LevelOne FreeCon WNC-0300 User manual

LevelOne
WNC-0300
54Mbps Wireless PCI Adapter
User’s Manual
Version 1.0

Manufacturer's Disclaimer Statement
The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not
represent a commitment on the part of the vendor. No warranty or representation,
either expressed or implied, is made with respect to the quality, accuracy or fitness
for any particular purpose of this document. The manufacturer reserves the right
to make changes to the content of this document and/or the products associated
with it at any time without obligation to notify any person or organization of such
changes. In no event will the manufacturer be liable for direct, indirect, special,
incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use or inability to use this
product or documentation, even if advised of the possibility of such damages. This
document contains materials protected by copyright. All rights are reserved. No
part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means or
for any purpose without expressed written consent of its authors. Product names
appearing in this document are mentioned for identification purchases only. All
trademarks, product names or brand names appearing in this document are
registered property of their respective owners.
FCC STATEMENT
This product has been tested and complies with the specifications for a Class B
digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to
provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential
installation. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency
energy and, if not installed and used according to the instructions, may cause
harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee
that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does
cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which is found by turning
the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference
by one or more of the following measures:
 Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna
 Increase the separation between the equipment or devices
 Connect the equipment to an outlet other than the receiver’s
 Consult a dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for assistance
FCC Radiation Exposure Statement
This equipment complies with FCC radiation exposure limits set forth for an
uncontrolled environment. This equipment should be installed and operated with
minimum distance 20cm between the radiator and your body.
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................5
PRODUCT FEATURES ....................................................................................5
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ...............................................................................6
GETTING STARTED ...................................................................................7
GETTING TO KNOW LEVELONE WNC-0300 54MBPS WIRELESS PCI ADAPTER ................7
The LED indicators...............................................................................7
SETTING UP THE WIRELESS NETWORK...............................................................7
SETTING UP AD-HOC NETWORK ......................................................................7
SETTING UP INFRASTRUCTURE NETWORK ............................................................8
INSTALLING YOUR 54MBPS WIRELESS NETWORK PC CARD.......................................9
Installation and Setup ..........................................................................9
Installation and Setup....................................................................... 11
CONFIGURING LEVELONE WNC-0300 WIRELESS PCI ADAPTER..............13
LINK INFO. PAGE ..................................................................................... 13
CONFIGURATION PAGE................................................................................ 14
SECURITY PAGE ....................................................................................... 16
SITESURVEY PAGE .................................................................................... 17
ABOUT PAGE........................................................................................... 19
APPENDIX A: TROUBLESHOOTING .........................................................20
APPENDIX B: NETWORKING BASIS ........................................................25
USING THE WINDOWS XP NETWORK SETUP WIZARD ............................................ 25
CHECKING IP ADDRESS OF YOUR COMPUTER IN WINDOWS XP................................. 31
DYNAMIC IP ADDRESS V. S . S TATIC IP ADDRESS ................................................ 33
Dynamically Assigned IP Address ......................................................... 34
Static IP Address ............................................................................... 34
WIRELESS NETWORK IN WINDOWS 2000 ......................................................... 35
WIRELESS NETWORK IN WINDOWS 98 AND WINDOWS ME..................................... 36
APPENDIX C: 802.1X AUTHENTICATION SETUP......................................38
802.1X AUTHENTICATION INFRASTRUCTURE ...................................................... 38
SUPPLICANT: WIRELESS NETWORK PCI ADAPTER ................................................ 40
TLS Authentication ............................................................................ 43
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TLS Authentication – Download Digital Certificate from Server ................. 45
MD5 Authentication ........................................................................... 51
AUTHENTICATOR: WIRELESS NETWORK ACCESS POINT.......................................... 54
RADIUS SERVER: WINDOW2000 SERVER......................................................... 55
For TLS Authentication Setup (Steps 34 ~ 38) ....................................... 66
For MD5 Authentication (Steps 39 ~ 54)............................................... 69
APPENDIX D: GLOSSARY ........................................................................74
APPENDIX E: TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION .............................................79
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INTRODUCTION
LevelOne WNC-0300 wireless PCI Adapter
is designed to meet the needs of wireless
clients who connect to 2.4GHz standard
network products. With the Dual-Standard
capability, LevelOne WNC-0300 Wireless PCI
Adapter automatically switches to the proper
modulation, i.e. OFDM, CCK and etc.,
supported by one of the two standards, IEEE
802.11b or g(draft), that the corresponding wireless networking device is using.
LevelOne WNC-0300 Wireless PCI Adapter offers unbeatable performance of data
rates up to 54 Mbps for 802.11g(draft) and 11 Mbps for 802.11b, while maintaining
wide range of area coverage. Wireless network security is protected with standard
WEP encryption and Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), and further enhanced with
802.1x authentication security. With drivers and utility available for most commonly
used Windows OS including Windows XP, the setup and installation can be easily
managed. LevelOne WPC-0300, 2.4GHz 802.11g/b Wireless Network PCI Adapter, is
a truly solid-design networking device that provides you with the ultimate freedom
of wireless networking anywhere.
Product Features
Fully IEEE 802.11g (draft) and 802.11b standards compliant.♦
♦
♦
♦
♦
Highly efficient design mechanism to provide unbeatable performance
achieving data rate up to 54Mbps for 802.11g (draft) and 11Mps for 802.11b
wide range coverage.
Strong network security with 802.1x available in Windows XP, Wi-Fi Protect
Access (WPA), which be available by Q2 ’03, and WEP encryption.
Auto-switch between the two standards, IEEE 802.11b and g (draft) that the
corresponding networking device is using.
Driver/Utility support most commonly used operating systems including
Windows 98SE/ME/200/XP.
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System Requirements
Windows 98, 98SE, Millennium Edition (ME), 2000 and XP operating systems♦
♦
♦
♦
PC with Pentium III 600MHz system or above is recommended
Equipped with at least one PCI slot.
One CD-ROM drive
6

