VIA Technologies VNT6656AU User manual

VNT6656AU
USER MANUAL
Revision 1.0
July 4, 2005
VIA NETWORKING TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

Copyright Notice:
Copyright © 2004, VIA Networking Technologies, Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
No part of this document may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval
system, or translated into any language, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
magnetic, optical, chemical, manual or otherwise without the prior written permission of VIA
Networking Technologies, Incorporated.
VNT6656AU may only be used to identify WLAN products of VIA Networking Technologies.
is a registered trademark of VIA Networking Technologies, Incorporated.
All trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.
Disclaimer Notice:
No license is granted, implied or otherwise, under any patent or patent rights of VIA
Networking Technologies Inc. VIA Networking Technologies Inc. makes no warranties,
implied or otherwise, in regard to this document and to the products described in this
document. The information provided by this document is believed to be accurate and reliable
as of the publication date of this document. However, VIA Networking Technologies Inc.
assumes no responsibility for any errors in this document. Furthermore, VIA Networking
Technologies Inc. assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of the information in this
document and for any patent infringements that may arise from the use of this document.
The information and product specifications within this document are subject to change at any
time, without notice and without obligation to notify any person of such change.
Offices:
USA Office: Taipei Office:
940 Mission Court 8th Floor, No. 533
Fremont, CA 94539 Chung-Cheng Road, Hsin-Tien
USA Taipei, Taiwan ROC
Tel: [phone] Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone] or [phone] Fax: [phone]
Web: www.vntek.com Web: www.vntek.com.tw

VNT6656AU USER MANUAL
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Revision History
Release Date Revision Initials
1.0 2005-7-4 Initial release. SHC

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Table of Contents
1. Features........................................................................................................................1
1.1. Drivers and Applications.......................................................................................... 1
1.2. Certifications ........................................................................................................... 1
1.3. Software Packages ................................................................................................. 1
1.4. Programming Guide................................................................................................ 1
2. Drivers and Utilities..................................................................................................... 2
2.1. Drivers..................................................................................................................... 2
2.2. Utilities for end users............................................................................................... 2
2.3. Utilities for manufacturers........................................................................................ 2
3. Software Package Information ................................................................................... 3
3.1. Directory structure................................................................................................... 3
3.2. Driver Keywords/Parameters .................................................................................. 4
4. Windows Utilities......................................................................................................... 6
4.1. WiFiSet.................................................................................................................... 6
4.1.1. Status................................................................................................................... 6
4.1.2. Config................................................................................................................... 6
4.1.3. Site Survey......................................................................................................... 10
4.1.4. Statistics............................................................................................................. 11
4.1.5. Signal................................................................................................................. 11
4.1.6. Profiles............................................................................................................... 12
4.2. WPA Networking................................................................................................... 16
Appendix: Terminology....................................................................................................... 19
Federal Communication Commission Interference Statement....................................... 20
Manual Information That Must be Included....................................................................... 22

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1. Features
1.1. Drivers and Applications
Drivers available for Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP and all major
distributions of Linux.
Setup utility for automatic driver installation on Windows.
Mass-production support tool.
Mass-production application interface for custom programs.
PATCH utility for driver customization. This utility allows the manufacturers to customize
the driver packages, such as changing the drivers’ icons and file names.
1.2. Certifications
"Designed for Microsoft Windows" Logo.
Wi-Fi Certified.
1.3. Software Packages
Software package for manufacturers: A complete set of drivers and utilities.
Evaluation package (CD version) for manufacturers: Includes MPTOOL, Winsetup, and
drivers for Windows only.
Software package for end users: Includes all drivers and utilities, except MPTOOL and
PATCH.
1.4. Programming Guide
All drivers are available in the binary format. Source codes are not released..
An EEPROM layout guide is available.

