Conceptronic C54RU User manual

C54RU
Conceptronic Wireless 54Mbps USB Adapter
Manual
Rev. 04072901

Contents
PACKAGE CONTENTS.............................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...................................................................................2
PRODUCT FEATURES.............................................................................2
FIRST TIME SETUP −WINDOWS 2000, 98, NT, AND ME...................................... 4
INSTALLING THE DRIVERS AND WLAN UTILITY ..................................................4
BEFORE YOU START.............................................................................. 4
GETTING STARTED −FIRST PART ...............................................................5
INSTALLATION OF YOUR C54RU −SECOND PART .............................................. 8
CONFIGURING YOUR C54RU −WINDOWS 2000, 98, ME, OR NT .......................... 10
Authentication Modes.....................................................................12
Setting the IP Address and Proxy Server...............................................12
Enabling the Profile Settings ............................................................12
Using a Proxy Server ......................................................................14
Checking the C54RU’s Status ............................................................15
Options ......................................................................................17
Selecting the Connection Type..........................................................17
Disabling the Radio........................................................................17
Advance Settings...........................................................................18
About ........................................................................................19
FIRST TIME SETUP −WINDOWS XP............................................................ 20
INSTALLING THE DRIVERS AND WLAN UTILITY ................................................ 20
BEFORE YOU START............................................................................ 21
INSTALLING THE WLAN DRIVER ONLY IN WINDOWS XP...................................... 22
Updating a WLAN Driver in Windows XP ...............................................25
CONFIGURING THE WLAN ADAPTER IN WINDOWS XP ........................................ 30
Setting Up a Connection..................................................................30
Selecting a Wireless Network............................................................30
Select a Wireless Network Type.........................................................31
Network SSID and WEP Encryption......................................................32
IP Address Assignment ....................................................................33
ENABLING THE C54RU WLAN UTILITY FOR WINDOWS XP .................................. 36
If you install the supplied C54RU WLAN Utility ......................................36
WLAN NETWORKING BASICS .................................................................. 38
TROUBLESHOOTING............................................................................ 44
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS ................................................................... 49

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Package Contents
Contents of Package:
• C54RU Wireless 54Mpbs USB Adapter
• Manual and Drivers on CD
• Hardware Installation Guide
If any of the above items is missing, please contact your reseller.
System Requirements:
• A computer with an available USB slot
• Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows ME, or Windows 98 SE
• At least 32 MB of memory and a 300 MHz processor or higher
• An 802.11g Access Point for Infrastructure Mode or another 802.11g
wireless adapter for Ad-Hoc mode.

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Introduction
The C54RU Wireless 54Mbps USB Adapter is an advanced IEEE 802.11b/g compatible,
high performance, wireless card that supports data transfer speeds of up to 54
Mbps in 802.11g mode.
The C54RU comes with software drivers for the most popular Microsoft Windows
operating systems and can be integrated into a larger network, running Windows XP,
Windows 2000, Windows ME, or Windows 98SE, in either Ad Hoc mode (without an
Access Point) or Infrastructure mode (with an Access Point).
This manual provides a quick introduction to wireless technology and its application
as it relates to networking. Take a moment to read through this manual and get
acquainted with wireless technology.
Product Features
• Compatible with IEEE 802.11b standard to provide wireless Ethernet data
rates of up to11Mbps data rate
• Compatible with IEEE 802.11g high data-rate standard to provide up to a
54Mbps wireless data rate
• Operation at dual 2.4 GHz frequency bands to meet worldwide regulations
• Dynamic date rate scaling at 1, 2, 5.5, and 11Mbps for IEEE 802.11b
• Dynamic date rate scaling at 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 54Mbps for IEEE
802.11g
• Maximum reliability, throughput and connectivity with automatic data rate
switching
• Supports wireless data encryption with 64-, and 128 bit WEP for security
• Supports infrastructure networks via Access Point and ad-hoc network via
peer-to-peer communication
• Built-in antenna for reduction of interference in a multi-path environment
• Supports AES enhanced security
• Requires an available USB slot.
• User-friendly configuration and diagnostic utilities
• Drivers to support Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, and XP

