Wireless - N PCI Adapter User’s Manual Model # AWN-PCI-11N 1
FCC Warning This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class C digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communication.
In the event that these conditions cannot be met (for example certain laptop configurations or co-location with another transmitter), then the FCC authorization is no longer considered valid and the FCC ID cannot be used on the final product. In these circumstances, the OEM integrator will be responsible for re-evaluating the end product (including the transmitter) and obtaining a separate FCC authorization. Revision History Revision V1.
Contents 1. Introduction ........................................................................... 5 1.1 Features................................................................................................ 5 1.2 LED Indicator........................................................................................ 5 1.3 Package Contents................................................................................ 6 1.4 Before you start ...........................................................
1. Introduction This is a wireless client device that delivers unrivaled wireless performance for your Desktop PC. It complies with IEEE 802.11n draft standard and backward compatible with IEEE 802.11b/g. With this adapter, you can easily upgrade your Desktop PC wireless connectivity. Once the wireless PCI adapter is connected, access the network with high-speed Internet connection while sharing photos, files, music, video, printers, and storage.
1.3 Package Contents • One Wireless PCI Adapter • Two External Antennas • One CD-ROM (Drivers / Utility, User’s Manual) If any of the above items is missing, contact your dealer immediately. 1.4 Before you start You must have the requirements as follow, • A computer with an available PCI slot • At least a 300MHz processor and 32MB memory • Windows 2000/XP/Vista support • A CD-ROM drive • Wireless PCI Adapter properly installed 1.
STEP 5: Turn on the computer. [Guidelines for the Hardware Installation] Please observe the following guidelines when you are installing the PCI card to the Desktop PC: Avoid placing the PC close to obstacles Obstructions such as concrete and thick walls limit radio signal penetration and reduce the throughput and the coverage range of the PCI card. Place the PC as high as possible The higher the PC is placed, the better the performance.
2. Installation Procedure Note: If you have installed the Wireless Adapter driver & utility before, please uninstall the old version first. 2.1 For Windows XP and 2000 STEP 1: Found New Hardware Wizard is displayed after the adapter is installed and the computer is restarted. Please click Cancel to continue.
STEP 2: Insert Installation CD into CD-ROM drive then windows below will appear. Click Install Driver to begin device driver installation. STEP 3: Please read the following license agreement. Use the scroll bar to view the rest of this agreement. Select I accept the terms of the license agreement and click Next to continue.
STEP 4: In Windows XP, there is a Windows Zero Configuration Tool for you to setup wireless adapter. You can choose to configure the adapter through the Microsoft Zero Configuration Tool or the Ralink Configuration Tool. It is recommended to choose the Ralink Configuration Tool for the adapter. Click Next to continue. STEP 5: If you need the adapter to operate with better performance, please choose Optimize for performance mode to enable the Tx Burst mode.
mode to run in standard wireless network. STEP 6: Click Install to begin the installation. STEP 7: Please wait for a while during the adapter is configuring your new software installation.
STEP 8: After the setup wizard has successfully installed wireless LAN, click Finish to exit the wizard.
To check if the adapter is properly installed, you can right-click My Computer choose Properties click Device Manager. (For Widows XP) (For Widows 2000) The Configuration Utility appears as an icon on the system tray of Windows while the adapter is running. You can open the utility by double-click on the icon. Right-click the icon, there are some items for you to operate the configuration utility, Launch Config Utilities Select this option to open the Configuration Utility tool.
2.2 For Vista STEP 1: Found New Hardware Wizard is displayed after the adapter is installed and the computer is restarted. Please click Cancel to continue. STEP 2: Insert Installation CD into CD-ROM drive then windows below will appear. Click Install Driver to begin device driver installation.
STEP 3: Please read the following license agreement. Use the scroll bar to view the rest of this agreement. Select I accept the terms of the license agreement and click Next to continue. STEP 4: Click Install to begin the installation.
STEP 5: Please wait for a while during the adapter is configuring your new software installation.
STEP 8: After the setup wizard has successfully installed wireless LAN, click Finish to exit the wizard. To check if the adapter is properly installed, you can right-click My Computer choose Properties click Device Manager.
