User Manual

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Chapter 1
Chapter 1Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Introduction
Thank you for purchasing the Wireless LAN card. This high-speed Wireless LAN card provides you with an innova-
tive wireless networking solution. The Card is easy to set up and use. With this innovative wireless technology, you
can share files and printers on the network—without inconvenient wires! Now you can carry the LAN in your
pocket!
Features
• Wire-free access to networked resources from anywhere beyond the desktop
• Low interference & high susceptibility guarantee reliable performance
• Delivers data rate up to 11 Mbps
• Dynamically shifts between 11, 5.5, 2, and 1 Mbps network speed, based on signal strength, for maximum avail-
ability and reliability of connection
• Allows users move between Access Points without resetting their connection reconfiguration
• Antenna is built in to the card with LEDs indicating Power and Link
• Uses 2.4GHz frequency band, which complies with worldwide requirement
• Supports most popular operating systems: Window 95/98/2000/NT 4.0/ME
• Ensures great security by providing the Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) defined in the IEEE 802.11 standard
What is Wireless LAN?
Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) systems offer a great number of advantages over traditional wired sys-
tems. WLANs are flexible and easy to setup and manage. They are also more economical than wired LAN
systems.
Using radio frequency (RF) technology, WLANs transmit and receive data through the air. WLANs combine
data connectivity with user mobility. For example, users can roam from a conference room to their office
without being disconnected from the LAN.
Using WLANs, users can conveniently access shared information, and network administrators can configure
and augment networks without installing or moving network cables.
WLAN technology provides users with many convenient and cost saving features:
• Mobility: WLANs provide LAN users with access to real-time information anywhere in their organiza-
tion, providing service opportunities that are impossible with wired networks.
• Ease of Installation: Installing is easy for novice and expert users alike, eliminating the need to install
network cables in walls and ceilings.
• Scalability: WLANs can be configured in a variety of topologies to adapt to specific applications and
installations. Configurations are easily changed and range from peer-to-peer networks suitable for a
small number of users to full infrastructure networks of thousands of users roaming over a broad area.
LAN Modes
Wireless LANs can be configured in one of two ways:
Ad-hoc
Networking
Also known as a peer-to-peer network, an ad-hoc net-
work is one that allows all workstations and computers
in the network to act as servers to all other users on
the network. Users on the network can share files,
print to a shared printer, and access the Internet with a
shared modem. However, with ad-hoc networking,
users can only communicate with other wireless LAN
computers that are in the wireless LAN workgroup, and