WMP-A13V 5GHz Wireless LAN mini PCI Card User’s Manual First Edition (May, 2002) 6WMPA13V...
Contents List of Figures .......................................................... v List of Tables .......................................................... vii Preface ..................................................................... ix About this Document ..................................................................................... ix Audience......................................................................................................... x Additional Resources......................
Windows Millennium Edition ................................3-1 Driver Installation......................................................................................... 3-1 Driver Uninstallation .................................................................................... 3-5 Device Configuration ................................................................................... 3-7 Infrastructure Mode ...............................................................................
Infrastructure Mode ...............................................................................6-8 Ad Hoc Mode.......................................................................................6-11 Verify Connection ................................................................................6-13 Driver Uninstallation ..................................................................................6-15 7 LinkMon .................................................................
List of Figures Figure 2-1. Infrastructure Mode.............................................................. 2-17 Figure 2-2. Ad Hoc Mode ....................................................................... 2-18 Figure 8-1. RFSilent Icon ......................................................................... 8-2 Figure 8-2. RFSilent Menu Selections......................................................
List of Tables Table 8-1. RFSilent Menu Descriptions ..................................................
Preface This user’s guide provides the necessary information for first-time users to successfully install the Alphanetworks Network Driver Interface Specification (NDIS) driver, for the purpose of evaluating and/or operating the Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Station Reference Design in a Microsoft Windows environment. This guide also provides information for users who wish to upgrade the Alphanetworks NDIS driver from previous releases.
Chapter 6 Windows NT 4.0—Installation/Uninstallation Procedures and Device/Network Configurations for Windows NT 4.0. Chapter 7 LinkMon—Graphical User Interface for Operational Status and Statistics of Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Station Reference Design. Chapter 8 RFSilent—RFSilent application that allows you to enable or disable the RF Signal (radio) on all Alphanetworks STA Reference Designs.
1 Introduction The Alphanetworks V Wireless Network mini PCI Card is an IEEE 802.11a twochip solution reference design based on the Atheros AR5112 and AR5213chipset. This reference design implements a half-duplex, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) baseband processor supporting all IEEE 802.11a data rates (6 to 54 Mbps). The host interface is compatible with the PC Card 7.1 standard.
System Requirements A computer that meets the following specifications: -Windows 2000,Windows ME, or Windows 98SE PCI expansion slot At least 64 MB of memory A 300 MHz processor or higher At least one other IEEE 802.11a-compliant device Hardware Installation Follow these steps to install the 802.11a PCI Card in a computer’s PCI slot: 1. Turn off your computer and unplug its power cord from the wall outlet for safety purposes. 2. Remove the computer cover. 3.
Chapter錯 PRELIMINARY 誤! 尚未定義樣式。 10. Turn on the computer. Atheros Communications, Inc.
2 Windows 2000 Driver Installation (First-time Install) Insert the Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card into a 32-bit CardBus slot and follow these steps to install the NDIS driver: 1. Wait for the following dialog box to display, and click Next to continue.
2. Choose “Search for a suitable driver for my device (recommended),” and click Next. 3. Insert the installation CD in your CD-ROM drive. Choose “Specify a location” under “Optional search locations,” and click Next to continue.
4. Browse to the location where the NDIS driver is located (assuming D is the CD-ROM drive), the default folder is D:\ndis\bin\production\ndis5. Click OK to continue. 5. When you find the Alphanetworks driver installation file (net5210b.inf), click Next to continue.
6. The Alphanetworks NDIS evaluation driver currently does not have a digital signature from Microsoft. Therefore, Windows 2000 shows a warning message. Click Yes to proceed with driver installation. 7. Click Finish to complete the driver installation. See Section “Device Configuration” for the device configuration.
Driver Installation (Previous Driver Installed) If the system already has a previous release of the Alphanetworks NDIS installed, Windows does not prompt for the device driver when the WLAN Card is inserted. Follow the steps below to update the NDIS driver: 1. Start System Properties from Control Panel. Under Hardware tab, click Device Manager.
2. Within Device Manager, right-click “Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card” under “Network adapters” device node, and click Properties.
3. Click “Update Driver…” from the Driver tab. Note the Driver Version that you are updating from. You may need to verify this field again after driver update completes to make sure Release 1.3 driver has been updated correctly. 4. Click Next to continue.