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2. Drivers and Utilities
2.1. Drivers
DRIVER TYPE DESCRIPTION
NDIS 5 Supports Windows 98, 98 SE, ME, 2000, XP, and Sever 2003.
NDIS 4 Supports Windows NT 4.0.
NDIS 3 Supports Windows 95 and 95 OSR2.
Linux Supports Red Hat Linux 6.2, 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, and 8.0.
(Supports kernel versions 2.2 through 2.6.)
WinCE 4.2 Supports Windows CE 4.2.
WinCE 5 Supports Windows CE 5.0.
x64 Supports AMD 64-bit CPUs.
2.2. Utilities for end users
UTILITY NAME DESCRIPTION
Winsetup Automatic driver installation, uninstallation, and updating utility for
Windows 95, 95 OSR2, 98, 98 SE, ME, NT 4.0, 2000, XP, and Sever
2003.
WiFiSet Wireless configuration setup tool for Windows 95, 95 OSR2, 98, 98
SE, ME, NT 4.0, 2000, XP, and Sever 2003.
2.3. Utilities for manufacturers
UTILITY TYPE DESCRIPTION
MPTOOL Mass-production tool for Windows 2000/XP.
MP API Mass-production application interface for manufacturer-specific
programs.

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3. Software Package Information
3.1. Directory structure
DIRECTORY DESCRIPTION
/ (Root directory) Drivers for Windows 95, 95 OSR2, 98, 98 SE, ME, NT 4.0,
2000, XP, and Sever 2003; release note; and other
documentations.
/LINUX The Linux driver.
/WIFISET Wireless configuration setup tool for Windows.
/WINSETUP Windows driver setup utility for Windows 95, 95 OSR2, 98, 98
SE, ME, NT 4.0, 2000, XP, and Sever 2003.
/MPTOOL Mass-production tool and the EEPROM layout guide.
/Win CE
/ CE4.2
/ CE5
Drivers for Windows CE 4.2 and 5.0.
/x64 Software for supporting AMD 64.

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3.2. Driver Keywords/Parameters
Figure 1. Properties—Advanced
Adhoc Beacon Interval
Defines the beacon interval in the ad hoc mode.
Antenna Diversity
Enables or disables antenna diversity.
Connection Rate
Specifies the connection rate (in Mbps): 1, 2, 5.5, 11, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 54, or Auto.
Default Channel
The user-defined connection channel—applicable in the ad hoc mode and AP mode.
Desired SSID
The user-defined SSID—to be automatically connected at driver startup.
Fragment Threshold
Defines the size at which packets are fragmented.

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Network Address
The user-defined network address—overrides the network address originally set by the
hardware vendor.
Operation Mode
Determines the operation mode: Infrastructure or Ad Hoc.
Preamble Type
Determines the acceptable preamble type: Select Long to accept long preambles only;
select Short to support short preambles.
RadioControl
Determines whether the radio is on or off.
Receive Buffers
Defines the size of the internal driver buffers for received packets.
RTS Threshold
Defines the size at which packets are sent via the RTS-CTS mechanism.
Transmit Buffers
Defines the size of the internal driver buffers for packets to be transmitted.

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4. Windows Utilities
4.1. WiFiSet
The VNT WiFiset is a Windows-based application. Its main features are listed below.
4.1.1. Status
Displays the network status of the device.
Figure 2. WiFiset—Status
4.1.2. Config
Displays and controls the link configurations for the device.

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Figure 3. WiFiset—Config
SSID
The service set identifier (SSID) is the name given to a wireless network by its
administrator(s). The default value is Any, which allows the device to connect to any access
point in the Infrastructure Mode, or to any other wireless device in the Ad Hoc Mode. The
SSID can be up to 32 characters long, and is case sensitive.
Power Save Mode
Selects a power-save mode from three preconfigured settings:
•CAM (Continuous Access Mode) Highest performance with no power saving.
•Max PSP (Max Power Saving Mode) Maximum power saving with reduced
performance.
•Fast PSP (Fast Power Saving Mode) Greater power saving than CAM and higher
performance than Max PSP.
Operation Mode
Determines the type of network or mode of operation.
•Ad Hoc Mode For peer-to-peer networking with other wireless devices without routing
through wired network.
•Infrastructure Mode (default) For connecting to a wired network via an access point.
•AP Mode For setting up the device as an access point. Note: In order to function as an
access point, your computer must be physically connected to a wired network.

