IBM 19K4543 User manual

IBM
OPTIONS
by IBM
High-Rate Wireless
LAN PC Card
User’s Guide
19K4543

IBM
High-Rate Wireless
LAN PC Card
User’s Guide
19K4543

Note:Before using this information and the product it supports, be sure to
read the information under Appendix D, “Product warranties and
notices” on page D-1.
First Edition (May 2000)
© COPYRIGHT INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION, 2000.
All rights reserved.
Note to U.S. Government Users — Documentation related to restricted rights — Use,
duplication or disclosure is subject to restrictions set forth in GSA ADP Schedule
Contract with IBM Corp.

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2000 iii
Contents
Safety Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
About this book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Part 1: Installation and user’s guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-1
Appendix A. Product specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1
Appendix B. Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-1
Appendix C. Help and service information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-1
Appendix D. Product warranties and notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D-1

iv High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Card User’s Guide

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2000 v
Safety Information
Before installing this product, read the Safety Information book.
Antes de instalar este produto, leia o Manual de Informações sobre Segurança.
Læs hæftet med sikkerhedsforskrifter, før du installerer dette produkt.
Lue Safety Information -kirjanen, ennen kuin asennat tämän tuotteen.
Avant de procéder à l'installation de ce produit, lisez le manuel Safety Information.
Vor Beginn der Installation die Broschüre mit Sicherheitshinweisen lesen.
Pred instalací tohoto produktu si prectete prírucku bezpecnostních instrukcí.
Installálás el tt olvassa el a Biztonsági el írások kézikönyvét !

vi High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Card User’s Guide
Prima di installare questo prodotto, leggere l’opuscolo contenente le informazioni sulla
sicurezza.
Lees voordat u dit product installeert eerst het boekje met veiligheidsvoorschriften.
Les heftet om sikkerhetsinformasjon (Safety Information) før du installerer dette
produktet.
Antes de instalar este produto, leia o folheto Informações sobre Segurança.
Antes de instalar este producto, lea la Información de Seguridad.
Läs säkerhetsinformationen innan du installerar den här produkten.
Przed zainstalowaniem tego produktu należy przeczytać broszurę Informacje Dotyczące
Bezpieczeństwa.
Перед установкой продукта прочтите брошюру по технике безопасности
(Safety Information).
Pred inštaláciou tohto produktu si pre ítajte Informa nú brožúrku o bezpe nosti.
Preden namestite ta izdelek, preberite knjižico Varnostne informacije.

Safety Information vii

viii High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Card User’s Guide

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2000 ix
About this book
This manual contains instructions for installing and using the IBM High-Rate WIreless
LAN PC Card. The manual is divided into two parts:
Part 1: Installation and user’s guide
This guide contains the product description, hardware and software installation
instructions, and product use and maintenance information.
Part 2: Appendixes
The appendixes contain help and service information, the product warranties, and notices.
Note: The illustrations in this manual might be slightly different from your hardware.

x High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Card User’s Guide

© Copyright IBM Corp. 2000 1-1
1.Part 1: Installation and user’s guide
This section provides the product and software descriptions, and the installation and user’s
guide.
Product description
The High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Card is a standard PC Card that fits into any PC Card
Type II slot.
The High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Card has two light-emitting diode (LED) indicators and
two integrated antennas. You can use the High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Card in
combination with an external antenna.
The High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Card is a wireless network PC Card that complies with
the IEEE 802.11 standard on wireless LANs (Revision B) and supports data transfer rates
up to 11 MBps.
The High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Card is fully compatible with any other wireless LAN
system based on direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) radio technology that complies
with the IEEE 802.11 standard on wireless LANs (Revision B).
The High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Card supports the following wireless LAN features:
• Automatic Transmit Rate Select mechanism in the range of “High, Medium, Standard
and Low”
• Frequency Channel Selection (2.4 GHz)
• Roaming over multiple channels
• Card Power Management
• Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) data encryption, based on the 64 bit RC4
encryption algorithm as defined in the IEEE 802.11 standard on wireless LANs
In addition to this manual, your package contains the following:
• High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Card
• Transparent protective casing for PC Card storage
Note: To extend the life of the PC Card hardware, store the PC Card in the protective
casing whenever carrying the computer on travel without operating the device.
• The High-Rate Wireless LAN software CD
If any of these items are missing or damaged, contact your reseller.

