Asus WL-160W User manual

Index
1. English............................................................................1
2. Deutsch ........................................................................22
3. Français........................................................................43
4. Italiano .........................................................................64
5. Español.........................................................................85
6. 
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Quick Start Guide
Wireless Local Area Network Adapter
WL-160W
(For 802.11n draft, 802.11g & 802.11b Networks)
®
QE2920/ Nov. 2006

2 ASUS WLAN Adapter
Quick Start Guide
English
Installation Procedures
Important: Install the WLAN Adapter utilities before inserting the WLAN
Adapter into your computer.
Installing the WLAN utilities and driver
Follow these instructions to install the
WLAN Adapter utilities and driver. Insert
the support CD into your optical drive.
If autorun is enabled in your computer,
the CD automatically displays the utilitymatically displays the utility
menu. Click Install ASUS WLAN Card
Utilities/Driver. If autorun is disabled,
double-click SETUP.EXE in the root
directory of the CD.
Insert the WLAN Adapter into your computer
’s USB port using the correct orientation.
Windows will automatically detect and
configure the WLAN Adapter using the
utilities and drivers installed in the previous
steps.
Windows XP users: When the program is
launched for the rst time (during Windows
restart), you are asked to choose one utility
to congure the WLAN Adapter. Select "Only
use our WLAN utilities and disable Windows
wireless function".
Reading the WLAN status indicators
The device comes with two LEDs that indicate the status of the WLAN
Adapter.
ACT LED
Blinking: Transmitting data; the blinking
speed indicates the link speed.
OFF: Radio off or Adapter is disabled.
LINK LED
ON: Connected to wireless device.
OFF: No wireless connection.
LINK
ACT

ASUS WLAN Adapter 3
Quick Start Guide
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One Touch Wizard
Use One Touch Wizard to setup your wireless connection with an existing
wireless LAN.
1. Launch One Touch Wizard from Start
menu and click Next to set up your
wireless network.
2. Select an AP from the Available Networks
then click Next.
3. Connection is complete. Click Next
to setup the IP address for the WLAN
Adapter.
4. Choose to obtain an IP address or to
assign static address manually for your
WLAN Ad a pter. When IP s e tting is
complete, click Finish to exit the One
Touch Wizard.
Note: If the access point you want to connect has set up encryption
policies, you must congure the same encryption on your WLAN Adapter.
Select "Configure your wireless LAN settings" radio button in step 2
and make the settings accordingly. When the encryption settings are
complete, you can launch the One Touch Wizard once again from the Start
menu to set up the connection with your AP.
We suggest WL-160W work with WL-500W Super Speed N wireless router
for maximum performance. Make sure the router rmware is the updated.
Check ASUS website for router latest updated rmware.

4 ASUS WLAN Adapter
Quick Start Guide
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Conguring with the WLAN utility (Infrastructure)
Use ASUS WLAN utility to get connected with an existing wireless network.
6. Check the Connection tab to see the
signal strength. Click OK to exit the utility.
5. Check the Status page to see the
association state. If connection is
established, the box shows “Connected -
xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx”.
3. Use Site Survey if you don’t know the
SSID of your access point(s).
4. Encryption settings must match those
at the access point. Ask your network
administrator about settings if necessary.
Click Apply to activate the settings.
1. Right-click the wireless connection icon
and select Wireless Settings.
2. Check the Config page to set the SSID
(network name) to that of your wireless AP.

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Conguring with the WLAN utility (Ad Hoc)
The WLAN adapter supports Ad Hoc mode which allows communication
between wireless stations without an AP.
2. Click the Config button and set the
WLAN Card to Ad Hoc connection mode.
3. Click the Survey button to scan for Ad
Hoc nodes. Select the node you want to
communicate with and press Connect.
4. If the encryption settings of your WLAN
Adapter are different from those of the
other Ad Hoc nodes, you are prompted
to make the encryption of the two nodes
identical. Click Apply to activate the
settings.
1. Right-click the wireless connection icon
and select Wireless Settings.
5. Check the Status page to see the association
state. If connection is established, the box
shows “Connected - xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx”.
6. Check the Connection tab to see the
signal strength. Click OK to exit the utility.

