ZyXEL Communications ZyXEL ZyAIR B-220, User Manual

Page 1: ...ZyAIR Wireless LAN Utility User s Guide Version 2 00 September 2003 ...

Page 2: ...f ZyXEL Communications Corporation Published by ZyXEL Communications Corporation All rights reserved Disclaimer ZyXEL does not assume any liability arising out of the application or use of any products or software described herein Neither does it convey any license under its patent rights nor the patents rights of others ZyXEL further reserves the right to make changes in any products described he...

Page 3: ...g conditions NOTE Repair or replacement as provided under this warranty is the exclusive remedy of the purchaser This warranty is in lieu of all other warranties express or implied including any implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular use or purpose ZyXEL shall in no event be held liable for indirect or consequential damages of any kind of character to the purchaser To obta...

Page 4: ...compliance with the above conditions may not prevent degradation of service in some situations Repairs to certified equipment should be made by an authorized Canadian maintenance facility designated by the supplier Any repairs or alterations made by the user to this equipment or equipment malfunctions may give the telecommunications company cause to request the user to disconnect the equipment For...

Page 5: ...ul interference to radio communications If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio 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 1 Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna 2 Increase the separation between the equipment and the receiver 3 Connect t...

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Page 9: ...ing the ZyAIR Utility 3 1 3 2 Viewing Current Configuration 3 1 3 2 1 Common Screen Command Buttons 3 3 3 3 The About Screen 3 3 3 4 Wireless LAN Parameters 3 4 3 4 1 SSID 3 5 3 4 2 Channel 3 5 3 4 3 Transmission Rate Tx Rate 3 5 3 5 Wireless Network Type 3 5 3 5 1 Ad Hoc IBSS 3 5 3 5 2 Infrastructure 3 6 3 6 Roaming 3 7 3 7 The Site Survey Screen 3 8 3 7 1 Connecting to a Network 3 10 3 8 Configu...

Page 10: ... 1 2 Authentication Mode 5 2 5 1 3 Preamble Type 5 2 5 2 The Advanced Screen 5 3 Chapter 6 Removing and Upgrading the ZyAIR Utility 6 1 6 1 Removing the ZyAIR Utility 6 1 6 2 Upgrading the ZyAIR Utility 6 1 Chapter 7 Troubleshooting 7 1 7 1 Problems Starting the ZyAIR Utility Program 7 1 7 2 Problems Communicating With Other Computers 7 2 7 3 Problem with the Link Status 7 2 Index A ...

Page 11: ...Wireless Network Connection Properties 2 3 Figure 3 1 ZyAIR Utility System Tray Icon 3 1 Figure 3 2 ZyAIR Utility Link Info 3 2 Figure 3 3 ZyAIR Utility About 3 4 Figure 3 4 Ad hoc Network Example 3 6 Figure 3 5 BSS Example 3 6 Figure 3 6 Infrastructure Network Example 3 7 Figure 3 7 Roaming Example 3 8 Figure 3 8 ZyAIR Utility Site Survey 3 9 Figure 3 9 Site Survey Warning 3 10 Figure 3 10 ZyAIR ...

Page 12: ...IR Utility About 3 4 Table 3 5 ZyAIR Utility Site Survey 3 9 Table 3 6 Color Indicator for Link Quality Link Strength 3 10 Table 3 7 ZyAIR Utility Configuration 3 11 Table 4 1 ZyAIR Utility WEP Encryption 4 2 Table 5 1 ZyAIR Utility Advanced 5 4 Table 7 1 Troubleshooting Starting ZyAIR Utility Program 7 1 Table 7 2 Troubleshooting Communication Problems 7 2 Table 7 3 Troubleshooting Link Quality 7...

Page 13: ...e in Bold Arial font The ZyXEL ZyAIR wireless adaptor is referred to as the ZyAIR in this guide The ZyAIR Wireless LAN Utility may be referred to as the ZyAIR Utility in this guide Related Documentation Support Disk Refer to the included CD for support documents and device drivers Quick Installation Guide Our Quick Installation Guide is designed to help you get your ZyAIR up and running right away...

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Page 15: ...ile on a handheld or notebook computer upon entering a patient s room It allows flexible workgroups a lower total cost of ownership for networks that are frequently reconfigured Conference room users can access the network as they move from meeting to meeting accessing up to date information that facilitates the ability to communicate decisions on the fly It provides campus wide networking coverag...

Page 16: ...s clients wish to access and share resources on the wired network they should use infrastructure mode Wireless clients may move from one coverage area to another seamlessly without network interruption This is called roaming The figure below depicts an infrastructure network example Figure 1 2 Infrastructure Application Example ...

Page 17: ...mended you use the ZyAIR Utility to configure the ZyAIR Follow the steps below to disable the configuration tool in Windows XP after you install the ZyAIR Utility Step 1 Double click on the network icon for wireless connection in the system tray If the icon is not present proceed to Step 2 Otherwise skip to Step 5 Figure 2 1 Windows XP System Tray Icon Step 2 If the icon for the wireless network c...

