Planet NOVA100 Series User manual

NOVA100 series
FN-500
FN-800
Palm Top
Fast Ethernet Stackable Hub
EMFN5/800

2
Trademarks
Copyright PLANET Technology Corp. 1996.
Contents subject to revision without prior notice.
PLANET is a registered trademark of PLANET
Technology Corp. The information in this manual is
subject to change without notice. All other trademarks
belong to their respective owners.
FCC Warning
This equipment has been tested and found to comply
with the limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to
Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are
designed to provide reasonable protection against
harmful interference when the equipment is operated
in a commercial environment. This equipment
generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency
energy and, if not installed and used in accordance
with the Instruction manual, may cause harmful
interference to radio communications. Operation of
this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause
harmful interference in which case the user will be
required to correct the interference at his own
expense.

3
Table of Contents
1Unpacking Information
Check List 5
Product Features 6
2General Description
About FN-500/FN-800 7
Front Panel of FN-500/FN-800 7
Rear Panel of FN-500/FN-800 9
3Installation
Hardware Installation 11
General Rules 11
Connecting End Nodes 12
Stacking two Hubs 13
Hub to Hub Connection, through Uplink port 14
Connecting the Hub to AC Power 15
4Troubleshooting 17
Appendix
Product Specification 19

FN-500/FN-800 User’s Manual 5
1. Unpacking Information
Check List
Carefully unpack the package and check its contents against
the checklist given below.
Checklist of 5/8-port 100Base-TX Fast Ethernet Hub
•NOVA100 5/8-port Palm-Top Fast Ethernet hub
•User’s manual
•AC Power Adapter and Power Cord
•RS-232 Stackable cable
•Accessories
Please inform your dealer immediately for any wrong, missing,
or damaged part if possible, retain the carton including the
original packing materials, and use them against to repack
the product in case there is a need to return it to us for repair.

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Product Features
•Conforms to IEEE 802.3U 100Base-TX standard
•Provides LED indicators for monitoring overall hub
condition and individual port status
•Automatic bad port partitioning to protect the network
•Two expansion connectors for stacking up to 5 hubs
together, and confirming Class II specification
•For desktop or wall-mounted installation

FN-500/FN-800 User’s Manual 7
2. General Description
About FN-500/ FN-800
This section describes the important parts of NOVA 100 5/8-
port Fast Ethernet hub. It presents front panel and rear panel
drawings of the product showing the LEDs, connectors, and
switches.
FN-500: 5-port Palm-Top Fast Ethernet Stackable Hub
FN-800: 8-port Palm-Top Fast Ethernet Stackable Hub
Front Panel of FN-500/ FN-800
The following figure shows the front panel of FN-500/FN-
800 100Base-TX Fast Ethernet hub.
1 2 3 4 5UpLink
Networking & Comm unic ation
FN-500
PWR
COL
1 2 3 4 5
LINKTX/RX
Figure 1. Front Panel of FN-500
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
UpLink
Networking&Communication
FN-800
PWR
COL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
LINKTX/RX
Figure 2. Front Panel of FN-800
There are 5/8 (five/eight) RJ-45 ports and one “Uplink”port
on the front panel. Each port is labeled with a port number.
One special port labeled with “Uplink”is converted from

PLANET NOVA100 Series
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port#1. You can either use Port#1 or “Uplink”port. The
“Uplink”port is used for connecting another hub through an
ordinary straight-wired twisted-pair cable by running one end
of straight cable to “Uplink”port and the other end to another
hub’s station port.
On the front panel, there are several LED indicators for
monitoring the device itself, and the network status. At a
quick glance of the front panel, the user would be able to tell
if the product is receiving power; if it is monitoring another
hub or concentrator; or if a problem exists on the network.
LED Indications
The following describes the function of each LED indicator.
LEDs Status Descriptions
PWR
(Power LED) Steady Green This LED light is located at the left side on the front panel. It will light
up(ON) to show that the product is
receiving power. Conversely, no light
(OFF) means the product is not
receiving power.
COL
(Collision
LED)
Blink
Red A “collision”in Ethernet, is when two end nodes transmit at the same
time. The indicator lights up
whenever there is a collision between
a directly attached end node and any
other node