1-2 High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Card User’s Guide
Software description
The High-Rate Wireless LAN software CD contains software and documentation for all
High-Rate Wireless LAN products that support roaming functionality in indoor
environments.
The High-Rate Wireless LAN software CD is divided into two sections:
•X:\Manuals: User’s guides and reference documents, where Xis the drive letter of
your CD-ROM drive
•X:\Software: Software for High-Rate Wireless LAN client stations and infrastructure
products, such as the High-Rate Wireless LAN Access Point
Before installing the software, read the software license agreement (LICENSE.TXT)
located in the root folder of the CD.
You can visit the IBM Web site to:
• Verify if newer versions of the software that was shipped with your product are
available
• Download and install the latest software with your purchased product
You can download the latest software and documentation from the High-Rate Wireless
LAN Web site at
http://www.ibm.com/pc/
The High-Rate Wireless LAN software CD also contains a folder named Xtras. This folder
contains additional tools that might be helpful for installing and managing your High-Rate
Wireless LAN Network.
The Acrobat folder includes a copy of the Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is required to
view or print the High-Rate Wireless LAN user documentation included on this CD.
The Adobe Acrobat Reader is owned by and licensed from Adobe Systems Incorporated.
This software is provided “as is.”
Note: IBM makes no warranty or representation, express or implied, relating to the
completeness, reliability, effectiveness, accuracy, performance, or operation of the
Adobe software, or as to its suitability, merchantability or fitness for a particular
purpose or against infringement of intellectual property rights of any party.
For more information about Adobe Acrobat software, see the Adobe Web site at
http:\\www.adobe.com\acrobat

Part 1: Installation and user’s guide 1-3
Configuring the High-Rate Wireless LAN network
You can use the High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Card Kit to:
• Connect your computer to a Peer-to-Peer workgroup of wireless computing devices
• Connect your computer to a local area network (LAN) infrastructure that includes
IBM High-Rate Wireless LAN Access Points (Access Points), or other IEEE 802.11-
compliant LAN systems
• Expand the capabilities of your Access Points, to support wireless devices that have
been equipped with High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Cards
Peer-to-Peer workgroups
With the Peer-to-Peer workgroup configuration, you can quickly set up a small wireless
workgroup, where the workgroup participants can exchange files using features like “Files
and Printer Sharing” as supported by the Microsoft®Network Neighborhood. You can
use this type of wireless Peer-to-Peer networks while mobile, or in Small Office/Home
Office (SOHO) environments. As long as the stations are within range of one another, this
is the easiest and least expensive way to set up a wireless network.
Infrastructure network
With the High-Rate Wireless LAN Access Point, you can connect to a corporate LAN
infrastructure to have wireless access to all network facilities.
LAN infrastructures can be stand-alone wireless LANs or wireless network infrastructures
connected to an existing Ethernet network
Installing the High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Card
Note: If you intend to use the High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Card in a High-Rate Wireless
LAN Access Point, see the User’s Guide that was shipped with the access point, or
download it from the IBM High-Rate Wireless LAN Web site at
http://www.ibm.com/pc/downloads
Perform the installation in two steps:
1. Install the Client Manager software
2. Install the device drivers
Installing the Client Manager software
The High-Rate Wireless LAN Client Manager can be used to monitor the quality of your
network connection.
To install the Client Manager software, do the following:
1. Insert the High-Rate Wireless LAN software CD into the CD-ROM drive of your
computer. If Autorun is enabled on your computer, the Wireless Networking Client
Software window opens.
Note: If you downloaded the software from the web, please refer to the installation
instructions found on the Web site.
2. Click Install Client Manager; then follow the on-screen instructions.