5. Choose “Display a list of the known drivers for this device so that I can choose a specific driver,” and click Next to continue. 6. Insert the Release 1.3 CD into your CD-ROM drive. Click “Have Disk…” to continue.
7. Browse to the location where the NDIS driver is located (assuming D is the CD-ROM drive), the default folder is “D:\ndis\bin\production\ndis5”. Click OK to continue. 8. Select “Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card” from the list and click Next to continue.
9. Click Yes to continue when Windows displays the warning message.
10. Click Next to proceed with installation. 11. The Alphanetworks NDIS evaluation driver currently does not have a digital signature from Microsoft. Therefore, Windows 2000 shows a warning message. Click Yes to proceed with driver installation.
12. Click Finish. 13. Note that Driver Version should display 1.3 as the major revision number. Click OK to continue.
14. Click Yes to restart system. 15. After system restarts, the “Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card” now displays under “Network adapters” in the Device Manager. Proceed to Section “Device Configuration” for device configuration information.
Driver Uninstallation This section provides information about uninstallation procedures required for upgrading the NDIS driver from previous Alphanetworks software releases. If the system does not have previously installed versions of the NDIS driver and you wish to remove the newly installed driver from the system, proceed to Step 4. The NDIS driver since Release 1.0 no longer leverages the Transport Driver Interface (TDI) protocol to provide the LinkMon programming interface.
2. Click OK to uninstall the device. 3. When the device is uninstalled from Device Manager, search for and delete the driver files that reside in the system. To do so, go to the Start menu and choose Search For Files or Folders…, enter “oem*.inf” in the “Search for files or folders named:” field, and enter “Alphanetworks” in the “Containing text:” field. Click Search Now. A few files matching these criteria are possible, if previous drivers have not been removed properly.
4. To complete the uninstallation, “ar5210b.sys” should also be removed from the “\WINNT\system32\drivers” folder.
Device Configuration Configuration of the Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card can be done through the Network Control Panel (NCP) in adapter properties. You can set the Wireless Network mini PCI Card to work in one of two modes, either infrastructure mode (which leverages an AP) or ad hoc mode (which consists of a group of stations participating in the WLAN).
In ad hoc mode, a Wireless Network mini PCI Card works within an independent basic service set (IBSS), as illustrated in Figure 2-2. All stations communicate directly with other stations without an AP. STA 1 STA 3 STA 5 STA 2 STA 4 Figure 2-2. Ad Hoc Mode To configure the WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card: 1. In the Device Manager, right-click “Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card,” and click Properties to access the properties of the adapter.
2. Configuration additions, modifications, and deletions are made under the “Settings” tab of the “Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card” properties. 3. Select one of the configurations under the configuration list, and click Modify to show the “Network Configuration Settings” screen. This property sheet has two pages: General and Security. The General page has the following fields: − Configuration Name: This field identifies the configuration. This name must be unique.
− Power Saving: This field allows the configuration of power management options. The options are Off, Normal, and Maximum. Power management is disabled when ad hoc mode is selected in the Network Connection field. When the Power Saving setting is Off, the adapter receives full power from the PC. When the Power Saving setting is Normal, the driver turns off power to the adapter for brief periods over briefly-spaced time intervals.
− Unique Key: This field defines the unique encryption key for security for the current network configuration. In ad hoc mode, this encryption key type is not used. To enable security using a Unique Key, this field must be populated. − Shared Keys: These fields define a set of shared encryption keys. To enable security using Shared Keys, at least one Shared Key field must be populated. − Key Length: This field defines the length for each encryption key.
Infrastructure Mode To configure an Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card in infrastructure mode: 1. Ensure that the “Locally Administered Address” checkbox is unchecked. 2. Choose the following settings: − Configuration Name: This field identifies the configuration. This name must be unique. Configuration names are case insensitive. − Network Name (SSID): This is the name of the IEEE 802.11a wireless network, for example, “Alphanetworks 802.11a Wireless Network.
− Locally Administered Address: This field defines the locally administered MAC address (LAA). To enter a value in the address field, the check box needs to be selected. Usually infrastructure mode is used in an enterprise environment where APs are installed and maintained by corporate IT staff. Much of the data in the enterprise network is confidential. It is important to configure security to make sure only stations with appropriate keys can receive sensitive data.