The Configuration Utility appears as an icon on the system tray of Windows while the adapter is running. You can open the utility by double-click on the icon. Ralink wireless utility needs to cooperate with Microsoft AutoConfig service in order to perform scanning and connecting actions, so the AutoConfig service should be enable beforehand. Control Menu Once Ralink wireless utility is minimized, the user can click the Ralink icon on the taskbar to bring up the control menu.
3. Wireless Network Configuration Utility 3.1 For Windows XP & 2000 The Configuration Utility is a powerful application that helps you to configure the Wireless LAN adapter and monitor the link status and statistics during the communication process. When the adapter is installed, the configuration utility will be displayed automatically. This adapter will auto connect to wireless device which has better signal strength and no wireless security setting.
When activating WZC, there are couple different on RaUI status compare to the without WZC running: (1) Profile button will be gray, profile function is removed since the NIC is controlled by WZC. (2) The connect and add profile function will be gray. The reason is same as the first difference.
[Use WZC to configure wireless NIC] STEP 1: If connection is lost or not connected, the status prompt as below will pop up. STEP 2: Right-click the network connection icon in the task bar. STEP 3: Select “View Available Wireless Networks” will pop up the dialog shown as below.
STEP 4: Select intended AP and click “Connect” shown as below, then click “Connect Anyway”. STEP 5: AP1 is successful connected.
STEP 6: If you want to modify information about AP, click “Change advanced settings” STEP 7: Choose “Wireless Networks” tab.
STEP 8: Click “Properties” and then click “OK” button. STEP 9: After filling appropriate value, click “OK” button.
below. STEP 10: Click the Ralink’s icon will bring up RaUI main window. User can find the surrounding APs in the list. The current connected AP will also shown with the green icon indicated as below screen. User may user the available tab to configure more advanced features provided by Ralink’s wireless NIC. 3.1.1 Start When starting RaUI, system will connect to the AP with best signal strength without setting profile or matching profile setting. It will issue a scan command to wireless NIC.
used fields, such as SSID, network type, channel used, wireless mode, security status and signal percentage. The arrow icon indicates the connected BSS or IBSS network. There are three sections in RaUI. These sections are briefly described as below. Button Section: include Profile page, Network page, Advanced page, Statistics page, WMM page, WPS page, About button, Radio On/Off button and Help button.
Function Section: Corresponding button Profile Page Network Page Advanced Page 27
Statistics Page WMM Page WPS Page 28
About Page Status Section: Include Link Status, Authentication Status, AP’s information, Configuration and retrying the connection when authentication is failed.
AP’s Information Retry the Connection Configuration At the mean time of starting RaUI, there is also a small Ralink icon appears within windows taskbar as below.
selected to close RaUI menu earlier. You may also use mouse;s right button to close RaUI utility. Ralink icon in system tray. Besides, the small icon will change color to reflect current wireless network connection status. The status indicates as follow: -- indicate Connected and Signal Strength is Good.
value directly. Fragment Threshold: User can adjust the Fragment threshold number by sliding the bar or key in the value directly.
Profile Name: User can chose name for this profile, or use default name defined by system. SSID: User can key in the intended SSID name or use pull down menu to select from available APs. Power Save Mode: Choose from CAM [Constantly Awake Mode] or Power Saving Mode. Network Type: There are two types, infrastructure and 802.11 Ad-Hoc mode. Under Ad-Hoc mode, user can also choose the preamble type, the available preamble type includes auto and long.
3.1.2.2 Example to Add Profile in Profile Step 1: Click Add in Profile function Step 2: Add Profile page will pop up.
Step 3: Change profile name to what you want to connect. Pull down the SSID and select one intended AP. The AP list is the result of last Network. Step 4: Then, you can see the profile which you set appear in the profile list. Click “Activate” to activate the profile setting.
3.1.3 Network Under the Network function, system will display the information of surrounding APs from last scan result. List information includes SSID, BSSID, Signal, Channel, Encryption algorithm, Authentication and Network type as below: [Definition of each field] SSID: Name of BSS or IBSS network Network Type: Network type in use, infrastructure for BBS, Ad-Hoc for IBSS network Channel: Channel in use. Wireless Mode: AP support wireless mode. IT may support 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g or 802.