6 ASUS WLAN Adapter
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Using the Control Center
The Control Center taskbar icon displays the following information:
• Link quality of the WLAN Adapter (Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor, Not
Linked)
• Whether the WLAN Adapter is connected to a network (Blue:
Connected, Gray: Not Connected)
Taskbar Icon and Status
Wireless Status Icons (on the taskbar)
Excellent link quality and connected to Internet (Infrastructure)
Good link quality and connected to Internet (Infrastructure)
Fair link quality and connected 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)
Not linked and not connected to Internet (Infrastructure)
ASUS WLAN Control Center
ASUS WLAN Control Center is an application which makes it easier to launch
WLAN applications and activate network location settings. The WLAN Control
Center starts automatically when system boots. When WLAN Control Center is
running, you can see a Control Center icon on the Windows taskbar.
Starting the Control Center
• Select ASUS WLAN Control Center in Windows Start
menu, or
• Double-click the ASUS WLAN Control Center icon on the desktop.

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Taskbar icon - Left-click menu
Left-click the taskbar icon to show the
following menu items:
• Wireless Radio On – Click to turn
the wireless radio ON.
• Wireless Radio Off – Click to turn
the wireless radio OFF.
• Search & Connect – Click to view
the properties of available access points.
• Wireless Option (Windows®XP only) – Click to choose Windows
® Wireless Zero Configuration (WZC) service or ASUS utilities to
congure your WLAN Adapter.
Taskbar Icon - Launch Wireless Settings
Double-click the taskbar icon to launch the Wireless Settings utility. to launch the Wireless Settings utility.
Taskbar icon - Right-click menu
Right-click the taskbar icon to show the following menu items:
• Wireless Settings – Click to launch Wireless Settings application.
• Activate Conguration – Click to choose a preset prole.
• Mobile Manager – Click to launch Mobile Manager application.
• Site Monitor – Click to to launch the Site Monitor application.
• Preferences – Click to customize the Control Center program. You can
create a Control Center shortcut on the desktop and decide whether to
start Control Center when system boots.
• About Control Center-Shows the version of Control Center.
• Exit – Click to close the Control Center program.
Taskbar Left-Click Menu

8 ASUS WLAN Adapter
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Status - Status
You can view the information about the
WLAN Adapter from the Status menu.
The status fields are blank if the WLAN
Adapter is not installed. You can turn
off the WLAN Adapter by clicking the
“Disable Radio” button.
Association State
Displays the connection status as follows:
Connected - The adapter is now associated with one wireless LAN device.
When operating in Infrastructure mode, this field shows the MAC address
of the access point with which the WLAN Adapter is communicating. When
operating in Ad Hoc mode, this eld shows the virtual MAC address used by
computers participating in the Ad Hoc network.
ASUS Wireless Settings Utility
Wireless Settings is an application for managing the WLAN Adapter. Use Wireless
Settings to view or modify the conguration settings, or to monitor the operational
status of your WLAN Adapter. When Wireless Settings is launched, you can
see the tabbed property sheets which categorize the conguration options into
groups.
Starting Wireless Settings
• Open the Windows Control Panel, then double-click the ASUS WLAN
Adapter Settings icon.
or
• Click the Windows Start button, select Programs | ASUS Utility |
WLAN Adapter | Wireless Settings.
or
• Right-click the Control Center icon on the Windows taskbar and
select Wireless Settings.
NOTE: If you have more than one ASUS WLAN device installed on your
computer, you may see a device selection window when you launch the “
Wireless Settings” utility. Select the device you want when such situation
occurs.

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Scanning... : The station is trying to authenticate and associate with an access
point or Ad Hoc node.
Disconnected - The WLAN Adapter is installed to the system, but not yet
connected to a wireless device.
SSID:
Displays the Service Set Identier (SSID) of the device that the adapter
is either associated or intending to join.
MAC address:
Shows the hardware address of the WLAN Adapter. MAC
address is a unique identier for networking devices (typically written as twelve
hexadecimal digits from 0 through 9 and A through F separated by colons, i.e.
00:E0:18:F0:05:C0).
Current Channel:
Displays the radio channel to which the adapter
is currently tuned. This number changes as the radio scans the available
channels.
Current Data Rate: Displays the current data rate i≠n megabits per second
(Mbps).
Radio State:
Shows the wireless radio status: ON or OFF.
Radio On: When the wireless radio is turned ON, the icon on the right
appears in the upper left of the Status page.
Radio Off- When the wireless radio is turned OFF, the icon on the right
appears in the upper left of the Status page.
Buttons
Rescan – Make the WLAN Adapter rescan all available devices. If the current
link quality or signal strength is poor, rescanning can be used to push the radio
off a weak access point and search for a better link with another access point.
This function usually takes several seconds.
Change SSID – Click this button to set the SSID to that of the AP you want to
connect.
Search & Connect – Click this button to connect to an available wireless AP.
NOTE: For 802.11n performance, select 40MHz bandwidth in wireless
router. Channel option will depend on the bandwidth that you select.

