NetComm NP642, User Manual

Page 1: ......

Page 2: ...y sensitive to static electricity which may be discharged by the user when the internal circuitry is touched Ensure that you have discharged any static prior to touching the computer s PCI slots and to removing the NetComm NP642 from its static bag by touching an earthed object first This can be the computer s Power Supply provided the power is switched off at the wall but the power cord is connect...

Page 3: ...nstructions 10 Connecting the Antenna 11 SOFTWARE INSTALLATION 12 Windows 98se ME 2000 XP Utility and Driver Installation 12 USING THE WIRELESS UTILITY 14 I Link Information 14 II Configuration 16 III Advanced 19 IV Site Survey 22 V About 24 APPENDIX A Glossary 25 APPENDIX B Registration and Warranty Information 32 Contact Information 32 Copyright Information 32 Customer Information 33 Product Warr...

Page 4: ...2 providing configuration monitoring and diagnostic options The NP642 provides data transfer rates of up to 108 Mbps which is 10 times faster than most existing Wi Fi wireless networks Designed to handle bandwidth intensive applications and multimedia content the NP642 eliminates the need for unsightly ethernet cables while providing fast and secure network transfer rates The NP642 has the most adv...

Page 5: ...bps 802 11g is backward compatible with 802 11b which means that the two standards are able to communicate albeit at the lower 11Mbps rate of the 11b standard The NP642 can communicate with both kinds of device at their maximum rate and with other turbo charged devices at the much higher rate of 108Mbps Wireless Security Terms The Advanced Features of the NP642 include the ability to select from s...

Page 6: ...eys can either be pre shared or established by a RADIUS Server RADIUS RADIUS is part of 802 11i security this is a wireless standard which is only concerned with wireless security standards Authentication is based around a secure server with a challenge and response method of interaction which verifies the identity of the client wishing to connect to the network If you wish to connect to a RADIUS s...

Page 7: ...reless installation is not covered by warranty Static Electricity Computers are very sensitive to static electricity which may be discharged by the user when the internal circuitry is touched Ensure that you have discharged any static prior to touching the computer s PCI slots and to removing the NetComm NP642 from its static bag by touching an earthed object first This can be the computer s Power ...

Page 8: ...ss PCI Card Package Contents Open the box of the Wireless PCI Card and carefully unpack it The box should contain the following items One 108Mbps 802 11g Wireless PCI Card with removable antenna One Installation CD including Utility Software and User Guide If any item is found missing or damaged please contact your local reseller for replacement ...

Page 9: ...Indicator Description Power PWR The PWR indicator lights green to indicate that it is receiving power from the PCI slot If the PWR indicator light is off it is not receiving power ACT Activity The ACT indicator blinks green while the Wireless PCI Card is transmitting data ...

Page 10: ...s Master Expansion slot Press the card firmly into the connector so that the card s contacts are fully seated in the PCI slot connector 3 Install the bracket screw and secure the card to the computer chassis 4 Replace the computer s cover 5 Switch the computer power on Windows will display a Found New Hardware dialog box Click Cancel to dismiss and proceed with installation of the driver from the C...

Page 11: ... Place the screw retaining nut over the antenna connection on the rear of the NB642 and turn it clockwise Note Do not over tighten the attaching nut but do make sure that you have screwed it all the way to its end 2 Adjust the antenna to a 90o angle Note Please note that you may have to rotate the complete antenna assembly to do this and have the antenna pointing vertically Screw retaining nut clo...

Page 12: ...pe D Utility Setup exe in the dialog box where D is the letter of your CD ROM drive and click OK 2 If you need to install the driver manually refer your Windows Operating System OS to the following CD Rom directory path D Driver Windows OS net5211 inf where D is the letter of your CD ROM drive 3 The Install Shield Wizard screen will appear Click Next to continue 4 The installation program will hel...

Page 13: ...3 YML785 Rev1 Icon Description If the Icon is completely Green you have excellent coverage and performance If the icon is yellow the signal strength has a fair coverage and performance If the icon has no colour signal strength is poor ...

Page 14: ... following window is displayed after launching the Utility program Field Description Status Shows the BSSID or Mac address of the adaptor which can be used to identify it on the wireless network SSID Shows current SSID which must be the same for the all wireless devices in order for communication to be established Frequency Shows the current frequency used for the wireless network ...

Page 15: ...te used for transmitting Channel Shows the current communication channel Link Quality Shows the link quality of the NP642 Wireless PCI card with the Access Point when operating under Infrastructure mode Signal Strength Shows the strength of the wireless signal between the NP642 Wireless PCI card and the Access Point Data Rate Shows the statistics of the data transfer rate The calculation is based ...

Page 16: ...d among all clients and nodes in a wireless network The SSID must be identical for each client and node in the wireless network Give your network a name which you will remember but which does not obviously identify it to the outside world Wireless Mode There are two types available for selection Infrastructure to establish wireless communication with the LAN and other wireless clients through the ...

Page 17: ...pment to verify details Channel The channel value that the PCI card will operate in Australian Users should select the Channel Range 1 13 and all stations on the WLAN need to be on the same channel if they are to communicate Tx Rate Select the data rate for data transmission Power Mode There are 3 modes to choose from Continuous Access Mode default the PCI card is constantly operating with full po...