Command to connect to the selected network. Issue a rescan command to wireless NIC to update information on surrounding wireless network. Add the selected AP to Profile setting. It will bring up profile page and save user’s setting to a new profile. [Connected Network] (1) When RaUI first ran, it will select the best AP to connect automatically. (2) If user wants to connect to other AP, He can click “Connect: button for the intended AP to make connection.
TX Rate: Manually force the Transmit using selected rate. Default is auto. (802.11n wireless card doesn’t support.) Enable Tx Burst: Ralink’s proprietary frame burst mode. Enable TCP Windows Size: Enhance throughout. Fast Roaming at: Fast to roaming, setup by transmit power. Select your Country Region Code: 8 countries to choose. Show Authentication Status Dialog: When you connect AP with authentication, choose whether show “Authentication Status Dialog” or not.
RTS Frames Fail to Receive CTS: Fail to receive CTS after sending RTS frame. Frames Retransmitted Successfully: Successfully retransmitted frames numbers Reset Counter: Reset counters to zero [Receive Statistics] Frames Received Successfully: Frames received successfully. Frames Received With CRC Error: Frames receive with CRC error. Frames Dropped Due To Out-Of-Resource: Frames dropped due to resource issue. Duplicate Frames Received: Duplicate received frames.
[WMM Enable – Enable Wi-Fi Multi-Media] If you want to use “WMM-Power Save” or “Direct Link Setup” you must enable WMM. The setting methods of enabling WMM indicating as follow: Step 1: Click “WMM Enable” Step 2: Change to “Network” function. And add an AP that supports WMM features to a Profile. The result will look like the below figure in Profile page.
[WMM-Power Save Enable – Enable WMM Power Save] Step 1: Click “WMM-Power Save Enable” Step 2: Please select which ACs you want to enable. The setting of enabling WMM-Power Save is successfully.
Step 2: Change to “Network” function. And add an AP that supports DLS features to a Profile. The result will look like the below figure in Profile page. The Setting of DLS indicates as follow: (1) Fill in the blanks of Direct Link with MAC address of STA. The STA must conform to 2 conditions as follow: Connect with the same AP that support DLS features.
(2) Timeout Value represent that it disconnect automatically after some seconds. The value is integer. The integer must be between 0~65535. It represents that it always connects if the value is zero. Default value of Timeout Value is 60 seconds. (3) Click “Apply” button. The result will look like the below figure. Describe “DLS Status” as follow: (1) As the up figure, after configuring DLS successfully, show MAC address of the opposite side and Timeout Value of setting in “DLS Status”.
Step 1: In “DLS Status”, select a direct link STA what you want to show its values in “Direct Link Setup”. Step 2: Double-Click and the result will look like the below figure. (3) Disconnect Direct Link Setup as follow: Step 1: Select a direct link STA.
Step 2: Click “Tear Down” button. The result will look like the below figure. 3.1.7 WPS WPS Configuration: The primary goal of Wi-Fi Protected Setup (Wi-Fi Simple Configuration) is to simply the security setup and management of Wi-Fi networks.
or external Registrar supports the configuration setup using PIN configuration method or PBC configuration setup using PIN configuration method or PBC configuration method through an internal or external Registrar. WPS AP List: Display the information of surrounding APs with WPS IE from last scan result. List information includes SSID, BSSID, Channel, ID (Device Password ID), Security-Enabled. Rescan: Issue a rescan command to wireless NIC to update information on surrounding wireless network.
Status Bar: Display currently WPS Status. [WPS Information on AP] WPS information contain authentication type, encryption type, config methods, device password ID, selected registrar, state, version, AP setup locked, UUID-E and RF bands. Authentication Type: There are three types of authentication modes supported by RaConfig. There are Open, Shared, WPA-PSK, and WPA system. Encryption Type: For Open and shared authentication mode, the selection of encryption are None and WEP.
Device Password ID: Indicate the method or identifies the specific password that the selected Registrar intends to use. AP in PBC mode must indicate 0x0004 within two-minute Walk time. Selected Registrar: Indicate if the user has recently activated a Registrar to add an Enrollee. The values are “TRUE” and “FALSE” State: The current configuration state on AP. The value are “Unconfigured” and “Configured”. Version: WPS specified version. AP Setup Locked: Indicate if AP has entered a setup locked state.
