3COM WL-305 User Manual

11 Mbps Wireless LAN PC Card User Guide

Full featured wireless local area networking made simple.

Version 2.0

http://www.3com.com/ http://support.3com.com/warrantyregistration/register.pl

Published March 2001 Version 2.0.1

3Com Corporation Bayfront Plaza Clara, California

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Santa

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95052-8145

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5400

Copyright © 2001, 3Com Corporation. All rights reserved. No part of this documentation may be reproduced in any form or by any means or used to make any derivative work (such as translation, transformation, or adaptation) without written permission from 3Com Corporation.

3Com Corporation reserves the right to revise this documentation and to make changes in content from time to time without obligation on the part of 3Com Corporation to provide notiﬁcation of such revision or change.

3Com Corporation provides this documentation without warranty, term, or condition of any kind, either implied or expressed, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties, terms or conditions of merchantability, satisfactory quality, and ﬁtness for a particular purpose. 3Com may make improvements or changes in the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in this documentation at any time.

If there is any software on removable media described in this documentation, it is furnished under a license agreement included with the product as a separate document, in the hard copy documentation, or on the removable media in a directory ﬁle named LICENSE.TXT or !LICENSE.TXT. If you are unable to locate a copy, please contact 3Com and a copy will be provided to you.

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT LEGEND

If you are a United States government agency, then this documentation and the software described herein are provided to you subject to the following:

All technical data and computer software are commercial in nature and developed solely at private expense. Software is delivered as “Commercial Computer Software” as deﬁned in DFARS 252.227-7014 (June 1995) or as a “commercial item” as deﬁned in FAR 2.101(a) and as such is provided with only such rights as are provided in 3Com’s standard commercial license for the Software. Technical data is provided with limited rights only as provided in DFAR 252.227-7015 (Nov 1995) or FAR 52.227-14 (June 1987), whichever is applicable. Y ou agree not to remove or deface any portion of any legend provided on any licensed program or documentation contained in, or delivered to you in conjunction with, this User Guide.

Unless otherwise indicated, 3Com registered trademarks are register ed in the United States and may or may not be registered in other countries.

3Com, AirConnect, and XJACK are registered trademarks and the 3Com logo is a trademark of 3Com Corporation.

Microsoft, Windows, and Windows NT are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Wi-Fi is a trademark of the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance.

All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.

EXPORT RESTRICTIONS: This product or software contains encryption code which may not be exported or

transferred from the US or Canada without an approved US Department of Commerce export license.

ONTENTS

NTRODUCTION

How Does a Wireless LAN Work? 5

Network Association 5 Roaming 5 Security 5 Ad Hoc Networks 5

Setting Up a 3Com Wireless LAN 6

All Wireless Networks 6 Wired/Wireless Networks 6

Product Registration and Support 7

NSTALLING

Requirements 9 Disk Factory 9 Inserting the PC Card 10 Installing the Software 11 Windows Wizard Installation 11

Install Files 11 Set Up the PC Card 12 Install Utilities 12

Windows NT Installation with Networking Installed 12

Install Files 13 Install CardWizard 13 Set Up the PC Card 14

Install Utilities 14 Conﬁrming the Installation 15 Using the XJACK Antenna 15 Custom Installation Options 16

WLAN Service Area 16

Security Settings 16

Installing the Documentation 17

THE

40-bit Shared Key (Wi-Fi) Encryption 16 128-bit Dynamic Security Link Authentication 17

IRELESS

LIENT

SING

About the 3Com Icon 20 Interpreting Status Icons 20 Using the 3Com WLAN Conﬁguration Utility 21

THE

IRELESS

LAN

ETTING

Changing Network and Security Settings 23

Network Settings 23 Security Settings 24

Setting up Auto Network Connect 25 Setting up an Ad Hoc Network 26

Starting an Ad Hoc Network Session 26 Joining an Ad Hoc Network Session 27

Ending an Ad Hoc Network Session 27 Changing Power, Trafﬁc, and Address Settings 27 Changing Your Password 28 Running Diagnostics 29 Viewing Conﬁguration Information 29

ROUBLESHOOTING

Diagnosing Problems 31 Using the Tools Window 32 Uninstalling the Card 33 Uninstalling Software Utilities 34 Upgrading PC Card Firmware 34

THE

40-bit Shared Key (Wi-Fi) Encryption Settings 24 128-bit Dynamic Security Link Settings 25

IRELESS

LIENT

ONFIGURATION

INDOWS

Install Files and Networking 35 Install CardWizard 36 Set Up the PC Card 37 Install Utilities 37

