Asus WL-106gM User manual

User Manual
Wireless Local Area Network Card
WL-106gM
(For 240 MIMO Wireless Network)
®
E 2305/ Dec 2005
ACT
LINK
®

2 ASUS WLAN Card
No part of this manual, including the products and software described in it,
may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system,
or translated into any language in any form or by any means, except
documentation kept by the purchaser for backup purposes, without the
express written permission of ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. (“ASUS”).
ASUS PROVIDES THIS MANUAL “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY
OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT
NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF
MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN
NO EVENT SHALL ASUS, ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES
OR AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL,
OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR
LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF BUSINESS, LOSS OF USE OR DATA,
INTERRUPTION OF BUSINESS AND THE LIKE), EVEN IF ASUS HAS
BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES ARISING
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 copyrights of their respective companies, and are
used only for identification or explanation and to the ownersʼ benefit, without
intent to infringe.
SPECIFICATIONS AND INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS MANUAL
ARE FURNISHED FOR INFORMATIONAL USE ONLY, AND ARE SUBJECT
TO CHANGE AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE, AND SHOULD NOT
BE CONSTRUED AS A COMMITMENT BY ASUS. ASUS ASSUMES NO
RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY FOR ANY ERRORS OR INACCURACIES
THAT MAY APPEAR IN THIS MANUAL, INCLUDING THE PRODUCTS AND
SOFTWARE DESCRIBED IN IT.
Copyright © 2005 ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright Information

ASUS WLAN Card 3
ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
Company address: 15 Li-Te Road, Beitou, Taipei 11259
General (tel): [phone]
Web site address: www.asus.com.tw
General (fax): [phone]
General email: [email protected]
Technical support
General support (tel): [phone]
Online support: http://support.asus.com
ASUS COMPUTER INTERNATIONAL (America)
Company address: 44370 Nobel Drive, Fremont, CA 94538, USA
General (fax): [phone]
Web site address: usa.asus.com
Technical support
General support (tel): [phone]
Online support: http://support.asus.com
Notebook (tel): [phone] x5110
Support (fax): [phone]
ASUS COMPUTER GmbH (Germany & Austria)
Company address: Harkort Str. 25, D-40880 Ratingen, Germany
General (tel): [phone]
Web site address: www.asuscom.de
General (fax): [phone]
Online contact: www.asuscom.de/sales
Technical support
Component support: [phone]
Online support: http://support.asus.com
Notebook support: [phone]
Support (fax): [phone]
Contact Information

4 ASUS WLAN Card
1. Introduction ..............................................................................5
Overview ................................................................................................5
Package contents ..................................................................................6
Features .................................................................................................6
2. Installation ................................................................................7
System Requirements ...........................................................................7
Installation Procedures ..........................................................................7
Installing the WLAN utilities and driver .................................................... 7
Reading the WLAN Status Indicators ...................................................... 8
One Touch Wizard ................................................................................... 9
Configuring with the WLAN utility (Infrastructure) ................................. 10
Configuring with the WLAN utility (Ad Hoc) ............................................11
3. Software Reference ................................................................12
ASUS WLAN Control Center ...............................................................12
Wireless Settings Utility .......................................................................14
Status - Status ....................................................................................... 14
Status - Connection ............................................................................... 16
Status - IP Config .................................................................................. 17
Status - Ping .......................................................................................... 17
Config - Basic ........................................................................................ 18
Config - Advanced ................................................................................. 19
Config - Encryption ................................................................................ 20
Config - Authentication .......................................................................... 23
Survey - Site Survey .............................................................................. 23
About - Version Info ............................................................................... 24
Link State .............................................................................................. 25
Exit Wireless Settings ............................................................................ 25
Windows® XP Wireless Options ...........................................................26
4. Troubleshooting .....................................................................28
5. Glossary ..................................................................................30
6. Appendix .................................................................................38
Table of Contents