Locally Administered Address: This field defines the locally administered MAC address (LAA). To enter a value in the address field, the check box needs to be selected. TCP/IP Setup After configuring the Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card through the Network Control Panel, the TCP/IP address for the network device must be configured. 1. Open the “Control Panel” and click “Network and Dial-up Connections.” 2.
3. Select “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)” and click Properties. 4. Click “Use the following IP address” and input an IP address and Subnet mask. Assigning an IP address and Subnet mask allows stations to operate in infrastructure mode and to have Internet access. “Default gateway” and “DNS server” information is also required. IP configuration information (DHCP or assigned IP address, Gateway and DNS server IP addresses) is usually obtained from the corporate IT staff.
5. After obtaining IP configuration information from the appropriate IT staff, click OK in both “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties” and “Local Area Connection Properties” to complete the IP configuration. 6. Choose Start > Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt to open the DOS command prompt window. Type “ipconfig” at the C:\> prompt to determine if the TCP/IP configuration has taken effect. To test IP connectivity in ad hoc or infrastructure mode, use the “ping ” command.
7. To map the drive on another machine to your computer, right-click “My Computer” and click “Map Network Drive….” 8. After mapping the drive, you can perform file transfers, use video streaming applications, and all other network data transfers that are normally performed with wired 10/100 Ethernet connections.
3 Windows Millennium Edition Driver Installation Alphanetworks recommends that you remove any existing Alphanetworks NDIS driver on the PC system before installing new Version of the NDIS driver. See Section “Driver Uninstallation” on page 3-5 for the instructions on how to remove previous driver releases.
2. Choose “Search for the best driver for your device. (Recommended)” and select “Specify a location.” Click Browse to locate the NDIS driver. The default folder is “E:\ndis\bin\production\ndis5” (assuming E: is the CDROM drive). Click Next to continue. 3. When the Alphanetworks driver installation file (NET5210B.INF) has been found, click Next to continue.
4. Click Finish to continue, and restart the system to complete driver installation. Refer to Section “Device Configuration” on page 3-7 for device configuration.
Driver Uninstallation This section provides uninstallation procedures for removing the Alphanetworks NDIS driver from the system. Uninstallation is recommended for upgrading the NDIS driver from previous Alphanetworks driver releases. 1. To remove the NDIS driver from the OS, go to Start > Search > For Files or Folders…, and search for the INF file containing the “Alphanetworks” text string under the \WINDOWS\INF folder. Be sure to include subfolders in the search criteria. When “Alphanetworksnet5210b.
2. From Control Panel, launch the System Properties window. Select “Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card” from Device Manager, and click Remove to uninstall the device. 3. Click OK to confirm the removal of the device. Restart the system to complete un-installation.
Device Configuration Configuration of the Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card can be done through the Alphanetworks NIC Configuration utility found in the Windows Control Panel. Similar to Windows 2000, the device can be set to work in one of two modes: infrastructure mode or ad hoc mode. Please refer to Section “Device Configuration” beginning on page 2-17 for more details on these network connection types.
The configuration utility allows addition, modification, and deletion of the configuration profiles. Select one of the existing configuration profiles under the configuration list to modify, or click New to add a new configuration profile. Follow Section “Infrastructure Mode” on page 3-9 and Section “Ad Hoc Mode” on page 3-10 to set up the station to work in infrastructure mode and ad hoc mode.
Infrastructure Mode This section defines the process of configuring an Alphanetworks WMPA13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card in infrastructure mode. See Section “Device Configuration” beginning on page 2-17 for detailed descriptions of each option in the Network Configuration Settings. 1. Under the “General” tab, make sure the “Locally Administered Address” checkbox is unchecked.
2. Usually, infrastructure mode is used in an enterprise environment where APs are installed and maintained by corporate IT staff. Much of the data in the enterprise network is confidential. It is important to configure security to make sure only stations with appropriate keys can receive sensitive data. The Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card and NDIS driver support key lengths of 40 bits, 104 bits and 128 bits.
− Power Saving: Power saving mode is not currently supported in an ad hoc network. − Turbo Mode: All stations participating in the ad hoc network must have the same rate setting. − Locally Administered Address: This field defines the locally administered MAC address (LAA). To enter a value in the address field, the check box needs to be selected. 2.