Page 18: ...less network connection to display a status window as shown next Figure 2 2 Windows XP Wireless Network Connection Status Step 4 Click Properties and click the Wireless Networks tab Then skip to Step 6 Step 5 When a Connect to Wireless Network window displays click Advanced Figure 2 3 Windows XP Connect to Wireless Network ...

Page 19: ...ss LAN Configuration Tool 2 3 Step 6 In the Wireless Network Connection Properties window make sure the Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings check box is not selected Click OK Figure 2 4 Windows XP Wireless Network Connection Properties ...

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Page 21: ...pears in the system tray When the ZyAIR Utility system tray icon displays the ZyAIR is installed properly Figure 3 1 ZyAIR Utility System Tray Icon The color of the ZyAIR Utility system tray icon indicates the status of the ZyAIR Refer to the following table for details Table 3 1 ZyAIR Utility System Tray Icon COLOR DESCRIPTION Red The ZyAIR is working properly but is not connected to any AP or wi...

Page 22: ...eless card from the drop down list menu if you have more than one wireless cards in your computer Re Connect Click Re Connect to re establish connection to the wireless device whose SSID is shown in the Current Service Set Identifier field Current Channel This field displays the radio channel the ZyAIR is currently using Current Transfer Rate This field displays the current transmission rate of th...

Page 23: ...atus bar and the percentage number or a number in dBm show the strength of the signal Percent dBm Click this button to display either percentages in the Link Quality and Link Strength fields or a number in dBm in the Link Strength field 3 2 1 Common Screen Command Buttons The following table describes common command buttons on all ZyAIR Utility screens Table 3 3 Common Screen Command Buttons BUTTO...

Page 24: ...About FIELD DESCRIPTION Driver Version This field displays the version number of the ZyAIR wireless card driver Utility Version This field displays the version number of the ZyAIR Utility Firmware Version This field displays the version of the firmware on which the driver and the utility are based 3 4 Wireless LAN Parameters This section describes each wireless LAN parameter ...

Page 25: ...ission data rate again until it reaches the highest available transmission rate If you wish to balance speed versus reliability you can select any of the above options 11M bit sec or 5 5M bit sec is used in a networking environment where you are certain that all wireless devices can communicate at the highest transmission data rate 1M bit sec or 2M bit sec are used often in networking environments...

Page 26: ...eless clients are connected using a single AP you have a Basic Service Set BSS Figure 3 5 BSS Example A series of overlapping BSS and a network medium such as an Ethernet forms an Extended Service Set ESS or infrastructure network All communication is done through the AP which relays data packets to other wireless clients or devices connected to the wired network Wireless clients can then access r...

Page 27: ...nt maintains uninterrupted connection to the network This is roaming As the wireless client moves from place to place it is responsible for choosing the most appropriate AP depending on the signal strength network utilization or other factors The following figure depicts a roaming example When Wireless Client B moves to position X the ZyAIR in Wireless Client B automatically switches the channel t...

Page 28: ...ZyAIR Wireless LAN Utility 3 8 Using the ZyAIR Utility Figure 3 7 Roaming Example 3 7 The Site Survey Screen Use the Site Survey screen to scan for and connect to a wireless network automatically ...

Page 29: ...he SSID or name of each wireless device BSSID This field displays the MAC address of the wireless device Channel This field displays the channel number used by each wireless device Signal This field displays the signal strength of each wireless device WEP This field shows whether the WEP data encryption is activated Enable or inactive Disable Search Click Search to scan for available wireless devi...

Page 30: ...n for all available wireless networks within range Step 2 To join a network either click an entry in the table to select a wireless network and then click Connect or double click an entry Step 3 If the WEP field is Enable for the selected wireless network the following screen displays Figure 3 9 Site Survey Warning Step 4 Click OK to display the Security screen and refer to Section 4 2 to set up W...

Page 31: ...ated parameters Refer to the next section for Profile field descriptions Table 3 7 ZyAIR Utility Configuration FIELD DESCRIPTION Configuration Operating Mode Select Infrastructure BSS or Ad Hoc IBSS from the drop down list box Select Infrastructure BSS to associate to an AP Select Ad Hoc IBSS to associate to a peer ad hoc computer Refer to Section 3 5 for more information ...

Page 32: ...o go to sleep mode when it is not transmitting data When you select Disable the ZyAIR will never go to sleep mode Restore Default Click Restore Default to reset all fields back to factory default values Undo Changes Click Undo Changes to start configuring the fields again Apply Changes Click Apply Changes to save the changes back to ZyAIR 3 9 Network Configuration Profile Setting The Profile in th...

Page 33: ...configured Profile To use a previously saved network profile select the profile file name from the drop down list box and click Activate 3 9 4 Deleting a Profile To delete an existing wireless network configuration select a profile from the drop down list box and click Remove ...

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Page 35: ...ork is accessible to any wireless networking device that is in the coverage area 4 2 Data Encryption with WEP WEP Wired Equivalent Privacy encryption scrambles the data transmitted between the ZyAIR and the AP or other wireless stations to keep network communications private It encrypts unicast and multicast communications in a network Both the wireless clients and the access points must use the s...