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LEDs
Your new C54RU has two LEDs on the antenna housing, so they can be seen when
the C54RU into a USB slot in your desktop computer.
The two LEDs operate in concert to inform you about the status and activity of your
C54RU.
When the two LEDs flash alternately, the C54RU is searching for a wireless network
connection −either to an Access Point or to another WLAN NIC.
When both LEDs flash in unison, there is a valid wireless network connection, and
there is activity over the link (data is being transferred). If the C54RU has
established a valid wireless network connection, but there is no activity, the two
LEDs will flash in unison, but much more dimly.
When the C54RU is disabled, only the Link LED flashes.
The following chart describes the full functions of the two LEDs.
The two LEDs are labeled Link and Act (Activity), as shown below.
What the LEDs are
doing What that means
LEDs are flashing
alternatively
The C54RU is
searching for a
wireless network
connection.
LEDs are flashing in
unison The C54RU has made a valid wireless
network connection,
and there is activity
on the link.
LEDs are flashing in
unison, but dimly The C54RU has made a valid wireless
network connection,
but there is no
activity on the link.
This could be caused
by an Access Point
that is functioning,
but not connected
to the wired
network.
Only the Link LED is
flashing The C54RU has been disabled.
Only the Link LED is
flashing, but slowly The C54RU has entered its Power
Save Mode.
Link
A
ct

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First Time Setup −Windows 2000, 98, NT, and ME
Installing the drivers and WLAN utility
Before you start
• You will need a computer with an available USB slot to install your
C54RU.
• If you want to use the Wireless Encryption Protocol (WEP) to
authenticate access to your wireless network, you will need the WEP
keys that are in use for your network. WEP keys are generally entered
into a Wireless Access Point (AP) before configuring a wireless client
(such as a notebook/desktop PC with a C54RU installed).
• You should have a general idea of how your wired network (usually
referred to as a LAN) will provide a connection to the Internet
(sometimes called the WAN) and the point your C54RU will connect to
your LAN. In general, there are two methods to provide wireless access
to the LAN and then to the WAN −Infrastructure and Ad-hoc. Please
see the section titled Wireless Networking Basics, below.
You must install the provided drivers and
the WLAN utility for your C54RU before you
install the card itself.
Installation is a two-step process −firs
t
install the drivers and WLAN utility and
reboot your PC. Then install the C54RU in
an available slot. The drivers and WLAN
utility will then be automatically activated.
The installation software provided with your new C54RU
includes a Utility to configure and manage a WLAN link.
The WLAN utility is not required for Windows XP,
because Windows XP has WLAN support built-in.
The C54RU Driver and Utility Installation software will
install the WLAN utility software even if you have
Windows XP installed on your PC. You can choose to
use either the Windows XP built-in WLAN software or the
WLAN Utility software provided with your C54RU to
manage your WLAN link

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Getting Started −First Part
Turn on your computer and insert the C54RU Driver CD into your CD-ROM drive. If
you have the Autorun feature enabled in Windows, the Install screen will appear,
as shown below. If the CD Autorun function is not enabled on your computer, open
My Computer and right-click on the icon for your CD-ROM drive. Select Explore
from the drop-down menu, and then double-click on the file setup.exe.
Click the Auto-Install driver & Utility (before Card Inserted) link. This will start
the C54RU.
Click Next.

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You can choose a destination folder for the Conceptronic 54Mbps Wireless Utility,
or simply accept the default location. If you want the software to be installed in a
location that is different from the default, click the Browse button to select a
folder. Otherwise. accept the default location and click Next.
You can then choose a Program Folder that the Wizard can add program icons to.
You can enter the name of folder that is different from the default name or accept
the default name of the folder, as shown on the screen above.
Click Next.

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Click Yes to install C54RU Driver. A Microsoft digital signature is not required for
the proper operation of your new C54RU or the supplied software.
Click Next.
This completes the first part your C54RU installation.
Click Finish and restart your computer.
Once your computer has restarted, you can begin the second part of the
installation by simply inserting the C54RU into an available USB slot.

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Installation of Your C54RU −Second Part
Insert your new C54RU into an available USB slot of your PC.
When you install the C54RU into your computer, the Found New Hardware Wizard
will begin by showing the screen below.
Depending upon the version of Windows installed in your PC, and the software that
may have been installed for previous USB adapters, etc., the following screen may
appear once or several times −for the installation of several different pieces of
software.
Click Yes to install C54RU Utility software. A Microsoft digital signature is not
required for the proper operation of your new C54RU for the supplied software.

