Asus WL-120g, User Manual

Page 1: ...Wireless Local Area Network Card WL 120g For 802 11g and 802 11b Wireless Networks User s Manual ...

Page 2: ...RISING FROM ANY DEFECT OR ERROR IN THIS MANUAL OR PRODUCT Product warranty or service will not be extended if 1 the product is repaired modified or altered unless such repair modification of alteration is authorized in writing by ASUS or 2 the serial number of the product is defaced or missing Products and corporate names appearing in this manual may or may not be registered trademarks or copyrigh...

Page 3: ...tmd1 asus com Web Site usa asus com Technical Support Support Fax 1 502 933 8713 General Support 1 502 995 0883 Notebook Support 1 510 739 3777 x5110 Support Email tsd asus com ASUS COMPUTER GmbH Germany and Austria Address Harkortstr 25 40880 Ratingen BRD Germany General Email sales asuscom de for marketing requests only General Fax 49 2102 9599 31 Web Site www asuscom de Technical Support Compon...

Page 4: ...S WLAN Card Utilities 13 ASUS WLAN Utility Quick Start 15 Reading the ASUS WLAN Status Indicators 17 Orientating the Antenna 18 3 Software Reference 19 Chapter Overview 19 Windows XP Wireless Options 20 Control Center Utility 21 Site Monitor Utility 24 Wireless Settings Utility 26 Status Status Tab 27 Status Connection Tab 31 Status IP Config Tab 32 Config Basic Tab 33 Config Encryption Tab 35 Sur...

Page 5: ...60 5 Glossary 62 IEEE 802 11b 11Mbits sec 67 Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum for 802 11b 68 IEEE 802 11a 54Mbits sec 69 COFDM for 802 11a g 70 6 Safety Information 71 Federal Communications Commission 71 FCC Radio Frequency Interference Requirements 72 FCC RF Exposure Guidelines Access Points 72 FCC RF Exposure Guidelines Wireless Cards 72 Canadian Department of Communications 73 France Restricted...

Page 6: ...6 ASUS WLAN Card ...

Page 7: ...on the range and presence of obstructions The ASUS WLAN Card supports data rates up to 11 Mbps with automatic fallback to 5 5 2 and 1 Mbps in 802 11b networks It operates in the unlicensed 2 4 GHz frequencies called the Instrumentation Science and Medical ISM band Unlicensed means free of charge to users TheASUSWLAN Card configuration utility is a user friendly application that helps you quickly s...

Page 8: ...ard WL 100 is a IEEE 802 11b wireless LAN adapter that fits into a PCMCIAType II slot in a Notebook PC The ASUS WLAN 802 11b CF Card WL 110 is a IEEE 802 11b wireless LAN adapter that fits into a Compact Flash Type II slot in a Portable Digital Assistant PDA The ASUS WLAN 802 11b Access Point WL 300 creates a wireless network using the IEEE 802 11b wireless standard TheASUSWLAN802 11bGateway WL 50...

Page 9: ...elessUSBLANadapter that connects to any computer s USB port with the benefit of being able to place the antenna anywhere inordertomaximizesignalstrength The ASUS WLAN 802 11g Access Point WL 300g creates a wireless network using the IEEE 802 11g and 802 11b wireless standards The above illustrations are not to scale LNK AIR The ASUS WLAN 802 11g PC Card WL 120g isaIEEE 802 11g and 802 11b wireless...

Page 10: ...Slot 32MB system memory or larger 300MHz processor or higher The Product Package When you receive the ASUS WLAN Card package it should contain the following items ASUS WLAN Card ASUS WLAN Card Quick Start Guide ASUS WLAN Card User s Manual CD ROM Disc Drivers Utilities Documentation If any of the above items are not included or damaged contact your local dealer for instructions Requirements ...

Page 11: ...zard dialog will appear Click Next 4 Insert the support CD that came with your ASUS WLAN Card 5 Select Search for the best driver in and Search removable media then click Next 2 Installation Installing the ASUS WLAN Card Driver 1 Install the ASUS WLAN Card into a free PCI slot and replace your chassis door panels screws and cables 2 Turn ON your computer and enter Windows Installing Driver ...

