Acer ALH-616ds User manual

Dual-Speed Ethernet Hub
User's Guide
ALH-616ds
AcerHub

Quick Installation Guide
1. Unpack the AcerHub ALH-616ds dual-speed Hub and it'saccessories
(refer section 1.3).
2. Connect the Hub to the external Power supply (refer to section 2.4.1)
3. Use the normal ports to connect to PCs and computers.
4. Use the uplink port to connect to another hub or LAN switch.

Congratulations on your purchase of theAcerHub 616ds. TheAcerHubALH-
616ds is a 16-port dual-speed fast Ethernet repeater hub for connection with
multiple PCs to a workgroup LAN (Local Area Network) environment to
sharenetwork resources.
1.1 Product goal
AcerHub ALH-616ds provides high-speed and easy access to the LAN and
Intranet both for SOHO (Small Office/ Home Office) and corporations. Itallows
data transmission at speeds of 10 Mbps or 100Mbps, depending if theconnected
device is running at 10Mbps or 100Mbps. Besides the high-speed data
access, the AcerHub ALH-616ds also supports one uplink port for Class-II
cascading connection between hub stacks. The uplink port will support the
bridge function that permits a distance of 100 meters for data transmission
in Class-II cascading and eliminates the repeater count limitation in IEEE
802.3u specifications. It will be easy to construct your own LAN with ALH-
616ds by this explicit expanding capability of data transmitting distances and
user accounts.
Installation of AcerHub ALH-616ds is relatively simple and all you have to
dois plug the cables from the adapter cards to the ports, check the LEDs
and you can start networking.
1.2 Product Features
AcerHub ALH-616ds provides the following features:
• 16-port dual-speed hub, each port is a 10/100 Mbps dual-speed connection
with network speed auto-detection
• Fully complies with IEEE 802.3 and 802.3u specifications
• Built-in switching function to connect 10 and 100Mbps network domains
• Stackable function to provide maximum stacking of 5 sets as a single hub
count by SCSI-II cables
• In slave hub mode, an uplink port with bridge function which provides
scalable network expansion.(This function is very useful in constructing a
1.Overview
1-1

large network,refer section 3.1 for details.)
• Built-in switch auto-disable function to avoid data looping when stacking
• External switching power supply for lower power consumption and heat
emission
• Compact design for SOHO desktop environment for easy networking
1.3 Product configuration
The product configuration inside the package is shown in the figure 1-1.Please
check the contents of the package if there is any missing part beforeusing
the hub. The accessories of this product include:
ALH-616ds dual-speed hub 1 piece
External switching power adapter 1 piece
Power cord 1 piece
Stacking cable (SCSI-II) 1 piece
Stacking kit 1 pairUser's manual 1 piece
Figure 1-1Product configuration of AcerHub ALH-616ds
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ALH-616ds

This chapter will guide you through how to install the AcerHub ALH-616ds.
It includes procedures for connecting to the external power supply, installing
the hub on your working surface, connecting the Hub to your computer, and
guidelines to see if it works well. Before setting up your hub, please take
note of the front and rear panel of this hub, as shown in Figure 2-Aand 2-
B.
Figure 2-A Front Panel
Note:The ports marked "I",", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7","8"
"9",", "10", "11", "12", "13", "14", "15","16"are normal ports. Figure 2-B Rear Panel
Please follow the installing procedures to make your network ready:
2.1 Connecting to the external power supply
Carefully unpack the AcerHub ALH-616ds and it's accessories. For the first
time that you use this hub, please make sure there is nothing missing in the
package. The procedures for connecting to the power outlet are:
2.1.1 Take out the hub and the power adapter from the packing box, as shown
in Figure 2-1.
2.Make Your Hub Ready
2-1

Figure 2-1 Get the hub and power adapter
2.1.2 Place the hub on the desktop and remove the packing box of the power
adapter, as shown in Figure 2-2.
Figure 2-2 Put the hub on desktop and find the proper power adapter
2-2

2.1.3 Verify it's a 5V,3A power adapter by looking at the indicating label. If
the adapter is correct, please stretch the cable and plug the cord into the
power jack of the hub, as shown in Figure 2-3.
AcerSOHO
Series
Figure 2-3 Connect to the power adapter
2.1.4 Once the hub is connected to the power adapter, please connect the
power adapter to a power cord, as shown in Figure 2-4.
Figure 2-4 Connect to the power cord to wall outlet
2-3

2.1.5 Plug the power cord into the outlet on the wall and check if the power
LED lights up. If it lights up, then the hub is ready to be connected to the
network, as shown in Figure 2-5.
Figure 2-5 Power on the hub and make it ready
2.2 Installing the hub on your working surface
You have to find a solid working surface to place the hub and make sure the
equipment is not close to any high voltage power source or over-heated
sources. Also keep away from electronic equipment sensitive to electronic
interference. The brief procedures of installing your hub should be:
2.2.1 Put the hub on a stable working surface, as shown in Figure 2-6.
2-4