1-4 High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Card User’s Guide
Note: If Autorun is not enabled on your computer, you can start Client Manager by
running the .EXE file located in the root directory of the High-Rate Wireless
LAN software CD; then following the on-screen instructions.
For instructions on how to use Client Manager, see “Using Client Manager” on page 1-12.
Installing the device drivers
This section provides instructions on installing the device drivers for your High-Rate
Wireless LAN PC Card in Windows®95, Windows 98, Windows NT®4.0, and Windows
2000.
Note: Keep the Microsoft Windows installation CDs or software diskettes close at hand.
If your computer came with a factory-installed Windows operating system, these
files will be stored as .CAB files on the hard disk drive of your computer.
Installing a High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Card requires the same level of expertise that
you need to install any other type of standard Ethernet network adapter card. This manual
assumes that you have a working knowledge of standard Microsoft Windows operating
systems and of installing network adapter cards.
Note: If your computer uses the CardWizard program for PC Card configuration, you
must install the latest version of CardWizard on your computer. The latest version
can be downloaded from the IBM Web site at
http://www.ibm.com/pc/downloads
Depending on your operating system and the configuration of your computer, the
installation of the device drivers will consist of:
1. Installing the device drivers
2. Selecting the Miniport device driver
Note: You will need to perform this procedure only if Windows did not
automatically detect the right High-Rate Wireless LAN Miniport device
drivers.
3. Network installation
Note: You will need to perform this procedure only if this is the very first time that
networking support is installed on your computer.
Installing the device drivers in Windows 95 and Windows 98
The Windows 95 and Windows 98 operating systems support Plug and Play operation for
PC Cards. When you insert the High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Card into your computer,
these operating systems automatically detect the card and enable the High-Rate Wireless
LAN Miniport device driver, or prompt you to install the device driver, when the operating
system cannot find the required device driver. This typically occurs the first time you
insert the High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Card into your computer.
When the High-Rate Wireless LAN Miniport device driver is installed, you can remove
and reinsert the card whenever you want, that is, you can "Hot Swap" the card.

Part 1: Installation and user’s guide 1-5
To install the High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Card in Windows 95 or Windows 98, do the
following:
1. Insert the High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Card into your computer.
2. Turn on your computer.
3. Insert the High-Rate Wireless LAN software CD into the CD-ROM drive of your
computer. Windows automatically detects your PC Card, and the New Hardware
Found Wizard window opens.
4. Follow the on-screen instructions.
5. When you are prompted to locate the device driver installation files, select the High-
Rate Wireless LAN CD that comes with your PC Card kit, or select another source if
you downloaded the most recent device drivers from the IBM High-Rate Wireless
LAN Web site. Windows installs the device drivers.
Note: When Windows completes the installation of the device drivers, the Add/Edit
Configuration Profile window opens. In most cases, the Windows 95 or
Windows 98 operating system automatically finds the correct device drivers. If
you are prompted to select the device drivers from a list of device drivers,
continue with “Selecting the Miniport device driver” on page 1-6.

1-6 High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Card User’s Guide
6. Continue with “Setting basic parameters” on page 1-8 to complete the installation of
your High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Card.
Note: In some occasions, your operating system might not detect the new hardware. This
might happen when:
• The notebook computer into which you want to install the High-Rate Wireless
LAN PC Card is a brand-new “out-of-the-box” computer, where the Windows
95 or Windows 98 operating system was factory-installed.
• A previous installation of the High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Card was aborted
before it was finished.
Installing the device drivers in Windows NT
Note: If networking is not installed, you are prompted whether you want it installed.
Click Yes; then follow the on-screen instructions. Continue with the installation of
the device drivers.
To install the device drivers in Window NT, do the following:
1. Install Client Manager using the instructions in “Installing the Client Manager
software” on page 1-3.
2. Insert the High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Card into your computer. The CardWizard
window opens.
3. Follow the on-screen instructions. When prompted for the location of the device
drivers, select X:\Drivers\Win_NT, where Xis the drive letter of your CD-ROM
drive.
4. When Windows completes the device driver installation, continue with “Setting basic
parameters” on page 1-8.
Installing the device drivers in Windows 2000
To install the device drivers in Windows 2000, do the following:
1. Install Client Manager using the instructions in “Installing the Client Manager
software” on page 1-3.
2. Insert the High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Card into your computer; then follow the on-
screen instructions. The New Hardware Found Wizard window opens.
3. The Digital Signature Not Found window might open, depending on your version of
Windows 2000. Click Yes to continue.
4. Windows 2000 completes completes the installation of the device drivers. Continue
with “Setting basic parameters” on page 1-8.
Selecting the Miniport device driver
If your Windows operating system automatically detected your hardware, you are
prompted to select a device driver from a list or to install the device driver from a diskette
provided by the hardware manufacturer. If the correct device drivers are automatically
found, go to “Setting basic parameters” on page 1-8.
To select the miniport device driver, do the following:
1. In the Select Network Adapter window, click Have Disk.
2. Be sure that the High-Rate Wireless LAN Software CD is inserted into your
computer; then click OK.