FN-500/FN-800 User’s Manual 9
LEDs Status Descriptions
LNK
(Link LEDs) Steady Green Each RJ45 station port on the hub is assigned an LED light for monitoring
port "Good Link and Activity". Each
LED is normally OFF after the power
on operation, but will light up
steadily to show “Good Link”.
TX/RX
(Activities
LEDs)
Blink
Green Each LED is normally OFF after the power on operation and flash to show
that transmit and receive signals are
passing in and out the hub. The
flashing rapidly increases with the
network traffic.
Rear Panel
On the rear panel there are power DC jack, ID switch and two
expansion connectors. The following describes the function of
each connector and switch.
Figure 3 Rear panel of FN-500
Figure 4 Rear panel of FN-800

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DC Power Jack
The power cord should be plug into this socket. The DC jack
accept DC power equal to 5 Volt , 2 Amp, minimum for FN-
500 and 4 Amp. minimum for FN-800.
ID Switch
This switch is for setting the address of each hub when stack
two or more hubs together. Each hub should have one unique
number. The switch has four positions (No.1 to 4), therefore,
there are 16 possible combinations, except the setting of all
positions at OFF is not allowed;i.e. 15 combinations only is
accepted. For example, the settings from position No.1 to 4
are “off off on on”, the corresponding ID number is “3”.
Expansion Connectors
For FN-500/FN-800, there are two DB25 female connectors at
rear panel . These two connectors have the same function then
user can stack another hub by choosing any one of them.
Therefore, if one is used for “stack up”, then the other is for
“stack down”. Any combination of 5/8 port hub is allowed
only within the limitation of 5 hubs in one stack.

FN-500/FN-800 User’s Manual 11
3. Installation
Hardware Installation
After selecting an appropriate 1ocation, you are ready to
connect it. This section covers important rules regarding
Fast Ethernet connections, and describes how to connect the
hub to end nodes, another hub, and AC power.
General Rules
Before making any connections to the hub, note the following
rules:
•All network connections to the hub must be made using
Category 5 UTP or Type 1 STP cables. Do not use similar-
looking Category 2 or 3 cables or "flat satin" telephone
cords.
•No more than 100 meters (about 328 feet) of cabling may be
used between the hub and an end node; no more than 5
meters (16.4 feet) may be used between two stacks. Each
stack is composed up to 5 hubs maximum. Under this
limitation, no more than 205 meters of cabling may be used
between any two end nodes.
•To expand your network, you have three methods:
nFirst -- you can connect the hub to another 100Base-TX
Class II Fast Ethernet hub, but not to more than one, and not

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to any other kind of hub through “Uplink”port. These two
hubs can come from different suppliers.
nSecond -- you can connect the hub to another hub by
expansion connector. The function of expansion connector is
defined by manufacture, therefore, different vendor supplied
hubs can not be connected together.
nThird -- Two stacks can connect together by using method
one, i.e. choosing one station port from the first stack and one
“Uplink”port from another stack, and linking these two ports
within 5 meters (16.4 feet) length.
Connecting End Nodes
LAN end nodes such as single-user computers, servers,
bridges, and routers must be connected to the 100Base-TX
ports using straight-wired high-grade (Category 5 unshielded
or Type 1 shielded) twisted-pair cabling.
lWe recommend starting with the lower-numbered ports when
connecting Ethernet LAN and the new hub does not have an
“Uplink”port or switch, you will have to use “Uplink”port
on the hub for the connection.
lWe also recommend making sure the end node is turned off
before plugging the cable in for the first time. If the plug does
not fit well and the node's LAN board is loose, forcible
insertion can momentarily break an internal contact and
damage the end node.
Following are step-by-step instructions for connecting an end
node to the hub using straight-wired twisted-pair cable.

FN-500/FN-800 User’s Manual 13
1. Select a port on the hub
2. Plug one end of the cable into the node's RJ-45 port.
3. Plug the cable's other end into the selected RJ-45 port on
the hub.
To test an end-node connection, connect the hub to power,
then turn the hub and the end node on. The link indicator for
the port should shine steadily. If it does not, check the cable
and all connections.
Stacking two Hubs
Two hubs –FN-500 or FN-800 can be connected by using the
attached expansion cable -- DB25 to DB25 cable. Please refer
to the following steps for stacking.
1. Set a ID of the hub which is going to be stack. Make sure
using different ID number of each hub.
2. Connect one end to any port of expansion connectors of
hub.
3. Connect the other end to any expansion port of another hub.
These two hubs are stacked together.
4. By repeating the same method, totally 5 hubs maximum.
can be stacked to form a big “Stack”.
Please be noted that,
a) Use of other DB25-to-DB25 cable while stacking will
affect the performance and cause emission problem.
b) Power on or Power off the “Stack”at the same time.
This kind of expansion won’t sacrifice any station port, but all
the staked hubs would locate at the same place.