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Once you have completed the Found New Hardware wizard, you will see the WLAN
utility icon in the task tray (at the bottom right-hand corner of your screen), as
shown below.
If the signal-strength indicator to the right of the antenna appears a steady green,
then your C54RU has been successfully installed and has contacted your Wireless
Access Point. You are now ready to configure your C54RU.
Double-click the Utility icon to use the configuration utility.
C54RU WLAN
Utility icon

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Configuring your C54RU −Windows 2000, 98, ME, or NT
If you are using Windows 2000, 98, ME, or NT, the Configuration Utility program for
the C54RU is called Conceptronic 54Mbps Wireless Utility. Once you have installed
WLAN Utility (the configuration utility), you can read this section of the manual to
find out how to connect to a wireless network using WLAN Utility. Screenshots for
this section have been taken in Windows 2000.
To access WLAN Utility once it has been installed, just right-click on the WLAN
Monitor icon in the taskbar, as shown below.
The pop-up window shown below will appear. Click Wireless Network.
Alternatively, you can simply double-click the WLAN Utility icon in the task tray to
open the Conceptronic 54Mbps Wireless Utility, as shown below.
The field below the Available WLANs shows all of the Wireless Access Points that
your C54RU could detect. On your LAN, you will probably only see one AP, unless
you have installed more than one.
C54RU
WLAN Utility
icon

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To connect to a particular WLAN AP, simply double-click its entry in the Available
WLANs field. Then enter WEP key.
This will open the Wireless Network Properties screen, as shown below.

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The Wireless network name field must contain the SSID of the AP you are
configuring a connection for. This SSID is entered by default and in the case shown
above, is default.
Authentication Modes
There are four available types of user authentication supported by your C54RU −
Open System, Shared, WPA, and WPA-PSK. Authentication is a process very similar
to entering a username and password when you log on to your PC. It is intended to
prevent unauthorized people from accessing your WLAN network. You should
select the same Authentication mode here that you have selected for your WLAN
Access Point.
If you have enabled WEP on your AP, you can enable WEP on the C54RU and enter
the necessary wireless encryption keys on this screen. You will need to know the
length of the keys that will be entered. The drop-down menu allows you to specify
the key length from 64 bits (10 hexadecimal digits) −to 128 bits (16 ASCII
alphanumeric characters).
You must enter the encryption keys −including specifying the default key −exactly
as you entered them into your Access Point. If you have any difficultly making a
connection between your C54RU and your Access Point, disable WEP and verify that
the connection can be made without any encryption. Then re-enter the WEP keys
into your Access Point and your C54RU such that they are exactly the same.
If your WLAN network will not use the Infrastructure mode (using an Access Point),
but will use the peer-to-peer (Ad-hoc) mode, you can click the This is a computer
to computer (ad hoc) network; no access points are used click-box.
Setting the IP Address and Proxy Server
The C54RU’s WLAN Utility allows you to make IP address and proxy server settings
for each of the WLAN links you want to connect to. This allows you to have
multiple IP address and proxy server settings for multiple WLAN Access Points. For
example, if you have an Wireless Access Point at work, you will need one set of IP
address and proxy server settings to connect to your companies LAN. If you also
have a Wireless Access Point at home, you will need a different set of settings to
connect to that Access Point. For each of the WLAN links that are listed in the
Preferred WLANs field of the Configuration page, you can enter a different set of IP
address and proxy server settings. Each time that link is established, the settings
saved for use with that link will become active.
Enabling the Profile Settings
In order to make use of the IP address and proxy server settings for each WLAN link
you want to configure, you will need to enable this on the Options page. Clicking
the Option tab will open the following page.

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Under the General Setting field, click the Enable IP Setting and Proxy Setting in
Profile click-box. This will allow you to use the IP address and proxy server
settings that are associated with each WLAN profile to be used. If this box is
unchecked, the IP address and proxy server settings made in the Windows
networking dialog boxes will be used. If you check this box, the IP address and
proxy server settings that were in use before (the Windows settings) will be saved.
The IP address and proxy server settings you entered for this WLAN profile will be
used for the connection. When you terminate the WLAN link, the saved IP address
and proxy server settings will be restored to their previous values.
Click the Apply button to make the settings current.
You can now make the IP address and proxy server settings required for each of the
WLAN links you want to make.
Click the Configuration tab to open the Configuration page. Select a WLAN link by
double-clicking the link in the Available WLANs field. This will open the Wireless
Network Properties page. Now click on the IP & Proxy Setting button to open the
following page.
Click Enable IP
Setting and Proxy
Setting in Profile

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If your WLAN AP for this WLAN link is configured to use the Dynamic Host
Configuration Protocol (DHCP) to assign IP addresses, subnet masks, default
gateway address, and DNS server address to PCs on your network, you can check
the Obtain an IP address automatically click-box. You can also click the Obtain
DNS server address automatically click-box.
Click on IP & Proxy Setting to set the IP address, Subnet mask, and Default
gateway manually instead of obtaining the IP address automatically through the
Dynamic Configuration Host Protocol (DCHP) server. You may also set the DNS
server address settings and WINS address settings.
If the network you are using is a computer-to-computer (or ad-hoc) network, no
access points are used. You may check the box This is a computer to computer
(ad-hoc) network; no access points are used to enable this option.
Using a Proxy Server
Some LAN networks will establish a proxy server to handle the downloading of web
pages, etc. and storing them temporarily so other users on the LAN can access
them without having to reload the web page from the Internet each time. This
allows for some saving of the available bandwidth in the connection between the
Internet (WAN) and the LAN.