Page 18: ...rwise by your Network Administrator Support Band There are three functions for you to select including 11B 11G and eXtended Range The default setting is 11B 11G and eXtended Range enabled which is interoperable with both 11B and 11G devices and provides a connectivity range of 500m Note You must select at least 11B or 11G to support your wireless connection ...

Page 19: ...our options available Disable WEP Enable WEP WPA and WPA PSK The default setting is set to Disable Enable and Disable refer to WEP data encryption feature If Enable is selected you will be required to select the Authentication mode from the drop down list If WPA is selected configuration is enabled Select the configuration button You will then be prompted with the following pop up window ...

Page 20: ...in name this refers to RADIUS Server technology which is generally not in use in the home environment check with your Network Administrator if you are required to enter this in order to log on to a secure network If WPA PSK is selected click the configuration button You will then be prompted with the following pop up window ...

Page 21: ... and asks the other party to accept it The key is regenerated when the connection is established every time Shared Authentication the sender and receiver shares the common key for data communication and the key is used for extended length of time Auto requires communication to be established and automatically use the proper authentication mode The following will only be activated to allow for confi...

Page 22: ...ccess points and establishes a wireless communication with one Field Description Available Network Displays the wireless networks wireless clients and Access Points that are in your signal range Select any one of them to establish communications by simply double clicking or by clicking on the Connect button Click the Refresh button to start scanning for available networks again ...

Page 23: ...ted profiles The settings will adapt to the configuration such as SSID channel and WEP settings saved by that particular profile Remove To remove the selected profile Properties To view and change settings Add To add a profile You will be prompted with the following popup screen You can enter the necessary information required for accessing Access Points or Wireless Router ...

Page 24: ...V About This page displays some information about the NP642 Wireless PCI Card It contains the Driver Utility Version as well as the MAC address This feature is useful when you need to identify utility and driver versions as updates become available ...

Page 25: ...or WEP key It represents English letters as numbers from 0 to 127 Authentication Type Indication of an authentication algorithm which can be supported by the Access Point 1 Open System Open System authentication is the simplest of the available authentication algorithms Essentially it is a null authentication algorithm Any station that requests authentication with this algorithm may become authent...

Page 26: ...nction that incorporates the lowest 2 layers of the OSI network protocol model Browser An application program that enables one to read the content and interact in the World Wide Web or Intranet BSS BSS stands for Basic Service Set It is an Access Point and all the LAN PCs that associated with it Channel The bandwidth which wireless Radio operates is divided into several segments which we call them...

Page 27: ... in a TCP IP based infrastructure network Without DHCP each computer must be entered in manually the IP address DHCP enables the network administrators to assign the IP from a central location and each computer receives an IP address upon plugged with the Ethernet cable everywhere on the network DSSS Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum DSSS generates a redundant bit pattern for each bit to be transmit...

Page 28: ...te using a shielded coaxial cable or over shielded twisted pair telephone wire Fragmentation When transmitting a packet over a network medium sometimes the packet is broken into several segments if the size of packet exceeds that allowed by the network medium Fragmentation Threshold The Fragmentation Threshold defines the number of bytes used for the fragmentation boundary for directed messages The...

Page 29: ...nects them to the rest of the network ISM Band he FCC and their counterparts outside of the U S have set aside bandwidth for unlicensed use in the ISM Industrial Scientific and Medical band Spectrum in the vicinity of 2 4GHz in particular is being made available worldwide MAC Address Media Access Control Address is a unique hex number assigned by the manufacturer to any Ethernet networking device s...

Page 30: ...andard meaning that stations using Short Preamble cannot communicate with stations implementing the original version of the protocol PSDU PLCP service data unit Roaming A LAN mobile user moves around an ESS and enjoys a continuous connection to an Infrastructure network RTS Request To Send An RS 232 signal sent from the transmitting station to the receiving station requesting permission to transmi...

Page 31: ...irect access to the Internet your computer is provided with a copy of the TCP IP program just as every other computer that you may send messages to or get information from also has a copy of TCP IP Throughput The amount of data transferred successfully from one point to another in a given period of time WEP Wired Equivalent Privacy WEP is an encryption scheme used to protect wireless data communic...

Page 32: ... au Fax 612 9424 2010 Web www netcomm com au Copyright Information This manual is copyright Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study research criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act no part may be reproduced stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means be it electronic mechanical recording or otherwise without the prior written permissi...

Page 33: ...arantee that interference will not occur with the installation of this product in your home or office If this equipment does cause some degree of interference to radio or television reception which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on we encourage the user to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures Change the direction or relocate the receiving ante...

Page 34: ...electricity outages lightning power surges or shortages of materials or labour 6 The customer is responsible for the security of their computer and network at all times Security features may be disabled within the factory default settings NetComm recommends that you enable these features to enhance your security The warranty is automatically voided if 1 You or someone else use the product or attem...

Page 35: ...hich cannot be excluded This warranty is in addition to and not in replacement for such conditions and warranties To the extent permitted by the Relevant Acts in relation to your product and any other materials provided with the product the Goods the liability of NetComm under the Relevant Acts is limited at the option of NetComm to Replacement of the Goods or Repair of the Goods or Payment of the...

Page 36: ......