10 ASUS WLAN Adapter
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Save Conguration
When you make settings for a
certain working environment, you
may need to save your settings to a
prole so that you can easily switch
to the settings without repeating the
configurations. For example, you
can set proles for work, home and
other situations. When you travel from home to work, choose the "ofce" prole
that contains all your settings for office use. When you travel back home,
choose the “home” prole.
Activate Conguration
Auto roaming is enabled by default and
makes the Adapter automatically switch to
APs of better signal. You can uncheck it if
you want to connect to a specied AP using
a particular prole.
Status - Connection
You can view the current link statistics about
the WLAN Adapter. These statistics are
updated once per second and are valid if the
WLANAdapter is correctly installed.
Frame Sent/Received
Transmitted - The number of frames that
were transmitted.
Received - The 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 - Shows the link quality of the access point or Ad Hoc node
the WLAN Adapter is currently connected to. Ratings are: Excellent, Good,
Fair, and Poor.
Overall Connection Quality
The overall connection quality is derived from the current signal strength. A
graphic chart uses percentage to show signal quality.

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Status - IP Cong
IP Config tab shows all the current
host and WLAN Adapter information
including host name, DNS servers,
IP address, subnet mask and default
gateway.
Button
IP Release - If you want to remove the
current IP address, click this button to
release the IP address from DHCP server.
IP Renew - If you want to obtain a new IP address from DHCP server, click this
button to renew the IP address.
Ping - Click this button to open “Ping” tab which is used to ping the devices in
your network.
NOTE: The IP Release and IP Renew buttons can only be used on the
WLAN Adapter which gets IP address from DHCP server.
Status - Ping
Click the "Ping" button in Status-IP
Cong tab to open this page. The Ping
tab allows you to verify the accessibility
of other computers or network devices.
To ping a connection:
1. Type the IP address of the device you
want to verify in the IP Address eld.
2. Configure the ping session by
assigning the ping packet size and
number of packet to send, and the timeout value (in milliseconds).
3. Click the “Ping” button.
During the ping session, the Ping button changes into a Stop button. To cancel
the ping session, click the “Stop” button.
The session eld displays information on the veried connection including the
roundtrip time (minimum, maximum, and average) and packets sent, received,
and lost after a ping session.
Click the “Clear” button to clear the session eld.

12 ASUS WLAN Adapter
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Cong - Basic
This page enables you to change the
WLAN Adapter congurations.
Network Type
Infrastructure – Infrastructure
means to establish a connection with
an access point. Once connected,
the access point allows you to
access wireless LAN and wired LAN
(Ethernet). The Channel field turns to Auto if the connection is based on
Infrastructure.
Ad Hoc – Ad Hoc means to communicate directly with other wireless clients
without using an access point. An “Ad Hoc” network can be setup quickly
and easily without pre-planning, for example, sharing meeting notes between
attendants in a meeting room.
Network Name (SSID)
SSID stands for “Service Set Identifier”, which is a string used to identify a
wireless LAN. Use the SSID to connect with a known access point. You can
enter a new SSID or select one from the drop-down list box. If you get connected
by designating the SSID, you are only to connect the AP with the SSID you
assigned. If the AP is removed from the network, your WLAN Adapter does not
roam automatically to other APs. SSIDs must all be printable characters and
having a maximum of 32 case sensitive characters, such as “ Wireless”.
NOTE: Set the SSID to a null string, if you wish to allow your station to
connect to any access point it can nd. But you cannot use null string in
Ad Hoc mode.
Channel
The Channel field is for setting radio channel. Your WLAN Adapter can
automatically select the correct channel to communicate with a wireless device,
and the parameter is xed to "Auto" in both Infrastructure and Ad Hoc mode.
The available radio channels depend on the regulations in your country. For
the United States (FCC) and Canada (IC), channel 1 to 11 are supported. For
Europe (ETSI), channel 1 to 13 are supported. For Japan (MKK), channel 1 to
14 are supported.
Click Apply to save and activate the new congurations.