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Radio Status
Shows whether the radio is on or off.
Data Rate
Selects the rate of transmission between your computer and the access point (in the
infrastructure mode) or another wireless device (in the ad hoc mode). In general, a higher
transmission rate would provide a smaller coverage area, and a lower transmission rate
would cover a greater distance. The default setting is Auto Rate, which allows the device to
start at 54 Mbps and automatically lowers the transmission rate when necessary.
Channel
Selects the frequency channel for the transmission in the Ad Hoc Mode or AP Mode.
Fragment Threshold
Defines the size at which packets are fragmented. The acceptable range of values is from
256 to 2312 bytes, and the default value is 2312 bytes.
RTS Threshold
Defines the size at which packets are sent via the RTS-CTS mechanism. The acceptable
range of values is from 0 to 2312 bytes, and the default value is 2312 bytes.
Network Type
Selects the 802.11 network protocol usage; there are three modes, “802.11b only”,
“802.11g”, and “Auto”. The default setting is Auto.
WEP config
Controls the authentication and encryption configurations for the device.

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Figure 4. WiFiset—WEP config
Encryption state
Determines whether Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is used for data encryption.
•None (default) No encryption.
•WEP Data is encrypted with a WEP key. Up to four WEP keys can be specified. Each
key can have a length of 40, 128, or 256 bits.
Authentication Mode
Determines the method of authentication.
•Open System (Default) A null authentication algorithm is used, which allows the device
to be authenticated by any access point or other devices with an appropriate SSID.
•Shared Key A WEP key is used as a means of authentication, which allows the device
to be authenticated only by access points or other devices that has the same WEP key in
addition to an appropriate SSID.

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4.1.3. Site Survey
Displays a list of all available networks within range.
Figure 5. WiFiset—Site Survey
Join Network
Joins the device to the selected network.
Re-Scan it!
Re-scans to discover all currently available networks within range.

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4.1.4. Statistics
Displays the real-time transmission and reception statistics of the device.
Figure 6. WiFiset—Statistic
Pause
Pauses, or freezes, the currently displayed statistics. Clicking Pause again will resume the
real-time display.
Reset
Resets all values to zero.
4.1.5. Signal
Displays the current and past values of signal strength (SS) and signal quality (SQ) for the
connected network.

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Figure 7. WiFiset—Signal
4.1.6. Profiles
A profile is a set of preconfigured settings for a particular network environment. Having
different profiles stored in WiFiset, you can move from one network to another without having
to reconfigure the network settings.
4.1.6.1. Adding a new profile
Before adding the current network configuration as a new profile, make sure that your device
is connected to a network and that all settings are properly configured. To add a profile in
WiFiset, please follow these steps:
Step 1. Click Profile in WiFiset’s menu bar, and then click Add to create a new profile based
on the current network’s configurations.

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Figure 8. WiFiset—Adding a new profile
Step 2. Enter a name for the new profile, and then click OK.
Figure 9. WiFiset—Profile Name

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Step 3. The new profile is now successfully added to the Profile List, and it’s set to be a
default one automatically.
Figure 10. WiFiset—New profile added
4.1.6.2. Default profile and automatic connection
You can configure your device to automatically connect to a network according to the default
profile.
Step 1. Select a profile name from the Profile Select box.
Step 2. Click the Default Profile button.
Step 3. Select the check box for Auto Connect with Default Profile, and then click the
Apply Profile button.

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Figure 11. WiFiset—Auto Connect with Default Profile
Note: Once the device is set to automatically connect with a netowork according to the
default profile, most of the options under WiFiset’s Config tab would become unavailable,
and therefore appear dimmed—except for Power Save Mode and Auto connect. In addition,
a check mark would now appear in the Auto connect check box.

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Figure 12. WiFiset—Auto connect
4.2. WPA Networking
VT6655 supports Windows XP Wireless Zero Configuration service for connecting to a Wi-Fi
Protected Access (WPA) network.
Step 1. Open Wireless Network Connection.