TCP/IP Configuration After configuring the Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card network adapter properties, the TCP/IP address for the network device needs to be configured. 1. From Control Panel, launch the Network properties window. Select “TCP/IP → Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card” and click Properties. Depending on the type of network the station connects to, Gateway and DNS Configuration information can also be required.
2. Choose Start > Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt to open the DOS command prompt window. Type “ipconfig” to determine if the TCP/IP configuration has taken effect. To test IP connectivity in ad hoc or infrastructure mode, use the “ping ” command. When a TCP/IP connection is established, the LinkMon utility (see Chapter 7) can be used to monitor the Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card operating status.
3. To map the drive on another machine to your computer, right-click “My Computer” and click “Map Network Drive….” Specify the path of a network-shared folder. 4. After mapping the drive, you can perform file transfers, video streaming, and all other network data transfers that are normally performed with wired 10/100 Ethernet connections.
4 Windows 98 Second Edition Driver Installation Alphanetworks recommends that you remove any existing Alphanetworks NDIS driver on the PC system before installing Version 1.3 release of the NDIS driver. See Section “Driver Uninstallation” on page 4-5 for the instructions on how to remove previous driver releases.
2. Choose “Search for the best driver for your device. (Recommended),” and click Next. 3. Insert the Alphanetworks Software Release CD in your CD-ROM drive. Choose “Specify a location” and browse to the location where the NDIS driver is located. The default folder is D:\ndis\bin\production\ndis5 (assuming D: is the CD-ROM drive). Click Next to continue.
4. When the Alphanetworks driver installation file (NET5210B.INF) has been found, click Next to continue. 5. Click Finish to continue.
6. Click Yes to restart the system and complete driver installation. See Section “Device Configuration” on page 4-8 for device configuration. Driver Uninstallation This section provides uninstallation procedures for removing the Alphanetworks NDIS driver from the system. Uninstallation is recommended for upgrading the NDIS driver from previous Alphanetworks driver releases. 1.
2. When “Alphanetworksnet5210b.inf” has been found, delete it by rightclicking the file and choose “Delete.
3. From Control Panel, launch the Network properties window. Select “Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card” from the list, and click Remove to uninstall the device. 4. Click OK to confirm the removal of the device. Restart the system to complete uninstallation.
Device Configuration Configuration of the Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card can be done through the Alphanetworks NIC Configuration utility found in the Windows Control Panel. Similar to Windows 2000 the device can be set to work in one of two modes: infrastructure mode or ad hoc mode. Please refer to Section “Device Configuration” beginning on page 2-17 for more details on these network connection types.
Infrastructure Mode This section defines the process of configuring an Alphanetworks WMPA13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card in infrastructure mode. See Section “Device Configuration” beginning on page 2-17 for detailed descriptions of each option in the Network Configuration Settings. 1. Under the “General” tab, make sure the “Locally Administered Address” checkbox is unchecked.
2. Usually, infrastructure mode is used in an enterprise environment where APs are installed and maintained by corporate IT staff. Much of the data in the enterprise network is confidential. It is important to configure security to make sure only stations with appropriate keys can receive sensitive data. The Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card and NDIS driver support key lengths of 40 bits, 104 bits, and 128 bits.
Ad Hoc Mode This section defines the process of configuring an Alphanetworks WMPA13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card in ad hoc or IBSS mode. See Section “Ad Hoc Mode” on page 2-23 for descriptions of ad hoc operation. 1. Similar to the setup of the AP infrastructure mode described in the previous section, ad hoc mode is also configured by changing the Network Configuration Settings of the Alphanetworks NIC Configuration utility.
2. You can optionally set up other properties, but because the duration of the ad hoc network tends to be limited, Power Saving and Security features are not typically a requirement. For ad hoc network activity, the Power Saving and Security features can be disabled. Currently, shared key security is supported in ad hoc mode. Future Alphanetworks software implementations will provide unique key support. 3. Click OK when the properties are set correctly.
TCP/IP Setup After configuring the Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card network adapter properties, the TCP/IP address for the network device needs to be configured. 1. From Control Panel, launch the Network properties window. Select “TCP/IP → Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card” and click Properties. Depending on the type of network the station connects to, Gateway and DNS Configuration information can also be required.