Page 12: ...t system 8 Click Finish when installation has complete Restart your computer if prompted Verifying Drivers You can verify the ASUS WLAN Card driver in Device Manager Access Device Manager from Start Control Panel System Hardware A question mark means that no driver has been installed An exclamation mark over a card means that the driver is incorrect Verify that you are using the correct product an...

Page 13: ... an autorun menu will appear If your autorun is disabled double click SETUP EXE in the root directory of the support CD 2 From the autorun menu select your language and click Install ASUS WLAN Card Utilities 3 Click Next on the Welcome screen 4 Click Next after reading the Information 5 Click Next to use the default Destination Folder or click Browse to select another folder 6 Click Next to place ...

Page 14: ...ill be created which can be accessed through Start 8 When the program is launched for the first time you will be asked which function to use Select to use ASUS utilities for more functions By default the ASUS WLAN Control Center is set to launch with Windows If necessary you can launchitmanuallyfromtheWindows Start Menu Installing Utilities ...

Page 15: ...your wireless connection 1 Right click the ASUS WLAN icon and select Wireless Settings 2 Set the Network Name SSID to the same name as the SSID set in your wireless access point 3 Use Site Survey if you don t know the name of your access point s 4 Encryption settings must also match those set in the access point Talk with your network administrator if necessary Right Click Menu Quick Start ...

Page 16: ...tility Quick Start Cont 6 You can also see the connection quality on the Connection page Click OK to exit the utility 5 Click Apply to save your settings and check the Status page to see the Association State It should show Connected xx xx xx xx xx xx Quick Start ...

Page 17: ...used for determining the best placement of Access Points to provide the most efficient coverage in a wireless network Troubleshooting Troubleshooting will test your settings and connec tion to try to pinpoint your problem and give you a solution Wireless Settings Allows users to control the ASUS WLAN Card Additional Reference Windows XP Wireless Properties Brief overview of the wireless settings p...

Page 18: ...o buttons to decide which interface to use with your ASUS WLAN Card Only use XPwireless function Only use Windows XP wireless network settings to configure the ASUS WLAN Card Only use ASUS utilities and disable XP wireless function Only use ASUS WLAN Card utilities to configure the ASUS WLAN Card recommended You can return to the Wireless Option setting at any time by left clicking the control cen...

Page 19: ...trol Center icon displayed on the Windows taskbar Starting the Control Center manually Select ASUS WLAN Control Center in Windows Start menu or Double click the ASUS WLAN Control Center icon on the desktop Using the Control Center Taskbar The Control Center Taskbar menu display the following information The link quality of the ASUS WLAN Card Excellent Good Fair Poor Not Linked Whether the ASUS WLA...

Page 20: ...ed to Internet Infrastructure Poor link quality and connected to Internet Infrastructure Not linked but connected to Internet Infrastructure Excellent link quality but not connected to Internet Infrastructure Good link quality but not connected to Internet Infrastructure Fair link quality but not connected to Internet Infrastructure Poor link quality but not connected to Internet Infrastructure No...

Page 21: ...ireless Settings Double clicking the taskbar icon Launches the Wireless Settings application Taskbar Left Click Menu Taskbar Icon Right Menu Right clicking the taskbar icon shows the following menu items Wireless Settings Launches Wireless Settings application Activate Configuration Al lows you to set which profile to use Mobile Manager Launches Mobile Manager application Preferences Customizes th...

Page 22: ...te Monitor Click the Windows Start button select Programs ASUS Utility WLAN Card Site Monitor or Right click the Control Center icon on the Windows taskbar and then click Site Monitor Main Screen Measures the signal values of all available wireless networks Some Access Points can disable broadcasting SSID to hide them selves from Site Survey or Site Monitor for added security but still allow you t...

Page 23: ...al strength of the last received frame In principle the higher the RSSI the better your communications quality Throughput This sends a specified number of data packets to the remote host and calculates the average megabytes per second During the test the Start button toggles to Stop You can click Start button to begin the link test and click Stop button at any time to terminate the test ...