Page 36: ...lect either 64 Bit or 128 Bit from the drop down list box to activate WEP encryption and then fill in the related fields Select Disable to deactivate the WEP data encryption WEP Key Entry The WEP keys are used to encrypt data before it is transmitted The values for the keys must be set up exactly the same on the APs or other peer ad hoc wireless computers as they are on the ZyAIR Key Type Select e...

Page 37: ... ranging from a z A Z and 0 9 e g MyKey for ASCII key type If you select 128 Bit in the Key Type field Enter either 26 hexadecimal digits in the range of A F a f and 0 9 for example 00112233445566778899AABBCC for HEX key type or Enter 13 7 bit printable ASCII characters case sensitive ranging from a z A Z and 0 9 for example MyKey12345678 for ASCII key type You must configure all four WEP keys the...

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Page 39: ...a smaller threshold for busy networks or networks that are prone to interference If the Fragmentation Threshold value is smaller than the RTS CTS Threshold value see previously you set then the RTS Request To Send CTS Clear to Send handshake will never occur as data frames will be fragmented before they reach RTS CTS Threshold size RTS CTS Threshold A hidden node occurs when two stations are withi...

Page 40: ... overhead involved in the RTS Request To Send CTS Clear to Send handshake If the RTS CTS Threshold value is greater than the Fragmentation Threshold value see next then the RTS Request To Send CTS Clear to Send handshake will never occur as data frames will be fragmented before they reach RTS CTS Threshold size Enabling the RTS Threshold causes redundant network overhead that could negatively affe...

Page 41: ...y minimize overhead and maximize network throughput However short preamble mode is supported by IEEE 802 11b compliant wireless devices thus wireless stations using short preamble mode cannot communicate with wireless stations using the original IEEE 802 11 standard 5 2 The Advanced Screen To set the advanced features on the ZyAIR click the Advanced tab Figure 5 2 ZyAIR Utility Advanced The follow...

Page 42: ...t size turns off the RTS CTS handshake Setting this attribute to zero turns on the RTS CTS handshake Move the slider to set the RTS CTS threshold Security Shared Mode Authenticate Access Point Select this checkbox to use a shared key to authenticate the access point Refer to Section 5 1 2 for more information Preamble Type Select a preamble type from the drop down list menu Choices are Long Preamb...

Page 43: ...computer click Yes and then click Finish 6 2 Upgrading the ZyAIR Utility Before you uninstall the ZyAIR Utility save the current network configuration To perform the upgrade follow the steps below Step 1 Download the latest version of the utility from the ZyXEL web site and save the file on your computer Step 2 Follow the steps in the Removing the ZyAIR Utility section to remove the current ZyAIR ...

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Page 45: ...k for possible hardware conflicts Click Start Settings Control Panel System Hardware and Device Manager Verify the status of the ZyAIR under Network Adapter Steps may vary depending on the version of Windows Install the ZyAIR in another computer Cannot start the ZyAIR Wireless LAN Utility If the error persists you may have a hardware problem In this case you should contact your local vendor The Zy...

Page 46: ... and the peer computer s are using the same SS ID and channel Make sure that the computer and the peer computer s share the same security option and key Change the wireless clients to use another radio channel if interference is high 7 3 Problem with the Link Status Table 7 3 Troubleshooting Link Quality PROBLEM CORRECTIVE ACTION The Link Quality is poor all the time Move your computer closer to t...

Page 47: ...CTION The Site Survey screen displays all entries in red Move your computer closer to the AP or peer computer s within the transmission range There is too much radio interference for example microwave or another AP using the same channel around your wireless network Relocate or reduce the radio interference ...

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Page 49: ... a Network 3 10 Copyright ii Disclaimer ii Trademarks ii CTS Clear to Send 5 2 Customer Support vii D Data encryption 4 1 Disable Windows XP Wireless Support 2 1 E ESS 3 6 Extended Service Set See ESS F Federal Communications Commission FCC Interference Statement v Fragmentation Threshold 5 1 H Hidden node 5 1 I IBSS 3 5 Independent Basic Service Set See IBSS Information for Canadian Users iv Caut...

Page 50: ...ubleshooting 7 1 Checking Hardware Conflict 7 1 Communication problems 7 2 Radio interference 7 2 7 3 Starting ZyAIR Utility 7 1 Survery 7 3 U Using the ZyAIR Utility 3 1 Note 3 1 V Viewing Current Configuration 3 1 W Warranty iii Note iii WEP 4 1 WEP Data Encryption Configuring 4 1 Field Descriptions 4 2 WEP Data Encryption with 4 1 WEP Key 4 2 Type 4 2 Windows XP Requirement 2 1 Wired Equivalent...

Page 51: ...ZyAIR Wireless LAN Utility Index C Removing 6 1 Site Survey 3 9 Upgrading 6 1 WEP Encryption 4 2 ...