2. Choose Start > Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt to open the DOS command prompt window. Type “ipconfig” to determine if the TCP/IP configuration has taken effect. To test IP connectivity in ad hoc or infrastructure mode, use the “ping ” command. When a TCP/IP connection is established, the LinkMon utility (see Chapter 7) can be used to monitor the Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card operating status.
3. To map the drive on another machine to your computer, right-click “My Computer” and click “Map Network Drive….” Specify the path of a network-shared folder. 4. After mapping the drive, you can perform file transfers, video streaming, and all other network data transfers that are normally performed with wired 10/100 Ethernet connections.
5 Windows XP Driver Installation (First-time Install) Alphanetworks recommends that you remove any existing Alphanetworks drivers on the PC system before installing Version 錯誤! 找不到參照來源。 release of the NDIS driver. See Section “Driver Uninstallation” on page 5-6 for the instructions on how to remove previous driver releases.
2. Under “Search for the best driver in these locations,” choose “Include this location in the search” and click Browse to find the location of the NDIS driver. When the driver location has been identified, click Next to continue.
3. The Alphanetworks NDIS evaluation driver currently does not have a digital signature from Microsoft. Therefore, Windows XP shows a warning message. Click Continue Anyway to proceed with driver installation. 4. Click Finish to complete driver installation, and refer to Section “Device Configuration” on page 5-10 for device configuration.
Driver Uninstallation This section provides uninstallation procedures for removing the Alphanetworks NDIS driver from the system. Uninstallation is recommended for upgrading the NDIS driver from previous Alphanetworks driver releases. 1. To remove the NDIS driver from the OS, go to Device Manager, right click “Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card,” and choose Uninstall. 2. Click OK to uninstall the device.
3. When the device is uninstalled from Device Manager, search for and delete the driver installation file that resides in the system. To do so, go to Start and choose Search > All files and folder, enter “oem*.inf” in the “All or part of the file name” field, and enter “Alphanetworks” in the “A word or phrase in the file” field. Enter “C:\WINNT\INF” in the “Look in” field, where C: is the drive letter of where Windows XP is installed. Click Search to find the driver installation file. 4.
Device Configuration Windows XP zero-configuration functionality allows the user to select and join a wireless network without having to configure the device separately. You can decide to choose the default parameters and directly proceed to zeroconfiguration in Section “Windows XP Wireless Network Configuration” on page 5-20. Similar to Windows 2000, configuration of the Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card can be done through the Network Control Panel (NCP) in adapter properties.
Configuration additions, modifications, and deletions are made under the “Settings” tab of “Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card Properties.” Select one of the configurations under the configuration, click Modify or New and complete the steps in Section “Infrastructure Mode” on page 5-12 or Section “Ad Hoc Mode” on page 5-13 to set up the station to work in infrastructure mode or ad hoc mode, respectively.
Infrastructure Mode This section defines the process of configuring an Alphanetworks WMPA13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card in infrastructure mode. See Section “Device Configuration” beginning on page 2-17 for detailed descriptions of each option in the Network Configuration Settings. 1. Under the “General” tab, make sure the “Locally Administered Address” checkbox is unchecked.
2. Usually, infrastructure mode is used in an enterprise environment where APs are installed and maintained by corporate IT staff. Much of the data in the enterprise network is confidential. It is important to configure security to make sure only stations with appropriate keys can receive sensitive data. The Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card and NDIS driver support key lengths of 40 bits, 104 bits and 128 bits.
− Network Name (SSID): A Network Name is mandatory for ad hoc mode. The SSID for all stations in a single ad hoc network must be the same. − Network Connection: Ad Hoc. − Power Saving: Power saving mode is not currently supported in an ad hoc network. − Turbo Mode: All stations participating in the ad hoc network must have the same rate setting. − Locally Administered Address: This field defines the locally administered MAC address (LAA).
3. In ad hoc mode, a station scans the air for an existing BSS. If no BSS is found, the station establishes a BSS for other stations to join. When other stations scan the air and find an established BSS in place, they join that BSS to form an ad hoc network. If a specific set of stations requires ad hoc network connectivity, it is recommended to have one station establish a BSS first before configuring the remaining stations.
2. Select “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)” and click Properties. Click “Use the following IP address” and input an IP address and Subnet mask. Depending on the type of network the station connects to, Gateway and DNS Configuration information can also be required. IP configuration information (DHCP or assigned IP address, Gateway and DNS server IP addresses) is usually obtained from the corporate IT staff. For a simple demonstration, the station is assigned a static IP address.