Page 24: ...mposed of tabbed pages each with its own group of feature specific settings Right Click Menu If you have more than one ASUS WLAN device you will be given a device selection window when you launch the Wireless Settings utility Select the appropriate model if you face this situation Starting Wireless Settings Open the Windows Control Panel and then double click the ASUS WLAN Card Settings icon or Cl...

Page 25: ...ngs Status Status Tab You can view the information about theASUS WLAN Card from the general menu These fields are blank if the ASUS WLAN Card does not exist Connected Scanning Radio Disabled You can turn OFF the ASUS WLAN Card by clicking the Disable Radio button ...

Page 26: ...and associate with the desired Access Point or Ad Hoc node Disconnected The link is connected but no beacon received SSID Displays the Service Set Identifier SSID that the card is either associated or intending to join MAC address Indicates the hardware address of the card MAC address is a unique identifier fornetworkingdevices typicallywrittenastwelvehexadecimaldigits0through 9 and A through F si...

Page 27: ... be used to push the radio off a weak Access Point and search for a better link with another Access Point This function will take some time to complete Change SSID Click on this to set the SSID Search Connect Click on this to connect to an available network Save as Profile Later when you make individual settings you may want to use profiles to save your settings Profiles will help you combine all ...

Page 28: ...n Auto roaming is enabled by default and will automatically switch to stronger access points You can uncheck it if you have many access points and do not want to constantly switch to different networks If you want to use a particular profile You can also check it here Taskbar Right Click ...

Page 29: ...e number of frames that were received Frame Error Transmitted The number of frames that were not successfully transmitted Received The number of frames that were not successfully received Connection Quality Signal Strength Reflects the signal level related to the Access Point or Ad Hoc node the station is currently connected to Ratings are Excellent Good Fair and Poor Overall Connection Quality It...

Page 30: ... IP address subnet mask default gateway and Windows Internet Naming Service WINS and DNS configuration Button IP Release Clicking this button will attempt to release the DHCP IP address for the ASUS WLAN Card in case you wish to remove your IP address IP Renew Clicking this button will attempt to renew the DHCP IP address for the ASUS WLAN Card in case you want to obtain a new IP address NOTE The ...

Page 31: ... and easily without pre planning For example share meeting notes between networked computers in a meeting room Network Name SSID Use the SSID field to configure the SSID for the ASUS WLAN Card You can enter a new SSID or select one from the drop down list box SSID stands for Service Set Identifier which is a string used to identify a wireless LAN You will only be able to connect Access Points whic...

Page 32: ...the same network if they have the same frequency channel setting The radio channels you may use depend on the regulations in your country For United States FCC and Canada IC channels 1 to 11 are supported Data Rate Select the transmit data rate fix or auto The data rates supported for the ASUS WLAN Cards are Auto The adapter will adjust to the most suitable transmission rate Fix 11g Fix data rate ...

Page 33: ...s Data encryption WEP enabled ThisoptionallowsyoutoenableordisabletheWiredEquivalentPrivacy WEP function If this check box is selected a WEP Key is used to encrypt your data before it is transmitted over the air If you enable WEP encryption you will only be able to communicate with wireless devices that have use the same WEP keys WEP Key This option is enable only if you enable WEP Encryption The ...

Page 34: ...lgorithm to generate four WEP Keys for encryption NOTE This function ease users from having to remember their passwords and is compatible to some existing WLAN utilities but it is not very secure Manual Assignment is more secure Default Key The Default Key field lets you specify which of the four encryption keys you use to transmit data on your wireless LAN You can change the default key by clicki...

Page 35: ...his together makes 64 bits 40 24 Some vendors refer to this level of WEP as 40 bits and others refer to this as 64 bits ASUS WLAN products use the term 64 bits when referring to this lower level of encryption Second 104 bit WEP and 128 bit WEP are the same encryption method and can interoperate in the wireless network This higher level of WEP encryption uses a 104 bit 26 Hex character as a secret ...

