Problems encountered with the configuration. Use the utility Loopback Test to check the link status with the Access Point it is associated with ( Infrastructure mode). Use the utility Master – [...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Troubleshooting 5-3 5.4 Problems Communicating With the Computer Table 5 - 4 Troubleshooting Communication Problems PROBLEM CORRECTIVE ACTION The ZyAIR 100 station cannot communicate with the computer in the Ethernet when the Infrastructure mode is configured. Make sure that the Access Point with which the station is asso[...]

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ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Network Configuration A Appendix A Network Configuration The ZyAIR 100 supports the same network configuration options of the Legacy Ethernet LANs as defined by the IEEE 802 standard committee. The ZyAIR 100 can be configured as: l Ad-hoc for departmental or SOHO LANs. l Infrastructure for enterprise LANs. l LAN-interconn[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card B Network Configuration An Ad-hoc wireless LAN is a group of computers, each equipped with one wireless adapter, connected as an independent wireless LAN. Computers in a specific Ad-hoc wireless LAN must be configured at the same radio channel. An Ad-hoc wireless LAN is applicable at a departmental scale for a branch or S[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Network Configuration C The ZyAIR 100 provides access to a wired LAN for wireless workstations. An integrated wireless and wired LAN is called an Infrastructure configuration. A group of wireless LAN PC users and an Access Point constitute a Basic Service Set (BSS ). Each wireless-equipped PC in this BSS can talk to any c[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card D Hardware Specifications Appendix B Hardware Specifications Table 1 ZyAIR 100 Specifications PRODUCT FEATURES Operating Channel s 11 for North America, 14 for Japan, 13 for Europe (ETSI), 2 for Spain, 4 for France Operating Frequency 2.412 ~ 2.462 GHz (North America) 2.412 ~ 2.484 GHz (Japan) 2.412 ~ 2.472 GHz (Europe ET[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Important Safety Intructions E Appendix C Important Safety Instructions The following safety instructions apply to the ZyAIR 100: 1. Be sure to read and follow all warning notices and instructions. 2. Do not service the product by yourself. Refer all servicing to qualified service personnel. 3. Generally, when installed a[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card F Glossary Glossary of Terms 802.11 The IEEE standard that specifies Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) specifications. 802.11b The IEEE standard that specifies Higher-Speed Physical Layer Extension in the 2.4 GHz Band for 5.5 and 11 megabit per second wireless LANs. 802.3 The IEEE standard [...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Glossary G Cryptoanalysis The act of analyzing (or breaking into) secure documents or systems that are protected with encryption. DCE Data Communications Equipment is typically a modem or other type of communication device. The DCE sits between the DTE (data terminal equipment) and a transmission circuit such as a phone l[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card H Glossary General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) A packet-based data transmission technology that will initially provide data transfer rates of up to 115 Kbps. GPRS will work with CDMA and TDMA and it supports both the IP and X.25 communication protocols. Gigahertz (GHz) One billion cycles per second. A unit of measure for [...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Glossary I MAC On a local area network (LAN) or other network, the MAC (Media Access Control) address is your computer’s unique hardware number. (On an Ethernet LAN, it is the same as your Ethernet address.) The MAC layer frames data for transmission over the network, then passes the frame to the physical layer interfac[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card J Glossary Port An Internet port refers to a number that is part of a URL, appearing after a colon ( J right after the domain name. Every service on an Internet server listens on a particular port number on that server. Most services have standard port numbers, e.g., web servers normally listen on port 80. POTS Plain Old [...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Glossary K install traffic or mail filters. Routers are also prone to attacks because they contain a great deal of information about a network. RTS Threshold Transmitter contending for the medium may not hear each other. RTS/CTS mechanism can solve this “Hidden Node Problem.” If the packet size is smaller than the pre[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card L Glossary Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) A flexible data communications system implemented as an extension to, or as an alternative for a wired LAN. Using radio frequency (RF) technology, wireless LANs transmit and receive data over the air, minimizing the need for wired connections. Wireless Medium (WM) The medium u[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card Index M Index A Access Point Setting Problem ................................ 5-2 Access Points Browser ........................................ 4-14 Ad-hoc Network Type ......................................... 4-10 Ad-hoc Topology .................................................... A B Basic Service Set ...............[...]

ZyAIR 100 Wireless PC Card N Index N Netbeui ................................................................. 5-2 Network Configuration ............................................ A Network Configuration Screen ............................... 4-4 Network Type ....................................................... 4-5 Noise Level ................[...]