(1) Connect to Ralink’s Website: WWW.RALINKTECH.COM (2) Display Configuration Utility, Driver, and EEPROM version information (3) Display Wireless NIC MAC Address. 3.1.9 Link Status Link Status displays the detail information current connection Status: Current connection status. If no connection, it will show Disconnected. Otherwise, the SSID and BSSID will show here. Extra Info: Display link status in use. Channel: Display current channel in use. Authentication: Authentication mode in use.
Default Gateway: Default gateway about current connection. Link Speed: Show current transmit rate and receive rate. Throughout: Display transmits and receive throughput in unit of Mbps. Link Quality: Display Connection quality based on signal strength and Tx/Rx packet error rate. Signal Strength 1: Receive signal strength 1, user can choose to display as percentage or dBm format. Signal Strength 2: Receive signal strength 2, user can choose to display as percentage or dBm format.
Step 2: In Sharing tab, enable Internet Connection Sharing for this connection and click “OK” Step 3: Back to Network and Dial-up Connection screen, right-click “Local Area Connection 2” (for 802.11n Wireless LAN card) and choose “Properties”.
Step 4: Select “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)” and click “Properties”. You will see 802.11n Wireless PCI adapter will be automatically assigned an IP address as Access Point. Step 5: In the System tray, now you can switch 802.11n Wireless PCI Adapter to AP Mode. Step 6: After switch to AP mode, Ralink Wireless Utility will automatically pup-up.
Wireless Default SSID is assigned as “SoftAP-56”. 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-56 AP. In the below example, use another PC with Wireless feature in Vista Operation System. Go to Start Control Panel Choose “Network and Sharing Center” option Click “Connect to a network” to search the available networks.
Step 8: Select the network “SoftAP-56” and click “Connect” to establish the connection. Step 9: After the computer is successful connected to SoftAP-56, 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-56 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 settings 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.
traveling between authorized devices. 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.
“01234567890123456789abcdef” or “administrator”. 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.
Noise Level: Display the noise signal strength. HT: Display current HT status in use, containing BW, GI, MCS, SNR0, and SNR1 value. (show the information only for 802.11n wireless card.) 3.2.3 Site Survey When you open the Configuration Utility, the system will scan all the channels to find all the access points/stations within the accessible range of your adapter and automatically connect to the wireless device with the highest signal strength.
WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK, WPA and WPA2. Network Type: Network type in use, Infrastructure or Ad-Hoc. Rescan: Issue an rescan command to wireless NIC to update information on surrounding wireless network. Re-Scanning: Clicking the re-scan button to perform the re-scanning action. Add to Profile: Add the selected AP to Profile setting. It will bring up profile page and save user’s setting to a new profile. [Connect A Network] (1) When Raconfig first ran, it will select the best AP to connect automatically.
Example 2: WEP-Encrypted Step 1 – Choose “Open” or “Shared” authentication type Step 2 – Choose “WEP” encryption type Step 3 –Enter the WEP KEY 67
Step 4 –After the profile is saved, click the “Activate” button on Profile Page to active the profile.
Step 4 –After the profile is saved, click the “Activate” button on Profile Page to active the profile.
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.
3.2.5 WPS Configuration The primary goal of Wi-Fi Protected Setup (Wi-Fi Simple Configuration) is to simply the security setup and management of Wi-Fi Networks. WPS Associate IE: If the “WPS Associate IE” option is checked, station will send the association request with WPS IE during WPS setup. WPS Probe IE: If the “WPS Probe IE” option is checked, station will send the probe request with WPS IE during WPS setup.
Encryption Type: For Open & Shared authentication modes, the available encryption types are None and WEP. For WPA, WPA2, WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK authentication modes, the available encryption types are TKIP and AES. Config Methods: This attributes contains the config methods supported and enabled by the selected Registrar. Device Password ID: Device Password ID indicates the method or identifies the specific password that the selected Registrar intends to use.