Page 36: ... channel used by each network RSSI Views the Received Signal Strength Indication RSSI in dB Type View wireless network status information the value is either AP infrastructure or STA Ad Hoc WEP View wireless network WEP encryption information the value is either OFF disable encryption or ON enable encryption Buttons Search Scan all available wireless networks and show the scan result in the Availa...

Page 37: ...ab to view program andASUS WLAN Card version information The program version information field includes the Copyright and utility version The version information includes the ndis version driver name and driver version This screen is an example only Your version numbers will be different from what are shown here ...

Page 38: ...tus Exit Wireless Settings To exit Wireless Settings you can click OK or Cancel This utility may be closed at any time and from any tab If you did not save the configuration settings you will be prompted to do so Excellent Link Quality Infrastructure Good Link Quality Infrastructure Fair Link Quality Infrastructure Poor Link Quality Infrastructure Not linked Infrastructure Linked Ad Hoc Not Linked...

Page 39: ...bile Manager Quick Guide 1 The first time you launch the Mobile Manager utility it will automati cally generate configurations that stores the current settings of all in stalled network devices in your system 2 Change the name of the configuration to a descriptive name like Work Meeting Room or Home ADSL 3 On the File menu click New Configuration the New Configuration Wizard dialog appears Follow ...

Page 40: ...er It allows quick access tosomeofthemostusefulfeaturesofMobileManager Thecommandsprovided by the toolbar buttons are also available from the pull down menu File Menu New Configuration Select New Configuration in the File menu to open a New Configuration Wizard dialog Use the New Configu ration Wizard dialog to create a new configuration See Using New Configuration Wizard for details on this comma...

Page 41: ...equire a restart Edit Menu All these commands are also available from the context menu that appears when you right click with a configuration in the Mobile Manager window Edit Configuration Select Edit Configuration in the Edit menu to open an Edit Configuration dialog to edit selected configuration items See Using Edit Configuration for details on this command Rename Change the name of the select...

Page 42: ...bile Manager Help Menu Contents Displays the WinHelp contents window the one you are reading now for online Help About Mobile Manager Displays the version number and copy right information for Mobile Manager Click on the logo to connect to ASUS website ...

Page 43: ... one of the following On the File menu click New Configuration or Double click New Configuration on the Main window Then the New Configuration Wizard dialog starts 2 Choose the type of configuration that you want to create and click Next Wireless Local Area Network Configuration You must have an ASUS WLAN Card installed in your PC WiredLocalAreaNetworkConfiguration YoumusthaveaNIC LAN card other t...

Page 44: ...Dialup Configuration Sharing settings for Wireless Wired Dialup Configuration See Using Edit Configuration for detailed information on each 5 Enter the appropriate information in the wizard After specifying the appropriate information on each page click Next to continue 6 On the final window of the New Configuration Wizard you will see a Finish button If you do not want to use this new configurati...

Page 45: ...r example JohnDoe Workgroup Type an existing workgroup name or create a new workgroup by typing a new name that contains up to 15 characters Use it to identify your computer group that you belong to Computer Description This information is displayed as a comment next to the computer name when the computer is seen in Details view select from the Windows pull down menu Use it to describe your comput...

Page 46: ...ers long such as WIRELESS LAN Set the SSID to a null string if you wish to allow your station to connect to any Access Point it can find But you cannot use null string in Ad Hoc mode Channel The radio channel used for transmit receive data In infrastructure network your PC Card will automatically select the correct frequency channel required to communicate with an Access Point this parameter will ...

Page 47: ...transmit data packets and decrypt received data packets You have two ways to assign WEP keys Automatic Generation Type a combination of up to 127 letters numbers or symbols in the Magic Word column then it will auto matically generate WEP Keys Manual Assignment Manual type WEP keys which valid values include numbers a f and A F Default Key Determines which entry in the default key table to use for...

Page 48: ...2000W Domain Enter the TCP IP domain name for your network The full domain name consists of one or more names that are separated by dots for example asus com DNS Server Search Order Specify the DNS Servers in the desired order to search for DNS information Domain Suffix Search Order Add any domain suffixes that may be valid attached to the end of Internet domain name WINS Specify the WINS server T...