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DifferentIDnumber
Figure 5. Stacking two FN-500/ FN-800 together
Hub to Hub connection, through Uplink port
You can connect the hub to another 100Base-TX Class II Fast
Ethernet hub using a twisted-pair cable. Never connect the
hub to any other kind of hub, or to more than one 100Base-TX
Class II hub.
Make the connection as follows:
1. Make sure “Uplink”port on the hub is free.
2. Plug one end of the cable into “Uplink”port on the hub.
3. Plug the cable's other end into the available port (except
“Uplink”port) on the second hub.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
UpLink
Networking&Communication
FN-800
PWR
COL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
LINKTX/RX
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
UpLink
Networking&Communication
FN-800
PWR
COL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
LINKTX/RX
5meters(max.),Straight
U
T
P
/
S
T
P
c
a
b
l
e
Figure 6. Hub to Hub cascade through UpLink port
Connecting the Hub to AC Power

FN-500/FN-800 User’s Manual 15
After making network connections as described in the
preceding sections, you are ready to plug the hub in and turn it
on.
The hub can run on DC power with 5 Volt, 2A(FN-500) or 4A
(FN-800). The external power supply attached is specialized
for FN-500/FN-800 Fast Ethernet hub. The input voltage is
from 90 to 240 volts AC and any frequency from 50 to 60
hertz. Adjustment to the power source is automatic; there is no
switch to set. The output voltage is 5 volt at 2A or 4A. The
center pole of output jack is polarity “+”, outside pole’s
polarity “-“.
Before plugging the hub in, make sure the power cord (1) is
long enough to reach an AC wall outlet of an approved type,
(2) has plugs that match both the hub's power inlet and the
type of wall outlet you will use, and (3) conforms to safety
regulations in your area.
In most parts of the world you must use a three-conductor
power cord with an integral three-prong grounding plug.
If the supplied power cord does not meet all three
requirements given above, contact your computer equipment
dealer and obtain one that does. Do not use an extension cord
or multi-socket adapter; do not attempt to use a cord designed
for any other kind of power inlet or wall outlet; do not use a
cord that fails to meet safety standards in your part of the
world.

FN-500/FN-800 User’s Manual 17
4. Troubleshooting
Symptom: Link indicator remains off
Causes: Workstation’s network adapter, cable or hub
port is defective
Solution: The most common cause is a defective network
adapter or cable connection. Check the
corresponding cable connections, or the
workstation’s network adapter for possible
defects.
Verify that the correct cable type is being used.
(Note that crossover cable is only required if
you cascade hubs via RJ45 station ports, i.e. an
uplink port is not used.) Replace the defective
cable or adapter.
Some network adapter’s link indicator need to
be initialized by software driver. Therefore, if
no driver is pre-loaded , the hub’s link indicator
will remain off even the connection completed.

FN-500/FN-800 User’s Manual 19
Appendix
Product Specification
Transmission
Technique :Baseband
Topology :Star
Access Method :CSMA/CD
Transmission Rate :100 Mbps
Cable types :Category 5 unshielded, or Type 1
shielded, 100-Mbps twisted-pair
cabling
Connectors
Supported :Five/Eight 100Base-TX ports with RJ- 45 ports and one “Uplink”port --
converted from port No.1
Power Supply :Input --100 to 240 Volts AC, 50~60
Hz (auto-sensing)
Output –5 Volt DC, 2-4 Amp
Power consumption :20 watts maximum
Emission :FCC Rules, Part 15, Subpart B, Class
A
EN 55022 (CISPR 22: 1985), Class A
Dimensions
(WxHxD) :FN-500 -- 164 x 27 x 132 mm (6.46" x 1.06" x 5.19")
FN-800 -- 220 x 27 x 132 mm (8.66" x
1.06" x 5.19")
Temperature :0 to 45 degrees Celsius (Operating)
0 to 60 degrees Ce1sius (Storage)
Humidity :0% to 95% (non-condensing)