3. Choose Start > Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt to open a command prompt window. Type “ipconfig” to determine if the TCP/IP configuration has taken effect. To test IP connectivity in ad hoc or infrastructure mode, use the “ping ” command. When a TCP/IP connection is established, the LinkMon utility (see Chapter 7) can be used to monitor the operating status of Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card.
4. To map the drive on another machine to your computer, from the Start menu, choose My Computer and right-click to select “Map Network Drive….
5. Assign the drive letter that maps to the network-shared folder and specify the shared folder information. Click Finish to map the drive. 6. After mapping the drive, you can perform file transfers, video streaming, and all other network data transfers that are normally performed with wired 10/100 Ethernet connections.
Windows XP Wireless Network Configuration Aside from using the Network Control Panel (NCP) to configure the Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card, Windows XP provides zero-configuration functionality that automatically tries to connect the STA to available wireless networks in the following order: a. Infrastructure mode with valid WEP keys b. Infrastructure mode with unauthenticated access for stations without WEP keys c.
Note that you can disable automatic wireless network configuration, and revert back to using Alphanetworks NCP configuration settings, by clearing the “Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings” check box.
Infrastructure Mode To set up automatic wireless network configuration to connect to an existing Access Point (infrastructure network): 1. Click the network name under “Available networks” in the Wireless Networks tab, and click Configure. You can update the list of available networks that are within range of your computer by clicking Refresh under Available Networks.
2. If the network requires WEP, then the “Data encryption (WEP enabled)” check box is selected by default in Wireless Network Properties. Select the “The key is provided for me automatically” check box if the WEP key is automatically provided for you. The driver will then use the Default Encryption key from the current Alphanetworks NCP configuration profile irrespective of the network name. You may choose to enter the WEP key by clearing this check box and manually entering the network key and key length.
Ad hoc mode To connect to an existing computer-to-computer (ad hoc) network: 1. Click the ad hoc network name under “Available networks” in the Wireless Networks tab, and click Configure.
2. In Wireless Network Properties, the “This is a computer-to-computer (ad hoc) network; wireless access points are not used” check box is selected by default. You may choose to enable WEP by selecting the “Data encryption (WEP enabled)” check box and the “Network Authentication (Shared mode)” check box. Select the “The key is provided for me automatically” check box if the shared key is automatically provided for you.
3. If you want to connect to an ad hoc network, but both ad hoc and infrastructure networks are within range of your computer, then click Advanced in the Wireless Networks tab and then select “Computer-tocomputer (ad hoc) networks only”. Note that if you want the station to start its own ad hoc network, the “Computer-to-computer (ad hoc) networks only” option should be selected.
In Connect to Wireless Network, under “Available networks”, select the wireless network that you want to connect to. If a network key is required and is automatically provided for you, then leave “Network key” blank. If the network key is not automatically provided for you, then type the key in “Network key”. Click Connect to establish the network connection.
If you are either unable to make a connection to the wireless network that you selected or need to configure additional wireless network connection settings, click Advanced in Connect to Wireless Network, and the Wireless Networks tab will appear.
You can configure a new wireless network connection by clicking Add, and specifying the network name (SSID) in Wireless Network Properties, and the wireless network key settings, if needed. If the network connection that you are configuring is an ad hoc network, then select “This is a computer-tocomputer (ad hoc) network; wireless access points are not used” check box. The network will be added under “Preferred networks” in the Wireless Networks tab.
You can change the order of the preferred networks by selecting the wireless network that you want to reposition on the list, and then clicking Move up or Move down. You can change the wireless network connection settings of a preferred network by selecting the wireless network, clicking Properties, and then changing the settings as needed. To remove a wireless network from the list of preferred networks, select the wireless network that you want to remove, and then click Remove.
If a network is not defined in the preferred networks list, but you know it is available and you want to automatically connect to it, then click Advanced in the Wireless Networks tab, and select the “Automatically connect to nonpreferred networks” check box.
6 Windows NT 4.0 Driver Installation and TCP/IP Setup Windows NT 4.0 does not support Plug-and-plug. Therefore, the Alphanetworks NDIS driver installation uses an approach that is different from the installation used in other Operating Systems. In order to install Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card in Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 6, a PC Card utility called CardWizard is used.