Page 49: ...ify area code telephone number and country code for this connection Clear the Use area code and Dialing Properties checkbox if you want to ignore area code and dialing settings Server Type Type of Dial Up Server Select the server type for this connection Advanced options Select Log on to network checkbox to specify that Dial Up Networking will attempt to log on to the network you are connecting to...

Page 50: ...P address from a ppp server If the ppp server does not offer an IP address the IP address specified for TCP IP Dial Up Adapter in the Network dialog box is used Specify an IP address Provides a space for you to type the preferred IP address for this connection Dial Up Networking tries to use this address first Server assigned name server addresses Specifies whether Dial Up Networking accepts a DNS...

Page 51: ...er If you want to connect to a computer on your Intranet make sure you type its address in this box You can use wild cards to match domain and host names or addresses for example company com 192 72 111 Bypass proxy server for local addresses Specifies whether you want to use the proxy server for all local Intranet addresses You might be able to gain access to local addresses easier and faster if y...

Page 52: ...ks 2 If you still cannot connect after completing the first instruction click the first box to reveal a second step Depending on the utility s detection of SSID broadcasts you will have two possible sec ond instruction SSID broadcasts detected Check the SSID and WEP settings for your card SSID broadcasts not detected Configure your AP to allow Broadcast SSID to associate or Change your location by...

Page 53: ...SUS WLAN Access Point Encryption security Settings Make sure these are set the same as the access point ASUS WLAN Access Point Network Name SSID Setting Make sure that the SSID are the same SSID Broadcasting on the Access Point is not necessary and may be disabled for increased security You mayenableSSIDBroadcastingduring troubleshooting if necessary ...

Page 54: ...oadcasts not detected Change your settings and try again The main point here is that your ASUS WLAN Card s MAC address must be allowed and not prohibited from joining the access point Clicking the last box will send you to the Wireless Settings utility ASUS WLAN Card Authorization MAC Address Settings ASUS WLAN Access Point Authorization MAC Address Settings Your MAC address is shown here Make sur...

Page 55: ... Reference Chapter 3 TroubleShooting 4 After configuration is successful you will get a current status of You have a connection with an Access Point You can close the TroubleShooting utility and begin using your wireless network ...

Page 56: ... signal strength Signal strength is represented by green bars with 5 bars meaning excellent signal and 1 bar meaning poor signal 4 The Wireless Networks page will show Available networks and Preferred networks Use the Add button to add the SSID of available networks and set the connection preference order with the Move up and Move down buttons The radio tower with a signal icon identifies the curr...

Page 57: ...ireless Properties 5 The Authentication pageallowsyoutoadd security settings Read Windows help for more information 6 The Advanced page allows you to set fire wall and sharing Read Windows help for more information Windows XP Wireless Properties Cont ...

Page 58: ... a yellow exclamation mark or a yellow question mark in Device Manager in front of my ASUS WLAN Card To resolve the problem you should update reinstall theASUS WLAN Card driver In Device Manager right click ASUS 802 11g NetworkAdapter select Properties and select Driver tab Click on Update Driver button then follow the Update Device Driver Wizard to complete the driver installation In addition you...

Page 59: ...st set the same WEP Keys on both stations Bad link quality or bad signal strength Therearetwopossiblereasons Firstisradiointerference keeptheenvironment around the ASUS WLAN Card away from microwave ovens and large metal objects Then try to reorient the ASUS WLAN Card antenna Second is the distance decreasethedistancebetweenyourASUSWLANCardandtheAccess Point or station or another ASUS WLAN Card Th...

Page 60: ...her channels by other instances of the same physical layer with an acceptably low frame error ratio due to mutual interference COFDM See next few pages for detailed explanation DNS Server Address Domain Name System DNS allows Internet host computers to have a domain name and one or more IP addresses A DNS server keeps a database of host computers and their respective domain names and IP addresses ...

