NetComm NP545 User manual

User Guide
NP545
54Mbps Wireless USB Adapter

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PACKAGE CONTENTS
The following contents should be found in your box:
• One NP545 USB Wireless Adapter
• One USB extension cable
• Quick Installation Guide
• One NP545 Wireless Adapter Resource CD, including:
• Utility and Drivers
• User Guide
• Other Helpful Information
Note: If any of the listed contents is damaged or missing, please contact the retailer from whom you purchased the NP545 Wireless
Adapter for assistance.

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CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION
1.1 Overview of the product
The NetComm NP545 USB Wireless Adapter gives you the flexibility to install your PC or notebook PC in the
most convenient location available, without the cost of running the network cables.
Its auto-sensing capability allows high packet transfer up to 54Mbps for maximum throughput, or dynamic range
shifting to lower speeds due to distance or operating limitations in an environment with a lot of electromagnetic
interference. It can also interoperate with all 11Mbps wireless (802.11b) products. Your wireless communications
are protected by up to 128-bit WEP and WPA/WPA2 encryption, so your data stays secure.
1.2 Features
• Complies with IEEE802.11g, IEEE802.11b standards
• Supports WPA data security, IEEE802.1x authentication, TKIP/AES encryption, 64/128-bit WEP encryption,
WPA2
• Supports 54/48/36/24/18/12/9/6Mbps or 11/5.5/3/2/1Mbps wireless LAN data transfer rates
• Provides USB interface
• Supports Ad-Hoc and Infrastructure modes
• Supports roaming between access points when configured in Infrastructure mode
• Eases configuration and provides monitoring information
• Supports Windows 98SE, Me, 2000, XP, Vista
• Internal Antenna
1.3 LED Status
The LED on the top of this card indicates Link/Act status. It blinks at green light when sending and
receiving data.

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CHAPTER 2 - INSTALLATION GUIDE
2.1 Software Installation
2.1.1 Overview
The Adapter’s Setup Wizard will guide you through the installation procedure for Windows 98SE, Me, 2000
and XP. The Setup Wizard will help you install the Utility and drivers.
If you install the hardware before the software, you will be prompted “Found New Hardware Wizard”, click the
Cancel button, and run the Setup Wizard program on the CD-ROM. The Setup steps for Windows 98SE, Me,
2000 and XP are very similar. The following setup steps are for Windows 2000.
2.1.2 Software Installation for Windows 2000
1. Insert the Resource CD into your CD-ROM drive, click the Start button and choose Run. In the field that
appears, enter F:\software\Setup.exe (“F” is the letter of your CD-ROM drive)., figure 2-1 should then appear.
2. You can click the Cancel button to abort the installation on the Preparing Setup screen, figure 2-1.
Otherwise, the Setup Wizard will display a screen similar to that shown in figure 2-2 after a moment.
Figure 2-1 Preparing Setup
3. To continue, click the Next button on the screen, figure 2-2. Click the Cancel button to abort the
Installation.
Figure 2-2 Start Setup

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4. Click Browse to change the destination location for the software. Click Next to continue the Installation.
Click Back to return to the previous page, or click Cancel to abort the Installation.
5. While files are copying, you will see a warning box shown in figure 2-3. Please select YES to continue
installation. Our drivers have been tested thoroughly, and are able to work with the operating system.
Figure 2-3 Windows 2000 Warning Box
6. After the files have been successfully copied, the screen in figure 2-4 will appear. Click the Finish button
to finish the wizard.
Figure 2-4 Finish
7. After installing the software, Please plug the adapter into your PC. If you need instructions as to how to
do this, please refer to section 2.2 Hardware Installation. If you have plugged it into your PC already,
please un-plug it and plug it back in. The OS will automatically detect the adapter and setup the driver for
the adapter. If it does not, please follow the windows setup steps to finish the driver installation.
After installing the driver successfully, you should see an icon, or , appear in your system tray.

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2.2 Hardware Installation
1. Connect one end of the USB cable to the Adapter.
2. Connect the other end of the USB cable to the USB port on your computer. Because the Adapter gets
its power from the host, there is no external power supply. The LED should light up when the Adapter is
plugged in and the PC is on.
2.3 Uninstall Software
2.3.1 Uninstall the driver software from your PC
1. On the Windows taskbar, click the Start button, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click the System icon, click on the Hardware tab in the System window.
3. Click on the Device Manager button, double-click Network Adapters, and then right-click NP545
Wireless Adapter.
4. Click Uninstall..., the system will uninstall the driver software of the adapter from your PC.
2.3.2 Uninstall the utility software from your PC
1. On the Windows taskbar, click the Start button, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel
2. Double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon, find the NP545 program from the installed program list,
highlight it and click the Remove button.
3. Following the Install Shield Wizard will uninstall the utility software from your PC.