2. Click OK to continue. 3. Windows NT 4.0 Network Properties windows displays. Click Add to continue.
4. Click Have Disk. 5. Manually enter the location of where the Alphanetworks NDIS 4.0 driver is located. For example, D:\NDIS\BIN\PRODUCTION\NDIS4. Click OK to continue.
6. Make sure Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card is selected. Click OK to continue. 7. Set Map Registers, QoS, and Transmit Power Control to default values and click OK.
8. Windows NT 4.0 binds TCP/IP protocol to Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Cards and TCP/IP properties have to be entered. Depending on the type of network the station connects to, Gateway and DNS Configuration information may also be required. IP configuration information (DHCP or assigned IP address, Gateway and DNS server IP addresses) is usually obtained from the corporate IT staff. For a simple demonstration, the station is assigned a static IP address.
9. Restart the system for the changes to take effect. Device Configuration Configuration of the Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card can be done through the Alphanetworks NIC Configuration Control Panel applet provided by Alphanetworks. Similar to Windows 2000, the device can be set to work in one of two modes, either infrastructure mode or ad hoc mode. See Section “Device Configuration” beginning on page 2-17 for more details on these network connection types.
Select one of the configuration(s) under the configuration list and click Modify or click New, and follow the Section “Infrastructure Mode” on page 6-8 and Section “Ad Hoc Mode” on page 6-11 to set up the station to work in infrastructure mode and ad hoc mode. Infrastructure Mode This section defines the process of configuring an Alphanetworks WMPA13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card in infrastructure mode.
− Network Name (SSID): This is the name of the IEEE 802.11a wireless network. For example, “Alphanetworks_AP”. This field has a maximum limit of 32 characters. If this field is left blank, the STA will connect to the AP with the best signal strength. − Network Connection: AP (Infrastructure). − Power Saving: This field allows the configuration of power management options. The options are Off, Normal, and Maximum. − Turbo Mode: This field enables or disables Alphanetworks Turbo mode.
Usually, infrastructure mode is used in an enterprise environment where APs are installed and maintained by corporate IT staff. Much of the data in the enterprise network is confidential. It is important to configure security to make sure only stations with appropriate keys can receive sensitive data. The Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card and NDIS driver support key lengths of 40-bits, 104-bits and 128-bits.
Ad Hoc Mode This section defines the process of configuring an Alphanetworks WMPA13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card in ad hoc or IBSS mode. Refer to Section “Ad Hoc Mode” on page 2-23 for detail descriptions of ad hoc operation. 1. Similar to the set up of AP Infrastructure mode described in the previous section, ad hoc mode is also configured by changing the options in “Network Configuration Settings” window.
2. You may optionally set up security features, but it is not typically a requirement, since the duration of the ad hoc network tends to be limited. Currently, only shared key security is supported in ad hoc mode. Future Alphanetworks software implementations will provide unique key support.
3. In ad hoc mode, a station will scan the air for an existing BSS. If no BSS is found, the station will establish a BSS for other stations to join. When other stations scan the air and find an established BSS in place, they join that BSS to form an ad hoc network. If a specific set of stations requires ad hoc network connectivity, it is recommended to have one station establish a BSS first before configuring the remaining stations.
2. To map the drive on another machine to your computer, right-click “My Computer” and click “Map Network Drive….” 3. Specify the path of a network-shared folder. 4. After mapping the drive, you can perform file transfers, video streaming, and all other network data transfers that are normally performed with wired 10/100 Ethernet connections.
Driver Uninstallation This section provides uninstallation procedures for removing the Alphanetworks NDIS driver from the system. 1. To remove the NDIS driver from the system, go to Control Panel and open Network properties.
2. Under the Adapters tab, choose Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card and click Remove. 3. Click OK to confirm the removal of the Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card.
4. Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card is no longer listed under the Adapters tab. Click Close to continue. 5. Restart the system to complete the un-installation of Alphanetworks NDIS 4.0 driver.
7 LinkMon Installation LinkMon is a Graphical User Interface (GUI) program that provides detailed operational status and statistics for the Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card. The LinkMon executable file, linkmon.exe, is included on the Alphanetworks CD, and is in the folder \ndis\bin\production\. Copy this file from the CD to a local drive for execution.