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Others
Encryption – Click this link to show the "Encryption" tab.
Advanced – Click this link to show the "Advanced" tab. In most cases, the
default values do not have to be changed.
Troubleshooting – Click on this to show the Troubleshooting utility.
Cong - Advanced
Click Advanced link on Config-Basic
page to show this tab. This tab allows
you to set up additional parameters for
the wireless adapter. We recommend
using the default values for all items in
this window.
RTS Threshold (0-2347)
The RTS/CTS (Request to Send/Clear
to Send) function is used to minimize collisions among wireless stations.
When RTS/CTS is enabled, the router refrains from sending a data frame until
another RTS/CTS handshake is completed. Enable RTS/CTS by setting a
specic packet size threshold. The default value (2347) is recommended.
Fragmentation Threshold (256-2346)
Fragmentation is used to divide 802.11 frames into smaller pieces (fragments)
that are sent separately to the destination. Enable fragmentation by setting
a specic packet size threshold. If there is an excessive number of collisions
on the WLAN, experiment with different fragmentation values to increase the
reliability of frame transmissions. The default value (2000) is recommended for
normal use.

14 ASUS WLAN Adapter
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Network Authentication
Since there is no precise bound in
wireless LANs, the WLAN users need
to implement certain mechanism
to provide security solution. The
Authentication policies in this tab
provide protection of different levels
such as Open, WEP, WPA, and WPA2.
Open - Select this option to make the
network operate on Open System
mode, which use no authentication
algorithm. Open stations and APs can authenticate with each other without
checking any WEP Key, even if there is.
Shared - Select this option to make the network operate on Shared key mode.
In a Share Key Authentication system, four-step exchange of frames is required
to validate that the station is using the same WEP Key as the access point.
WPA-PSK/ WPA2-PSK - Select this option to enable WPA Pre-Shared Key
under Infrastructure mode. It enables communication between your client and
APs using WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK encryption mode.
WPA/ WPA2 - The network is operating in IEEE 802.1x authentication mode.
This mode is for environments with RADIUS (Remote Access Dial-in User
Service). In a RADIUS environment, three Extensible Authentication Protocol
(EAP) are supported, including PEAP, EPA/TLS, and LEAP.
Cong - Encryption
This page enables you to configure the Wireless LAN Adapter encryption
settings. For data confidentiality in a wireless environment, IEEE 802.11
specifies a Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) algorithm to offer transmission
privacy. The WEP uses keys to encrypt and decrypt data packets. The
encryption process can scramble frame bits to avoid disclosure to others. The
WPA/WPA2 is improved security system for 802.11 which are developed to
overcome the weakness of the WEP protocol.

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Data encryption
For Open and Shared authentication mode, the configuration options of
encryption type are Disabled and WEP. For WPA, WPA-PSK, WPA2 and
WPA2-PSK authentication mode, Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP)
encryption and Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption are supported.
Disabled - Disable the encryption function.
WEP - WEP Key is used to encrypt your data before it is transmitted over air.
You can only connect and communicate with wireless devices that use the
same WEP keys.
TKIP - TKIP uses an encryption algorithm methods which is more stringent
than the WEP algorithm. It also uses existing WLAN calculation facilities to
perform encryption. TKIP veries the security conguration after the encryption
keys are determined.
AES: AES is a symmetric 128-bit block encryption technique which works
simultaneously on multiple network layers.
Wireless Network Key
This option is enabled only if you select WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK authentication
mode. Select “TKIP” or “AES” in the encryption led as encryption mode to
begin the encryption proceed. Note: 8 to 64 characters are required in this eld.
Wireless Network Key (WEP)
This option is congurable only if you enable WEP in Network Authentication
eld. The WEP Key is a 64 bits (5 byte) or 128 bits (13 byte) Hexadecimal
digits which is used to encrypt and decrypt data packets.
Key Format
You can select to enter Hexadecimal digits (0~9, a~f, and A~F) or ASCII
characters to setup keys by dening the Key Format.
Key Length
For 64 bits encryption, each key contains 10 hex digits or 5 ASCII characters.
For 128 bits encryption, each key contains 26 hex digits or 13 ASCII characters.
Two ways to assign WEP keys
1. Manual Assignment - When you select this option, the cursor appears
in the eld for Key 1. For 64-bit encryption, you are required to enter four
WEP Keys. Each Key contains exactly 10 hex digits (0~9, a~f, and A~F).
For 128-bit encryption, you are required to enter four WEP Keys. Each Key
contains exactly 26 hex digits (0~9, a~f, and A~F).