GETTING STARTED
Getting To Know LevelOne WNC-0300 54Mbps
Wireless PCI Adapter
The LED indicators
Power LED♦
The LED will be ON when the unit is powered up.
The LED will be Blinking indicates a WLAN connection.
Setting Up The Wireless Network
There two wireless network topologies for you setting up your wireless card. One is
called “Ad-Hoc”, and the other is “Infrastructure”. On an Ad-Hoc network, two
or more computers each has at least one wireless network client device such as
wireless PCI Adapter installed, establish point-to-point data communication with
each other. While on an Infrastructure network, every wireless station
communicates through Access Points.
Setting Up Ad-Hoc Network
7

The idea of Ad-Hoc Network is rather simple. All the wireless station are set to use
the same BSS ID and channel to establish communication linkage with each other to
form a point-to-point network for data transmission and reception.
Setting Up Infrastructure Network
In order to setup an Infrastructure of a wireless network such as the example shown
above, you will need the following:
1. A broadband Internet connection.
2. ADSL or Cable modem provided by your ISP as part of the broadband connection
installation.
3. A Router that connects to the ADSL/Cable modem for Internet connection
sharing.
4. An Access Point to connect with the Router to form a wireless infrastructure
network.
5. Wireless clients equipped with wireless networking devices such as wireless PCI
Adapter for wireless connection.
In this case, all the wireless clients and Access Point operate under the same
channel with the same ESSID. The wireless clients are all connected to the Access
Point for data transmission.
8

Installing Your LevelOne WNC-0300
1 Installation and Setup
Before insert PCI Adapter into the PCI slot of your computer, please install the Utility
Program first.
Make sure that the
54Mbps Wireless
Network PCI Adapter
NOT inserted into the
Cardb
is
us slot.
Turn on the computer.
Insert the software CD
into the CD-ROM Drive.
NOTE:
All the captured images of installation mentioned in this user’s manual
were based on Windows XP operating system. For installation on other
Windows OS, e.g. Windows 98 SE, all the procedures remains the same.
Click on the “Install”
button on the selection
menu.
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InstallShield Wizard
starts. Click “Next” to
continue.
Click “Next” to install the
program files in the
default folder.
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Select the second option,
and click “Finish” to
complete the installation.
NOW.
1. Turn off your computer, and remove the
power cord from your PC.
2. Open up the cover of your PC.
3. Remove the PCI slot cover from PC case.
4. Insert the 54Mbps Wireless Network PCI
Adapter into the empty PCI slot.
5. Place the computer case back on and plug
the power cord.
6. Turn on your computer.
7. Continue with Installation setup.
Installation and Setup
11
Select the second option
and click “Next” to
continue.
2

Click “Continue
Anyway” to continue
Click “Finish” to
complete new hardware
installation.
After successful installation, a utility program icon will appear on your desktop
screen. To launch the utility, simply double-click the icon.
12