3. Click Next to continue. 4. Click “I accept this agreement” and then click Next to continue.
5. Click Next to continue. 6. The installer now installs files to the SYSTEM directory. 7. The system must be rebooted for the WMI installation files to become effective. When the system completes the rebooting process, launch LinkMon.
Features There are five tabs in LinkMon used to display STA information: General tab Frame Statistics tab Transmit Retries tab Station tab Driver tab Under the General tab of the LinkMon program property sheet is general information about the program and its operations.
Under the Transmit Retries tab is detailed transmit retry statistical information for transmitted frames.
Under the Station tab is detailed BSS information including SSID, BSSID, association status, operating channel frequency, and information about scanned APs. Under the Driver tab is statistical data pertaining to NDIS driver operation.
The Action menu enables a NDIS driver unloading and reloading, and network interface card (NIC) reset. Note that driver unload option is not available in Windows Me, Windows 98SE, and Windows NT 4.0. NIC reset is also not available in Windows NT 4.0. On the Options menu, choose Settings….
Under the Display tab, you can select the data display modes of “Cumulative” or “Relative.” “Cumulative” mode displays statistical LinkMon data collected from the beginning of driver load. “Relative” mode displays differences in the statistical data since the last update. Under the Log File tab, the logging function can be enabled to log to a file the statistical information collected by the LinkMon utility, for later reference or post processing by an application such as Microsoft Excel.
8 RFSilent This chapter describes the RFSilent application that allows you to enable or disable the RF Signal (radio) on all Alphanetworks STA Reference Designs. The RFSilent is a Windows-based application that appears in the right-hand corner of your Windows taskbar. System Requirements The RFSilent application communicates with most Windows applications using Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). For Windows NT 4.0, RFSilent communicates through the Input and Output Control (IOCTL) mechanism.
4. Click “I accept this agreement” and then click Next to continue. 5. Click Next to continue. The installer now copies the necessary files to the SYSTEM directory. 6. Reboot the system. RFSilent Setup The RFSilent application allows you to enable or disable Alphanetworks STA References Designs. You can enable or disable the RFSilent application through user-defined settings. Refer to a description of driver parameters in the AP Programmer’s Reference Guide.
Table 8-1. RFSilent Menu Descriptions RFSilent Menu Item Descriptions Disable RF Signal Use this selection to disable Alphanetworks STA Reference Design. Enable RF Signal Use this selection to enable Alphanetworks STA Reference Design. About Displays copyright, version information, and the build date for the RFSilent application. Exit Quits the RFSilent application.
9 Country Code Selector Starting with Release 1.1, the Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card has EEPROM locations allocated to store country code information. Currently, there are three countries available to select from— United States, Canada, and Japan. These countries represent two regulatory domains, namely the FCC (USA and Canada) and TELEC (Japan). When the country code is changed, the NDIS driver scans only the legal frequency channels allowed in those countries.
2. Click Yes to continue. 3. The country selection takes effect immediately. You can use LinkMon to verify the country that you selected by looking at the Regulatory Domain field in the Station tab.
10 Troubleshooting This chapter provides solutions to common problems that usually occur during the installation and operation of the Alphanetworks WMP-A13V Wireless Network mini PCI Card. Read the following descriptions if you are having problems. If you cannot find an answer here, please contact an Alphanetworks field application engineer for assistance. 1. My computer does not recognize the Alphanetworks CardBus reference card. Make sure the CardBus card is properly inserted into a 32-bit CardBus slot.
4. The station cannot access the Internet in the infrastructure configuration. Make sure the station is associated and joined with the AP. If Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) security is enabled on the AP, the station must have the proper WEP keys specified. Also make sure TCP/IP properties are correctly configured. 5. ARCCSEL Country Code Selector shows the following error message: No configurable Alphanetworks network cards were found in this system.
Federal Communication Commission Interference Statement This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B 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 communications.
This device is intended only for OEM integrators under the following conditions: 1) The antenna must be installed such that 20 cm is maintained between the antenna and users, and 2) The transmitter module may not be co-located with any other transmitter or antenna, and 3) The antenna should be integral if the end device is intended to be operated in 5.15 ~ 5.25GHz frequency range. As long as 3 conditions above are met, further transmitter test will not be required.