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CHAPTER 3 - CONFIGURATION
NetComm NP545 USB Wireless Adapter can be configured by its utility. This section describes how to
configure your USB Wireless Adapter for wireless connectivity on your Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)
and use the data security encryption features.
After the Adapter’s driver and utility has been installed, the adapter’s tray icon, or , will appear in your
system tray. It means the utility is running on your system. If the utility does not run, you can run the utility by
clicking: Start> Program> NetComm> NP545> NP545 Wireless Client Utility. If the icon still does not
appear, the driver or utility may be installed incorrectly or the adapter is unplugged, please try again.
Icon means the connection has been established. Icon means there is no connection.
Double-click the icon and the configuration screen of the utility will appear. You can also run the Utility
by clicking: Start> Program> NetComm> NP545> NP545 Wireless Client Utility. The utility provides a
complete and easy to use set of tools to:
• Display current status information
• Edit and add configured profiles
• Display current diagnostics information
The section below introduces these above capabilities.
Note: If your OS is Windows XP, you can use Windows XP to configure the wireless network settings. (To use this function, you must
upgrade the OS with sp1).
If you want to use Windows XP to configure wireless network settings, just exit the utility. Right-click the icon
at the bottom of the screen, and click Exit to exit the utility.

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3.1 Profile
Click the Profile tab of the utility and the Profile screen will appear, figure 3-1. The Profile screen provides
tools to:
• Add a Profile
• Delete a profile
• Edit a profile
• Activate a profile
Figure 3-1 Profile Tab
To create a new profile, click the Add button on the Profile tab, the Profile configuration screen will appear
as shown in figure 3-2.
To edit a profile, highlight the desired profile name on Profile Name list, and click the Edit button, the Profile
configuration screen will appear shown in figure 3-1.
To delete a profile, highlight the desired profile name on Profile Name list, and click the Delete button.
To switch to another profile, highlight the desired profile name on Profile Name list, and click the
Activate button.
Note: Do not forget to click the Apply button when you create a new profile for connection.

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3.1.1 Add or Edit a Configuration Profile
To add a new configuration profile, click Add button on the Profile Management tab. To modify a configuration
profile, select the configuration from the Profile list and click Edit. The Profile Management dialog box will
display a screen similar to that shown in Figure 3-2.
1. Edit the Configuration tab
• Profile Name - Identifies the configuration profile. This name must be unique. Profile names are not
case-sensitive.
• SSID - The IEEE 802.11 wireless network name. This field has a maximum limit of 32 characters.
• PSM (Power Save Mode)
• CAM (Constantly Awake Mode) – Continuous Access Mode.
• PSM (Power Saving Mode) - Power Saving mode.
• Network Type – Displays the wireless mode, either Ad-hoc or Infrastructure mode
• Preamble – Specifies the preamble setting in 802.11b. The default setting is Auto Switch (access
point mode), which allows both short and long headers in the 802.11b frames. The adapter can only
use short radio headers if the access point supports and uses them.
• RTS Threshold – Default is 2312.
• Fragment Threshold – Default is 2312.
• Ad-hoc mode – Displays the wireless mode, either Only 802.11B or 802.11B/G mode.
• Channel – Shows the current channel in use. This field determines which operating frequency will
be used.
Figure 3-2 Add Profile - configuration

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2. Edit the Authentication and Security tab
Figure 3-3 Add Profile – configuration
• Authentication Type – Three options, Open System, Shared-Key System, LEAP, WPA/WPA2,
WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK .
• 802.1x Setting – It enables when Authentication Type is setting to WPA/WPA2.
• Encryption – Displays which encryption type that the driver is using. When you select Open
System, Shared-Key System as Network Authentication, there are two options: WEP and
Disabled. If you select WPA-PSK as Network Authentication, there are TKIP and AES options
instead of WEP and Disabled.
• Wep Key – Key #1, Key #2, Key #3, Key #4, the Key groups. You can enter 10 hexadecimal digits
(any combination of 0-9, a-f, A-F) or 5 ASCII characters for 64-bit (also called 40bits) encryption. You
can enter 26 hexadecimal digits (any combination of 0-9, a-f, A-F) or 13 ASCII characters for 128-bit
(also called 104bits) encryption.
• WPA Preshared key – When you select WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK Authentication, you need to enter
the WPA Preshared key. This key can be from 8 to 63 characters and contain special characters
and spaces.