Page 61: ...ication for token ring networks 802 11 defines the standard for wireless LANs encompassing three incompatible non interoperable technologies Frequency HoppingSpreadSpectrum FHSS DirectSequenceSpreadSpectrum DSSS and Infrared 802 11 specifies a carrier sense media access control and physical layer specifications for 1 and 2 Mbps wireless LANs IEEE 802 11b 802 11b specifies a carrier sense media acc...

Page 62: ...SM bands are located at 902 MHz 2 400 GHz and 5 7 GHz ISP Internet Service Provider An organization that provides access to the Internet Small ISPs provide service via modem and ISDN while the larger ones also offer private line hookups T1 fractional T1 etc LAN Local Area Network A communications network that serves users within a defined geographical area The benefits include the sharing of Inter...

Page 63: ...unit of cycles per second One megahertz MHz is one million Hertz One gigahertz GHz is one billion Hertz The standard US electrical power frequency is 60 Hz the AM broadcast radio frequency band is 0 55 1 6 MHz the FM broadcast radio frequency band is 88 108 MHz and wireless 802 11 LANs operate at 2 4 GHz SSID Service Set ID SSID is a group name shared by every member of a wireless network Only cli...

Page 64: ...e area network WECA Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance An industry group that certifies cross vender interoperability and compatibility of IEEE 802 11b wireless networking products and to promote that standard for enterprise small business and home environments WLAN Wireless Local Area Network This is a group of computers and other devices connected wirelessly in a small area A wireless netw...

Page 65: ... provides interoperability with existing 802 11 direct sequence devices that operate only at 2 Mbps Direct sequence spread spectrum devices spread a radio signal over a range of frequencies The IEEE 802 11b specification allocates the 2 4 GHz frequency band into 14 overlapping operating Channels Each Channel corresponds to a differentsetoffrequencies SeetheAppendixtodeterminethecenterfrequency use...

Page 66: ...within the chipping sequence back into bits to recreate the original data transmitted by the Wireless ASUS WLAN Card Intercepting and decoding a direct sequence transmission requires a predefined algorithm to associate the spreading code used by the transmitting Wireless ASUS WLAN Card to the receiving wireless mobile client This algorithm is established by IEEE 802 11b specifications The bit redu...

Page 67: ... to 802 11b which supports data rates of up to 11 Mbps Like Ethernet and Fast Ethernet 802 11b and 802 11a use an identical MAC Media Access Control However while Fast Ethernet uses the same physical layer encoding scheme as Ethernet only faster 802 11a uses an entirely different encoding scheme called OFDM orthogonal frequency division multiplexing The802 11bspectrumisplaguedbysaturationfromwirel...

Page 68: ...and a high degree of multipath reflection recovery thanks to its encoding scheme and error correction Each subchannel in the COFDM implementation is about 300 KHz wide At the low end of the speed gradient BPSK binary phase shift keying is used to encode 125 Kbps of data per channel resulting in a 6 000 Kbps or 6 Mbps data rate Using quadrature phase shift keying you can double the amount of data e...

Page 69: ...s equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different fr...

Page 70: ...iation output power of this Wireless LAN device is far below the FCC radio frequency exposure limits Nevertheless this device shall be used in such a manner that the potential for human contact during normal operation as a mobile or portable device but use in a body worn way is strictly prohibit When using this device a certain separation distance between antenna and nearby persons has to be kept ...

Page 71: ...heral requirements etc IMPORTAMT NOTE in the event that these conditions can not 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 can not be used on the final product in these circumstances the OEM integrator will be responsible for re evaluating the end product including the transmitter...

Page 72: ...ich the use of the 2400 2483 5 MHz band is permitted with an EIRP of less than 100mW indoors and less than 10mW outdoors 01 Ain Orientales 36 Indre 66 Pyrénées 02 Aisne 37 Indre et Loire 67 Bas Rhin 03 Allier 41 Loir et Cher 68 Haut Rhin 05 Hautes Alpes 42 Loire 70 Haute Saône 08 Ardennes 45 Loiret 71 Saône et Loire 09 Ariège 50 Manche 75 Paris 11 Aude 55 Meuse 82 Tarn et Garonne 12 Aveyron 58 Niè...