Part 1: Installation and user’s guide 1-7
Note: If you are prompted to identify the location of files, type the correct drive letter
and directory; then click OK.
Windows starts to copy files from your installation disks or CD and the High-Rate
Wireless LAN software CD.
• Windows system files are usually on the Windows installation CD.
• If your computer comes with the Windows operating system factory-installed, choose
the directory that contains the Windows setup files (.CAB files).
• When you are prompted to identify the High-Rate Wireless LAN device driver files
(typically file names starting with the characters wv*.*), specify the drive and
directory that contains your High-Rate Wireless LAN software:
— If you are installing from the High-Rate Wireless LAN CD, the directory is
X:\Drivers (where Xis the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive).
Note: There is a separate directory for Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT,
and Windows 2000.
— If you are installing files that you downloaded from the Internet,
select the disk drive or directory where you saved the downloaded files.
Note: If you previously installed a PC Card on your computer, most of these
files are already available on your hard disk drive. If you do not have the
Windows installation CD available, try replacing the proposed path in the
Copy Files From window with: C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM or
C:\WINDOWS.
Network installation
If this is the first time that networking support is installed onto your computer, you will be
prompted to enter a computer and workgroup name. These names will be used to identify
your computer on the Microsoft Network Neighborhood. After you enter a computer and
workgroup name, do the following:
1. Click OK.
2. In the Computer Name field, type a unique name for your computer. You can type
any name you like.
3. In the Workgroup field, type a unique name for your workgroup. You can type any
name you like.
4. (Optional) Provide a description of the computer in the Computer Description field.
For more information about setting your Microsoft Network Neighborhood properties,
consult your Windows documentation or the Windows online help information.

1-8 High-Rate Wireless LAN PC Card User’s Guide
Setting basic parameters
After installing the device drivers, the Add/Edit Configuration Profile window opens. In
the Add/Edit Configuration Profile window, you can specify one or more network
connection profiles to enable you to dynamically switch your preferred network
connection.
Note: If you are using Windows 2000, the Add/Edit Configuration Profile window might
not open automatically. If it does not, do the following:
1. Click Start → Settings →Control Panel.
2. Double-click Wireless Networking. The Add/Edit Configuration Profile
window opens.
For example, you can set up different profiles for:
• Office: To connect to a company network through an Access Point. see “Basic
settings for existing networks” on page 1-8.
• Workgroup Computing: To share files in small Peer-to-Peer workgroups without an
Access Point. see “Basic settings for Peer-to-Peer workgroups” on page 1-9.
For more information about the different types of networks, see “Configuring the High-
Rate Wireless LAN network” on page 1-3.
To connect to a High-Rate Wireless LAN network, do the following:
1. Assign a name to the network connection profile.
2. From the menu, select how you want to connect to the wireless network.
3. Click Edit Profile to view or modify the parameters that apply to your network.
For first-time installations, set up the default profile using only basic settings. See “Basic
settings for existing networks” on page 1-8.
When you have completed and validated the installation of your PC Card, you can add
additional profiles or edit the existing ones.
For help, press F1 or click Help.
Basic settings for existing networks: If you selected Connect to an Access Point in
the Add/Edit Configuration Profile window, you only need to set the Network Name
parameters. To set the Network Name parameters, do the following:
1. In the Network Name field, define the name of the wireless network that you want to
connect to. You can name the network anything you like.
• To connect to any High-Rate Wireless LAN network near your computer, you
can leave the Network Name field blank, or enter ANY in the Network Name
field.
Note: When your Network Name field is set to ANY, your computer attempts to
establish a radio connection with any High-Rate Wireless LAN network
that provides good communications quality.
• To connect to only one specific wireless network, type the network name that
applies to your network. Consult your LAN administrator for the the name that
applies to your network.