Disconnect from WPS AP: Clicking the “Disconnect” button will stop the WPS connection. Delete WPS profile: Clicking the “Delete” button will delete the selected WPS profile. 3.2.6 QoS The QoS Page of RaConfig. It involves “WMM Enable”, “WMM – Power Save Enable” and “DLS setup Enable”. Configure to enable Wi-Fi Multi-Media If you want to use “WMM – Power Save” or “Direct Link”, you must enable WMM.
Step 3: Change to “Site Survey Page”. And add an AP that supports WMM features to a Profile. The result will look like the below figure in Profile page.
Enable WMM – Power Save Step 1: Click “WMM – Power Save Enable”. And Click “Setting…” button. Step 2: After clicking “Setting…” button, show “Power Save Setting” dialog. Please select which ACs you want to enable. Then click “Apply” button. The setting of enabling WMM – Power Save is successfully.
Enable DLS (Direct Link Setup) Step 1: Click “Direct Link Setup Enable”. And Click “Apply” button Step 2: Change to “Site Survey Page”. And add an AP that supports DLS features to a Profile. The result will look like the below figure in Profile page.
The Setting of DLS indicates as follow: 1. Fill in the blanks of Direct Link with MAC Address of STA. The STA must conform to two conditions as follow: Step 1: Connect with the same AP that support DLS features. Step 2: Have to enable DLS. 2. Timeout Value represents that it disconnect automatically after some seconds. The value is integer. The integer must be between 0~65535. It represents that it always connects if the value is zero.
3. Click “Apply” button. The result will look like the below figure. Describe “DLS Status” as follow: 1. As the up figure, after configuring DLS successfully, show MAC address of the opposite side and Timeout Value of setting in “DLS Status”. In “DLS Status” of the opposite side, it shows MAC address of myself and Timeout Value of setting. 2.
Step 2: Double click. And the result will look like the below figure. 3. Disconnect Direct Link Setup as follow: Step 1: Select a direct link STA.
Step 2: Click “Tear Down” button. The result will look like the below figure. 3.2.7 About In the “About”, you can click the hyperlink to connect the website for the information of the wireless chipset vendor and review basic information about the Utility such as the RaConfig Version, Driver Version, EEPROM Version, IP Address, Sub Mask, and Default Gateway.
3.2.8 How to Manage Windows Profile Windows profile manager can be reached via connection icon on the task bar or control panel.
Step 3: Right-click the mouse to bring up the profile manage menu. [via Control Panel] Step 1: Select “Control Panel” on start menu.
Step 2: Double-click “Network and Sharing Center” icon.
Step 3: Select “Manage Wireless network”. Step 4: Right-click the mouse to bring up the profile managing menu.
4. Troubleshooting This chapter provides solutions to problems usually encountered during the installation and operation of the adapter. 1. Symptom: The LED is Off. Possible Remedy: Make sure the Wireless adapter is inserted properly. Otherwise, please contact your vendor. 2. Symptom: The LED is always on not blinking. Possible Remedy: Make sure that you have installed the driver from the attached CD. 3. Symptom: The LED is blinking but the Wireless adapter icon does not appear in your icon tray.
7. Symptom: No wireless signal. Possible Remedy: Move the antennas of the access point or wireless router into an L shape (one vertically, and one horizontally). Click on the Refresh button on the Site Survey screen. If the computer still does not see the Access Point, and then try to move your Access Point closer to the computer. Then click on the Refresh button again. If the computer still does not see the Access Point, move all things that may cause interference with the wireless signal. 8.
B. A protection mechanism called RTS.CTS that governs how 802.11g devices and 802.11b devices interoperate. 10. What does IEEE 802.11 feature support? The product supports the following IEEE 802.11 functions: -- CSMA/CA Plus Acknowledge Protocol -- Multi-Channel Roaming -- Automatic Rate Selection -- RTS/CTS Feature -- Fragmentation -- Power Management 11. What is Ad-Hoc? An Ad-Hoc integrated wireless LAN is a group of computers, each has a Wireless LAN adapter, Connected as an independent wireless LAN.
ensure the highest degree of security and authenticity for digital information, wherever and however communicated or stored, while making more efficient use if hardware and/or software than previous encryption standards. It is also included in IEEE 802.11i standard. Compare with AES, TKIP is a temporary protocol for replacing WEP security until manufacturers implement AES at the hardware level. 17.