Configuring Your LevelOne WNC-0300
Wireless PCI adpapter
Link Info. Page
The default page after you launch the Utility program.
Status: Shows the BSSID associated, which can be used to identify the wireless
network.
SSID: Shows current SSID, which must be the same for the wireless client and AP
in order for communication to be established.
Frequency: Shows the current frequency used for wireless network.
Wireless Mode: Shows the current wireless mode used for wireless
communication.
Encryption: Shows the current encryption mode used for wireless network.
TxRate: Shows the current data rate used for transmitting.
Channel: Shows the current channel for communication.
Link Quality: Shows the link quality of the LevelOne WNC-0300 54Mbps wireless
PCI Adapter with the Access Point when operating under Infrastructure mode.
Signal Strength: Shows the wireless signal strength of the connection between the
54Mbps wireless network PCI Adapter with the Access Point.
Data Rate: Shows the statistics of data transfer, and the calculation is based on the
number of packets transmitted and received.
Data Rate: Displays the statistics of data transmitted and received.
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Configuration Page
This is the page where you can change the basic settings of the Access Point with the
minimum amount of effort to implement a secure wireless network environment.
SSID: Service Set Identifier, which is a unique name shared among all clients and
nodes in a wireless network. The SSID must be identical for each clients and nodes
in the wireless network.
Wireless Mode: There are two types available for selection
 Infrastructure – to establish wireless communication with LAN and other
wireless clients through the use the Access Points.
 Ad-Hoc – to establish point-to-point wireless communication directly with
other wireless client devices such as wireless network PCI Adapter.
AdHoc Band: There are two bands available for selection
 11B – allow user to set the 802.11b standard wireless network.
 11G – allow user to set the 802.11g (draft) standard wireless network.
Channel: The value of channel that AP will operate in. You can select the channel
range of 1 to 11 for North America (FCC) domain and 1 to 13 for European (ETSI)
domain and 1 to 14 for Japanese domain.
Tx Rate: Select the data rate for data transmission.
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Power Mode: There are 3 modes to choose from
 Continuous Access Mode (default) – the PCI Adapter is constantly
operating with full power and it consumes the most power
 Maximum Power Save – the PCI Adapter consumes the least power and
only operates when there is wireless network activity.
 Power Save – the PCI Adapter consumes the moderate level of power.
Preamble: Select Long or Short Preamble type. Preamble is a sequence of bits
transmitted at 1Mbps that allows the PHY circuitry to reach steady-state
demodulation and synchronization of bit clock and frame start. Two different
preambles and headers are defined: the mandatory supported Long Preamble and
header, which interoperates with the 1 Mbit/s and 2 Mbit/s DSSS specification (as
described in IEEE Std 802.11), and an optional Short Preamble and header (as
described in IEEE Std 802.11b). At the receiver, the Preamble and header are
processed to aid in demodulation and delivery of the PSDU. The Short Preamble and
header may be used to minimize overhead and, thus, maximize the network data
throughput. However, the Short Preamble is supported only from the IEEE 802.11b
(High-Rate) standard and not from the original IEEE 802.11. That means that
stations using Short-Preamble cannot communicate with stations implementing the
original version of the protocol.
Click “Apply” for the changes to take effect. And then the screen will return to
Link Info. Page.
15

Security Page
This is the page where you configure Security settings of your LevelOne WMC-0300
54Mbps wireless PCI Adapter.
Encryption: Select Enable or Disable data encryption feature.
Aut. Mode: There are three modes available to choose from.
 Open Authentication – the sender and receiver do not share secret Key
for communication. Instead, each party generates its own key-pairs and
ask the other party to accept it. The key is regenerated when the
connection is established every time.
 Shared Authentication – the sender and receiver shares the common
key for data communication, and the key is used for extended length of
time.
 Auto – depend on the communication to establish, and automatically use
the proper authentication mode.
The following will only be activated to allow for configuration when Encryption is
enabled.
Default Key: select one of the 4 keys to use.
Network Key: enter values to these fields, either in HEX or ASCII formats. You only
have to enter the key that you will use
Key Length: select 64 or 128 bits as the length of the keys
Key Format: ASCII or HEX (Please refer to Appendix G: Glossary for details about
these two formats).
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SiteSurvey Page
This page allows you to enable the SiteSurvey function to scan for the available
wireless network (wireless clients and Access Points) and establish wireless
communications with one.
2
1
1 Available Network – displays the wireless networks (wireless clients and
Access Points) that are in your signal range. Select any one of them to establish
communications by simply mouse double-click or click on the “Connect”
button.
Click “Refresh” button to start scanning for available network again.
2 Profile – You can create and manage the created profiles for Home, offices or
public areas.
By double-clicking on one of the created profile, the setting will adapt to the
configuration such as SSID, channel, and WEP settings saved by that particular
profile.
Click to select any one of the profiles, and you can
Click on “Remove” button to remove the profile, or♦
♦ Click on “Properties” button to view and change its settings. The
Properties is very similar to that of adding profile.
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Click “Add” to add a profile, and the following screen would appear.
All the detail information about each settings and configuration item are described
in previous Configuration and Security Page sessions. Please refer to those two
sessions for more information.
When you finish enter the setting for this profile, click “OK” to add a new profile.
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About Page
This page displays some information about the 54Mpbs PCI Adapter utility, which
includes the version numbers for Driver, Firmware and Utility.
When there is new version of software available for upgrade, you will be able to
identify by version numbers.
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APPENDIX A: TROUBLESHOOTING
This chapter provides solutions to frequently encountered problems that can occur
during the installation and operation of LevelOne WNC-0300 54Mbps Wireless PCI
Adapter. Please read through the following to solve your problems.
1. The wireless clients cannot access the network in the infrastructure
mode.
Check that the wireless network device is being installed and working
properly.
♦
Select “Start” >
Right-click on “My
Computer” >
“
Properties”
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