16 ASUS WLAN Adapter
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2. Automatic Generation - Type a combination of up to 64 letters,
numbers, or symbols in the Passphrase box, the Wireless Settings Utility
automatically uses an algorithm to generate four WEP Keys.
Select one as your Default Key
The Default Key eld allows you specify which of the four encryption keys is to
use for transmitting data over wireless LAN. You can change the default key
by clicking on the downward arrow, selecting the number of the key you want
to use, and clicking the “Apply” button. If the access point or station with which
you are communicating uses the identical key by the same sequence, you can
use any of the keys as the default on your WLAN Adapter.
Click the “Apply” button after you have created the encryption keys, the
Wireless Settings Utility uses asterisks to mask your keys.
64/128bits versus 40/104bits
There are two levels of WEP Encryption: 64 bits and 128 bits.
Firstly, 64 bit WEP and 40 bit WEP are the same encryption method and
can interoperate in the wireless network. This lower level of WEP encryption
uses a 40 bit (10 Hex character) as a “secret key” (set by user), and a 24 bit “
Initialization Vector” (not under user control). This 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. Our Wireless LAN products use the term 64 bits when referring to
this lower level of encryption.
Secondly, 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 key” (set by user), and a 24 bit “
Initialization Vector” (not under user control). This together makes 128 bits (104
+ 24). Some vendors refer to this level of WEP as 104 bits and others refer
to this as 128 bits. Our Wireless LAN products use the term 128 bits when
referring to this higher level of encryption.

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Survey - Site Survey
Use the Site Survey tab to view statistics
on the wireless networks available to the
WLAN Adapter and their parameters.
•SSID: The SSID of the available
networks.
• Channel: The channel used by each
network.
Cong - Authentication
This tab allows you to set the security settings to match those of your AP. It is
congurable only if you have set Network Authentication to WPA or WPA2 in
Cong-Encryption tab.
Authentication Type
There are three options for the
authentication type:
PEAP: PEAP (Protected Extensible
Authentication Protocol) authentication
is a version of Extensible Authentication
Protocol (EAP). EAP ensures mutual
authentication between a wireless client
and a server that resides at the network
operations center.
EPA/TLS: EPA/TLS (Extensible Authentication Protocol - Transport Layer
Security) is a follow-on to Secure Socket Layer (SSL). It provides strong
security, but relies on client certicates for user authentication.
LEAP: LEAP (Light Extensible Authentication Protocol) authentication is a
version of Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP). EAP ensures mutual
authentication between a wireless client and a server that resides at the
network operations center.

18 ASUS WLAN Adapter
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Buttons
Search – To scan all available wireless networks and show the scan result in the
“Available Network” list.
Connect – To associate with a network, select the network from the
“Available Network” list and click this button.
NOTE: Some access points may disable SSID broadcast and hide
themselves from “Site Survey” or “Site Monitor”, however, you can
connect such AP if you know their SSID.
• RSSI: The Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) transmitted by
each network. This information is helpful in determining which network to
associate to. The value is then normalized to a dBm value.
• Encryption: Wireless network encryption information. All devices in
the network should use the same encryption method to ensure the
communication.
• BSSID: The media access control (MAC) address of the access point or
the Basic Service Set ID of the Ad Hoc node.
About - Version Info
Uses the Version Info tab to view program and WLAN Adapter version
information. The program version information eld includes the Copyright and
utility version. The version information includes the NDIS version, driver name,
driver version, and hardware version.
This screen is an example only. Your version numbers
will be different from what are shown here.

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Link State
WLAN Adapter “Link State” icon appears on the left side of
the WLAN Adapter Settings. Use the icon to view the current
signal status.
Exit Wireless Settings
To exit Wireless Settings, you can click OK or Cancel.
Excellent Link Quality (Infrastructure)
Good Link Quality (Infrastructure)
Fair Link Quality (Infrastructure)
Poor Link Quality (Infrastructure)
Not linked (Infrastructure)