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If your LAN has such a server, you will need to configure your C54RU to be able to
connect to it. You will need to obtain the necessary connection information from
your network administrator.
Click on the ProxySetting tab to open the following screen.
If your network administrator has installed and enabled the automatic proxy server
configuration, you can click the Automatically detect settings click-box.
Alternatively, if you know the address of the PC where the automatic configuration
script is stored, you can click the Use automatic configuration script click-box and
enter the address in the Address field.
Otherwise, you can click the Use a proxy server for LAN click-box. This will allow
you to enter the IP addresses and port numbers for the various proxy servers that
may exist on your LAN. You will need to ask your network administrator to
determine the proxy server settings for your network.
Once you have entered the appropriate proxy settings, you will need to click the
Apply button on the lower right-hand corner of the main menu, to make the
settings current.
Checking the C54RU’s Status
Clicking the Status tab on the main menu will open the following page.

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Connection Status will display Connected or Disconnected depending on the
status of the WLAN link.
The SSID is the IEEE 802.11 Service Set Identifier of the WLAN Access Point or
WLAN peer that the C54RU is currently connected to.
The BSSID is the MAC or hardware address of the WLAN Access Point or WLAN peer
that the C54RU is currently connected to.
Network Type displays either Infrastructure −if the C54RU is connected to an
Access Point, or Ad-hoc −if the C54RU is connected to a WLAN peer.
Frequency displays either 802.11g-2.4GHz or 802.11b-2.4GHz, depending upon
which WLAN standard is in use by the device the C54RU is currently connected to.
Data Encryption displays Enable if WEP is enabled and in use for the current WLAN
connection. Otherwise, Disable is displayed.
Speed displays the current theoretical top data rate of the current WLAN
connection. The displayed maximum speed is related to the signal strength.
Authentication State will display Connected if you have provided either the
correct authentication information, or if authentication is disabled on the current
WLAN link.
Signal Strength displays a bar graph representation of the relative strength of the
signal used to maintain the current WLAN link. Maximum data rates are achieved
only when a maximum signal strength exists on the WLAN link.
Hardware Information displays the C54RU’c MAC address and the Regulatory
Domain (the region of the world that issues the radio use regulations) that it is
currently configured for.
Advance State displays whether the radio is on or off and whether the Turbo Mode
is enabled or not.
Click OK to exit the WLAN Utility. Clicking Cancel will not exit the WLAN Utility.

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Options
Clicking the Option tab will open the following page.
Under the General Setting field, there are several useful options. Auto launch
when Windows start up will automatically start the WLAN utility every time you
start your PC. Enable IP Setting and Proxy Setting in Profile will allow you to use
the IP address and proxy server settings that are associated with each WLAN profile
to be used. If this box is unchecked, the IP address and proxy server settings made
in the Windows networking dialog boxes will be used. If you check this box, the IP
address and proxy server settings that were in use before (the Windows settings)
will be saved. The IP address and proxy server settings you entered for this WLAN
profile will be used for the connection. When you terminate the WLAN link, the
saved IP address and proxy server settings will be restored to their previous values.
Selecting the Connection Type
Clicking the Automatically connect to non-preferred networks click-box will
allow your C54RU to attempt to connect to any WLAN network it detects. Of
course, if the WLAN network is password protected or using WEP encryption and
you do not have the proper password or WEP keys, the C54RU will not be able to
connect to this network.
Under the WLAN type to connect heading, you can select the type of WLAN
networks you would prefer to connect to. Infrastructure WLAN networks use a
WLAN Access Point, while ad hoc networks use only WLAN network adapters to
establish a peer-to-peer network.
Disabling the Radio
Clicking the Disable Radio click-box and then clicking the Apply or OK button will
disable the C54RU −and stop the WLAN link without having to remove the C54RU
from your PC.

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Advance Settings
Under the Advance Setting heading, you can select the operating standard the
C54RU will use to connect to WLAN networks. You can choose between using both
the IEEE 802.11b and 802.11g standard or just the 802.11b standard.
You can also select other operating parameters such as automatic or dedicated
selection of a radio channel for ad hoc networks, how the C54RU will react to the
power saving settings in your notebook PC, and the amount of power used to
transmit the radio signal that maintains the WLAN link.