Figure 2-6 Lay hub on stable desktop
2.2.2 If you are installing more than one hub, please turn off the power of
all hubs first. Then you can get another hub and place it above the previous
one on the working surface, as shown in Figure 2-7. Finally, put the stacking
kit inthe middle of two sides and click into the stacking hole in the plastic
housing.Check if all hubs are tightly fastened by the stacking kits and proceed
to next step.
Figure 2-7 Unplug the power,and stack two hubs together
AcerSOHO
Series
AcerSOHO
Series
2-5

2.2.3 Get the stackable cable and connect the cable to the stacking
connectoron the hub, as shown inFigure 2-8. Connect "Down" SCSI port of
the upperhub to "Up" SCSI port of the lower hub. Any loose connection of
the stackablecable will cause problems with network performance and quality.
Figure 2-8 Connect hubs by stacking cable
2.2.4 If you are trying to add more hubs in your office, you can follow the
procedures from 2.2.2 to 2.2.3 repeatedly. Be sure not to stack hubs more
than 5 (include 5) sets in one stack.
2.2.5 Plug the power cord into the outlet on wall and check if the power LED
lights up. The hub is ready for network connection if the power LED lights
up,as shown in Figure 2-9.
2-6

Figure 2-9 Stack multiple hubs together
2.3 Connecting to computers
2.3.1 Make sure the hub is ready for networking by checking if the PWR
indicator displays.
2.3.2 See if the computer is working and find the RJ-45 connector of the
adapter card in computers. You can connect UTP (Unshielded Twistered
Pair) cables from normal ports of the hub to computers directly, as shown
in Figure 2-10.
Figure 2-10 Connect to computers
2-7

2.3.3 Arrange the route for cabling if no fixed cabling box is provided.
Otherwise, It's right way to connect from your computer to the fixed cabling
box on your working surface and plug the other end of the cable to the RJ-
45 connector on the hub, as shown in Figure 2-11.
Figure 2-11 Connect UTP cable from hub to computers
2.3.4 After connecting to the hub, please check if the Link LEDs on the
adapter card and the hub(named as LNK/ACT) are lit up, as shown in Figure
2-12. If the LED is not lit up, there must be something wrong and please
reference to chapter 4 for quick trouble shooting.
2-8

Figure 2-12 Check the Link LEDs both on hub and adapter card
2.4 Does the hub work well?
You can observe the LED status to see if the hub works fine. The meanings
of LEDs are defined in section 2.4.1.
2.4.1 LED overview
The locations of LED indicators are shown in Figure 2-13.
Figure 2-13 LED overview
ACT
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ALH-616ds

There are three groups of LED indicators in the front panel:
• System status indicators: Indicate the overall system status of the hub.
It includes system PWR, Fan Err., Master, Slave indicators, Collision of
10 and 100M, and Bridge function
• Network status indicators: Indicate working status of each connection port,
It includes port 100/10M, LNK/ACT
• Network utilization indicators: Indicate the bandwidth utilization of 10 and
100Mbps. It includes 5, 15, 25, 35, 55+ scales indicators
2.4.2 System status indicators
Figure 2-14 System Status Indicators
Master/Slave: Indicates if the system is stacked to be the Master or Slave
hub.
PWR: Indicates if the system is provided with power.
FAN Err.: Indicates if the cooling FAN is dead.
Color On/Off Indication
Green On System Powered
Off No Power
Color On/Off Indication
Orange On FAN is dead
Off Normal
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2.4.3 Network Status Indicators
There are 3 LED indicators to indicate the network status of each connection
port.
Note: It's normal either Master or Slave LED will display when hubs
are stacking.
Note:The difference between Master hub and Slave hub will be
explained in chapter 3.
Collision: Indicate if a collision occurs in 10Mbps or 100Mbps domain.
Bridge: Indicates if the bridging function is enabled.
Color On/Off Indication
Green On Bridge function enabled
Off Bridge function disabled
Color On/Off Indication
10 Collision Orange Blink Collision in 10Mbps domain
Off Normal
100 Collision Orange Blink Collision in 100Mbps domain
Off Normal
Color On/Off Indication
Master Green On Master
Off Malfunction
Slave Green On Disable
Off Malfunction
Note: The slave hub will provide a Bridge Uplink Port, see chapter 3 for
details
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64 8
Figure 2-15 Network Status Indicators
100/10: Indicates if the port is working at 100Mbps or 10Mbps.
Color On/Off Indication
Green On 100Mbps
Off 10Mbps
LNK/ACT: Indicates if the port is linked to another port or receiving data.
Color On/Off Indication
Green On Link succeeds
Blink Receiving
Off Link fails
2.4.4 Network utilization indicators
There are 2 sets of LED indicators to indicate the real-time network utilization
of 10Mbps and 100Mbps domain.
Figure 2-15 Network Status Indicators
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