ASUS WLAN Card 5
Chapter 1
Introduction
Chapter 1 - Introduction
1. Introduction
Overview
What is MIMO?
MIMO, which stands for Multiple Input Multiple Output, is a technology that
uses multiple transmitters and receivers simultaneously to expand the signal
range. Taking advantage of multipath propagation, MIMO enabled wireless
devices can efficiently increase network throughput, range/coverage, and
reliability.
Instead of combating multipath signals which is conducted by IEEE802.11b/g
standards, MIMO puts multipath signals to work carrying more information.
This is accomplished by sending and receiving more than one data signal in
a radio channel at the same time. By transmitting multiple signals containing
different information streams over the same frequency channel, MIMO provides
a means of doubling or tripling spectral efficiency.
240 MIMO Technology
The 240 MIMO technology offers data rate as fast as 240Mbps, and enables
data transfer at more than 100Mbps in real life. With a set of 240 MIMO
wireless router and adapter, a 100MB video clip can be transmitted in less than
10 seconds. Thanks to the upcoming wireless technology, we are going to
experience data throughput even faster than wired Ethernet.
ASUS 240 MIMO wireless family supports faster-than-wired transmitting speed
over a wireless network while at the same time provides full compatibility
to the backward IEEE802.11b and IEEE802.11g standard. Therefore, the
interoperability of wireless LAN products of different standards by various
manufacturers is guaranteed.

6 ASUS WLAN Card
Chapter 1
Introduction
Chapter 1 - Introduction
Package contents
Check the following items in your ASUS Cardbus Wireless LAN Adapter
package. Contact your retailer if any item is damaged or missing.
1 x ASUS Wireless LAN Adapter (WL-106gM)
1 x Support CD
1 x Quick Start Guide
Features
Standard PCMCIA slot Type II, MIMO Gen3, OFDM, DSSS,
Supports Infrastructure and Ad-hoc networks;
Compatible with IEEE 802.11b and 802.11g devices.

ASUS WLAN Card 7
Chapter 2 - Installation
Chapter 2
Installation
2. Installation
System Requirements
To begin using the WLAN Card, you must meet the following minimum
requirements:
• Windows XP/2000
• Standard PCMCIA slot Type II or Type III for notebook computer
• 128MB system memory or larger
• 750MHz processor or higher
Important: Install the WLAN card utilities before inserting the WLAN Card
into your computer.
Installing the WLAN utilities and driver
Follow these instructions to install the WLAN card utilities and driver. Insert the
support CD into your optical drive. If autorun is enabled in your computer, the
CD automatically 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.
2. Click Next on the Welcome screen.1. Select your language and click Install
WLAN Card Utilities/Driver.
4. Click Next to creat short cut.
3. Click Next to use the default Destination
Folder or click Browse to select another folder.

Chapter 2
8 ASUS WLAN Card
Chapter 2 - Installation
Installation
7. Carefully insert the WLAN card into your
computerʼs PCMCIA slot. Windows will
automatically detect and configure the
WLAN Card using the utilities and drivers
installed in the previous steps.
8. Windows XP users: When the program
is launched for the first time (during
Windows restart), you are asked to
choose one utility to configure the WLAN
Card. Select "Only use our WLAN utilities
and disable Windows wireless function".
Reading the WLAN status indicators
The device comes with two LEDs that inidicate the status of the WLAN Card.
5. The installation process takes several
seconds.
6. When Setup is complete, click Finish to
exit the installation wizard and restart the
computer.
ACT LED
Blinking: Transmitting data; the blinking speed indicates the link speed.
OFF: Radio off or Card is disabled.
LINK LED
ON: Connected to wireless device.
OFF: No wireless connection.
ACT
LINK
®
LINK
ACT

ASUS WLAN Card 9
Chapter 2 - Installation
Chapter 2
Installation
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
field, then click Next.
3. Connection is complete. Click Next to
setup the IP address for the WLAN card.
4. Choose to obtain an IP address or to
assign static address manually for your
WLAN card. When IP setting 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 configure the same encryption on your WLAN Card.
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.

Chapter 2
10 ASUS WLAN Card
Chapter 2 - Installation
Installation
Configuring with the WLAN utility (Infrastructure)
Use ASUS WLAN utlity 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. C he c k t he Status pa ge t o s ee th e
association state. If connection is
established, the box shows “Connected -
xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx”.
3. Use Site Survey if you donʼt 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. Chcek the Config page to set the SSID
(network name) to that of your wireless AP.

ASUS WLAN Card 11
Chapter 2 - Installation
Chapter 2
Installation
Configuring with the WLAN utility (Ad Hoc)
The WLAN card 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
Card 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.

