CDMA Femtocell User Guide
Copyright 2013 Airvana, LLC. All rights reserved. Airvana is a registered trademark of Airvana, LLC. (“Airvana”). All other trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. This document contains information that is the property of Airvana. This document may not be copied, reproduced, reduced to any electronic medium or machine readable form, or otherwise duplicated, and the information herein may not be used, disseminated or otherwise disclosed, except with the prior written consent of Airvana.
Contents Introduction ...................................................................1 Check What’s in the Box ...............................................2 Setup at a Glance .........................................................3 Setting up Your Femtocell .............................................4 Setting up Optional Components ..................................7 Configuring Your Femtocell’s Built-in Router.................9 How Your Femtocell Works .........................................
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Introduction This guide introduces you to your CDMA femtocell device and all its features. Throughout this guide, you’ll find tips and techniques to get you started and to help you make the most of your new femtocell and service. This guide also provides troubleshooting information to isolate common issues with your femtocell installation. TIP The Table of Contents can help you quickly locate specific information.
Check What’s in the Box Make sure that the following items are in the box: Yellow Ethernet cable Power supply Femtocell External GPS antenna cable Quick Start Guide User Guide —2—
Setup at a Glance External GPS Antenna Home Router (if needed) PC PC To Internet Power Supply Femtocell Broadband Device TIP See the Quick Start Guide for the basics on setup and getting your femtocell up and running.
Setting up Your Femtocell 1 Disconnect the power from all devices on your network. NOTE: This includes your cable or DSL modem and home router. 2 Place your device close to a window and in a central location. For best results, place the device in an elevated location, such as the top of a bookshelf or tall cabinet. NOTE: In large homes, the external GPS antenna can be used to allow the femtocell to be placed in a more central location.
4 Connect the other end of the Ethernet cable to your femtocell’s yellow WAN port. 5 Turn on your cable or DSL modem, and home router. NOTE: Wait a couple of minutes for the cable or DSL modem to fully initialize before continuing. 6 Femtocell Plug the power supply connector into the black port on your femtocell. Femtocell 7 Plug the other end into an available electrical outlet.
When is Your Femtocell Ready for Use? After installing and turning on your femtocell for the first time, take notice of an automated setup sequence. During this time, the device’s green LEDs will be solid for a few seconds, and then all LEDs, except the Broadband LED, will turn off until the software loads. This process may take up to 2 hours if your GPS antenna is not near a window to receive sufficient GPS signals from the sky.
Setting up Optional Components PC or LAN Router Setup Connect any devices that you have, such as a PC , to your femtocell’s blue LAN ports.
External GPS Antenna Setup If the GPS LED does not turn solid green after 30 minutes, connect the external GPS antenna to your femtocell. Place the external GPS antenna horizontally on a window sill. The antenna works best in an open area, with a clear view of the sky, where it can easily pick up signals. Do not place the GPS antenna: • Outdoors; it is not weatherproof. • Behind large, heavy objects; doing so could affect the signal.
Configuring Your Femtocell’s Built-in Router Usually, you can plug your femtocell into your broadband connection device, such as a cable modem, DSL modem or FiOS (a high-speed, fiber optic broadband Internet service), without performing any additional steps. However, you may need to configure the built-in router to work with your ISP modem or connection device. The following table lists typical ISP setups and actions to take so that the built-in router works with your existing ISP setup.
How Your Femtocell Works Your femtocell is like a personal base station with a radio unit that is similar to a cell tower radio. The base station uses a low-power antenna to transmit voice and data cellular signals in your home or small office. Base stations give you better cellular coverage, which means a stronger signal and improved voice quality. Also, data applications on smartphones, such as mobile email devices, work faster.
How calls and Data Go Over the Internet Wireless Devices Internet Service Provider (Cable, DSL, fiber optic) Wireless Router Service Provider Network Internet PC Femtocell Broadband Connection Device — 11 —
Your Broadband Connection Speed Your femtocell supports up to six simultaneous voice calls, data sessions, or any combination of both. Your femtocell can support data sessions of up to 3 Mbps downstream and 1.8 Mbps upstream. The actual transmission speed of your femtocell is only as fast as your maximum broadband connection speed. Internet congestion, the number of users on your provider’s network, and other factors can decrease your actual broadband connection speed.
Maintenance With normal use, your femtocell is maintenance-free. Follow the recommendations below to ensure that it runs optimally. Ventilation Your femtocell has ventilation slots that work best if you don’t block the flow of air to them. Keep your femtocell at least 2 inches (5 cm) from walls and other surfaces to ensure proper air flow. Cleaning Dust your femtocell occasionally to keep air vents clear of debris. NOTE: Do not use liquid cleaners on your femtocell.