12 ASUS WLAN Card
Chapter 3 - Software Reference
Chapter 3
Software Reference
Using the Control Center
The Control Center taskbar icon displays the following information:
• Link quality of the WLAN Card (Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor, Not Linked)
• Whether the WLAN Card 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.
3. Software Reference

ASUS WLAN Card 13
Chapter 3 - Reference
Chapter 3
Software Reference
Taskbar icon - Left-click menu
Left-click the taskbar icon to show the
following menu items:
• Wireless Radio On – Turns the
wireless radio ON.
• Wireless Radio Off – Turns the
wireless radio OFF.
• Search & Connect – View the
properties of available access points.
• Wireless Option (Windows
®
XP only) – Choose Windows
®
Wireless
Zero Configuration (WZC) service or ASUS utilities to configure your
WLAN card.
Taskbar Icon - Launch Wireless Settings
Double-click the taskbar icon to launch the Wireless Settings utility.
Taskbar icon - Right-click menu
Right-click the taskbar icon to show the following menu items:
• Wireless Settings – Launches Wireless Settings application.
• Activate Configuration – Allows you to choose a preset profile.
• Mobile Manager – Launches Mobile Manager application.
• Site Monitor – Launches the Site Monitor application.
• Preferences – Customizes 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 – Closes the Control Center program.
Taskbar Left-Click Menu

14 ASUS WLAN Card
Chapter 3 - Software Reference
Chapter 3
Software Reference
Status - Status
You can view the information about
the WLAN Card from the Status menu.
The status fields are blank if the WLAN
Card is not installed. You can turn
off the WLAN Card by clicking the “
Disable Radio” button.
Association State
Displays the connection status as
follows:
Connected - The card 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 Card is communicating. When operating
in Ad Hoc mode, this field 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 Card. Use Wireless
Settings to view or modify the configuration settings, or to monitor the operational
status of your WLAN Card. When Wireless Settings is launched, you can see the
tabbed property sheets which categorize the configuration options into groups.
Starting Wireless Settings
• Open the Windows Control Panel, then double-click the ASUS WLAN
Card Settings icon.
or
• Click the Windows Start button, select Programs | ASUS Utility |
WLAN Card | 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.

ASUS WLAN Card 15
Chapter 3 - Reference
Chapter 3
Software Reference
Scanning... - The station is trying to authenticate and associate with an access
point or Ad Hoc node.
Disconnected - The WLAN Card is installed to the system, but not yet
connected to a wireless device.
SSID
Displays the Service Set Identifier (SSID) of the device that the card is either
associated or intending to join.
MAC address
Shows the hardware address of the WLAN Card. MAC address is a unique
identifier 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 card is currently tuned. This number
changes as the radio scans the available channels.
Current Data Rate
Displays the current data rate in 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 Card 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.

16 ASUS WLAN Card
Chapter 3 - Software Reference
Chapter 3
Software Reference
Save Configuration
When you make settings for a
certain working environment, you
may need to save your settings to a
profile so that you can easily switch
to the settings without repeating the
configurations. For example, you
can set profiles for work, home and
other situations. When you travel form home to work, choose the "office" profile
that contains all your settings for office use. When you travel back home,
choose the “home” profile.
Activate Configuration
Auto roaming is enabled by default and
makes the Card automatically switch to APs
of better siganal. You can uncheck it if you
want to connect to a specified AP using a
particular profile.
Status - Connection
You can view the current link statistics
about the WLAN Card. These statistics are
updated once per second and are valid if the
WLAN Card 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 qualilty of the access point or Ad Hoc node
the WLAN Card 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.

ASUS WLAN Card 17
Chapter 3 - Reference
Chapter 3
Software Reference
Status - IP Config
IP Config tab shows all the current host
and WLAN Card 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 Card which gets IP address from DHCP server.
Status - Ping
Click the "Ping" button in Status-IP
Config 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 field.
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 toggles into a Stop button. To cancel
the ping session, click the “Stop” button.
The session field displays information on the verified 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 field.

18 ASUS WLAN Card
Chapter 3 - Software Reference
Chapter 3
Software Reference
Config - Basic
This page enables you to change the
WLAN Card configurations.
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 Card 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 find. But you cannot use null string in
Ad Hoc mode.
Channel
The Channel field is for setting radio channel. Your WLAN Card can automatically
select the correct channel to communicate with an wireless device, and the
parameter is fixed 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 configurations.

ASUS WLAN Card 19
Chapter 3 - Reference
Chapter 3
Software Reference
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.
Config - Advanced
Click Advanced link on Config-Basic
page to show this tab. This tab allows
you to set up additional parameters
for the wireless card. 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
specific 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 specific 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.

20 ASUS WLAN Card
Chapter 3 - Software Reference
Chapter 3
Software Reference
Network Authentication
Since there is no precise bound in
wireless LANs, the WLAN users need
to implement certain mechanism
to provide security soluction. 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, various Extensible Authentication Protocol
(EAP) are supported, including PEAP, TLS/Smart Card, TTLS, and LEAP.
Config - Encryption
This page enables you to configure the Wireless LAN Card 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.