Troubleshooting Installation Problems During the installation, if your Broadband LED turns solid red, reversing the order of turning on the femtocell and your cable or DSL modem can often resolve this problem. To reverse the order, follow these procedures: 1 Unplug all cables and power cords from all devices. You can unplug devices in any order. 2 Connect all Ethernet and GPS cables as described in “Setting up Your Femtocell” (page 4). NOTE: Do not connect any power cords at this point in the procedure.
LED Quick Reference Mobile • Solid green: Ready • Solid red: Hardware problem • Blinking red: Service error • Off: No service, service disabled, no power, or LED malfunction Network • Solid green: Ready • Solid red: AIRAVE is not connected router/modem for more than 15 minutes • Blinking red to solid red: Service error • Off: No power or LED malfunction GPS • Solid green: Ready • Blinking red: Acquiring a lock • Solid red: GPS lock not available • Off: No power or LED malfunction For complete descriptions
Using LEDs LED Display pattern Action to take Mobile Solid green None. Ready. Solid red Hardware problem. Call Customer Support as described in “Getting Help” (page 22). Blinking red Service has not come up since startup or has gone down. If service has gone down, call Customer Support as described in Getting Help. (page 22). Off If the LED turns off after turning on from either a blinking red or solid green state, the femtocell is not activated.
LED Display pattern Action to take Network Solid green None. Ready. Blinking red to solid red Service has not come up since startup or has gone down. If this problem persists, call Customer Support as described in Getting Help. Blinking red Network connection has gone down or has not come up since startup, for 15 minutes or less. Solid red If all LEDs are solid red there is a hardware problem.
LED Display pattern Action to take GPS Solid green None. GPS is ready. Blinking red GPS is trying to acquire a lock. Perform the following steps. If GPS fix was not achieved after GPS restart (either at power-up or after recovery from an error), then the GPS LED turns solid red after more than 30 minutes. • If you have not already done so, connect the external GPS antenna to your device. • If the external GPS antenna is already connected, move it to a different location, preferrably on a window sill.
LED Display pattern Action to take Broadband Solid green None. Connected to the Internet. Solid red Femtocell is not connected to the router/modem for more than 15 minutes. If all LEDs are solid red there is a hardware problem. Contact the customer support number located on the insert included in your femtocell documentation package. Blinking red Service error. Check if your broadband modem or broadband router has a problem. Reset your broadband connection device.
LED Display pattern Action to take All Solid red The femtocell cannot pass a hardware self-test. Contact the customer support number located on the insert included in your femtocell documentation package. See the following page for a quick reference to all LEDs on your femtocell.
FAQs Why does my femtocell need a GPS antenna? Your femtocell has a GPS antenna so that it can: • Synchronize properly with the rest of your service provider’s network. • Determine and select the correct radio frequencies available in your area so that your femtocell uses the correct radio frequencies. Why does my femtocell need an external GPS antenna? Your femtocell needs the external antenna only when the internal GPS antenna cannot lock on to sufficient satellite signals.
How do I know if my phone is connecting through my femtocell? By dialing *99 on your wireless phone, an audio message will confirm if you are in range of your femtocell. Also, you will hear three short beeps on your wireless phone before making and receiving calls.
Adding Your ISP User Name and Password TIP Before you begin, obtain your ISP user name and password. Contact your ISP if you do not have this information. 1 Ensure that your computer is networked with the femtocell. 2 Enter the following IP address in your Web browser: Connect to 192.168.17.1 192.168.17.1 The login dialog box appears. 3 Enter “admin” in both the User Name and Password boxes and click OK.
The router opens to the Setup tab. 4 Ensure that Yes (PPPoE) is selected. 5 Enter your ISP user name in the Login box (overwrite “Guest”) and your password in the Password and click OK.
6 Accept the defaults in other fields on the screen and click Apply. When the Broadband LED turns solid green (stops blinking), your Internet connection is available. If the LED is not solid green, call the Customer Support number located on the insert included in your femtocell documentation package.
General Precautions • Dust your femtocell occasionally to keep air vents clear of debris. Do not wash it. • Your femtocell has ventilation slots that work best if you don’t block them. Keep your femtocell at least 2 inches (5 cm) from walls and other surfaces to ensure proper air flow. • Do not operate your femtocell in an extremely dusty or humid environment. • Avoid placing your femtocell near radiators or other heating sources.
Warning of 911 Limitations 911 service may be limited or not available outside your service provider’s wireless network coverage areas. Interconnected VoIP service may be limited by comparison to traditional 911 service. Such circumstances may include, but are not limited to: relocation of the equipment, broadband connection failure, loss of electrical power, delays in availability of your registered location information, and/or other technical problems.
FCC Information FCC Radiation Exposure Statement This device complies with FCC’s RF radiation exposure limits set forth for an uncontrolled environment under the following conditions: • This device should be installed and operated such that a minimum separation distance of 8 inches (20 cm) is maintained between the radiator (antenna) and the user’s or nearby person’s body at all times. • This transmitter must not be co-located or operating in conjunction with any other antenna or transmitter.