ECHNICAL

Online Technical Services 39

World Wide Web Site 39

3Com Knowledgebase Web Services 39

3Com FTP Site 39 Support from Your Network Supplier 40 Support from 3Com 40 Returning Products for Repair 42

EGULATORY

NSTALLATION

NT I

UPPORT

OMPLIANCE

SER

OFTWARE

ITHOUT

NFORMATION

ICENSE

ETWORKING

GREEMENT

NSTALLED

NTRODUCTION

3Com wireless technology brings the beneﬁts of a local area network (LAN) to your ofﬁce without the restraints and expense of network wiring. If your ofﬁce already has an Ethernet LAN, the 3Com 11 Mbps Wireless LAN can extend the network without adding more wires.

How Does a Wireless LAN Work?

Network Association Computers that are equipped for wireless LAN communication are called wireless

Roaming If the ofﬁce space is large, you can set up multiple access points on the same

Security You can set up security to encrypt your wireless transmissions so that your data

Ad Hoc Networks Wireless clients can associate among themselves at close range without an access

In a traditional LAN, computers communicate through wires. Instead of wires, a wireless LAN uses radio signals to communicate.

LAN

clients . The wireless communication is called network association . Clients

associate through one or more act as wireless hubs.

An access point can be connected to a wired network device such as an Ethernet hub, switch, or router to give clients access to the wired network where they can share ﬁles and printers and gain access to the Internet.

network to increase coverage. When a wireless client begins to lose the signal as it moves away from an access point, it can reassociate seamlessly with another access point. This is called

cannot be deciphered if it is intercepted, and to prevent access to the network by unauthorized clients.

point by using network, for example, if a group is working away from the ofﬁce, or if a group in the ofﬁce needs to share ﬁles apart from the LAN.

ad hoc (temporary) networks. You may wish to set up an ad hoc

access points , which are wireless base stations that

roaming .

HAPTER

NTRODUCTION

1: I

Setting Up a 3Com Wireless LAN

The type of network you decide to set up depends on the size of your ofﬁce and whether or not you require connection to a wired LAN. You can also set up security for each of the different types of networks. Your set up will probably resemble one or more of the following examples.

All Wireless Networks The simplest 3Com wireless LAN consists of several clients associating in an ad hoc

network without an access point.

A simple conﬁguration consists of one access point and several clients. The clients can associate with the wireless network anywhere within the coverage area of the access point. The access point is not connected to any other network segments.

NET R

E H ET

S LE E

R E

WIR W O P

Wired/Wireless

Networks

For more complex requirements, you can conﬁgure several access points as separate networks at the same site. The access points use different network identiﬁers called

wireless LAN service areas ( WLAN service areas , also called

Extended Service Set Identities or ESSID ). Clients can roam within the coverage

areas of access points that have the same WLAN service areas. They cannot roam to the coverage areas of access points that are conﬁgured with different WLAN service areas.

An access point can be connected to a wired LAN with an Ethernet cable to create a mixed wired/wireless network. In this conﬁguration, the access point provides the link between the wired network and wireless clients. Clients can move freely throughout the service area of the access point and remain associated with the larger network for services such as printing and Internet access.

Multiple access points can be connected to an existing LAN to provide complete wireless network coverage. Wireless clients can roam seamlessly between differ ent access points with the same WLAN service areas and remain associated with the larger network.

Product Registration and Support 7

T E N R

E H T E

S E L E

R E

WIR

W O P

T E

N R E H T E

S S E L E

R I

W O P

Product Registration and Support

To register your product with 3Com, go to the following Web page: http://support.3com.com/warrantyregistration/frontpg.pl For support information, see “Technical Support” on page 39 and go to the

following Web page: http://support.3com.com

Requirements

NSTALLING

Installing a wireless client consists of inserting the 3Com Wireless LAN PC Card with XJACK utilities. If you have 3Com Administrator Utilities installed on a wireless client, you can manage access points or run a site survey.

Before you start the installation, make sure that you have the following items:

Operating System One of the following:

Web Browser Internet Explorer version 4 required.

PC Card 3Com 11 Mbps Wireless LAN PC Card with XJACK Antenna Installation Media One of the following 3Com CDs:

Other Requirements

Antenna in your computer and installing the software driver and

THE

■

Windows 95 The 3Com wireless LAN PC Card runs under Windows 95 version B

or higher. If you do not know which version of Windows 95 is installed on your computer, you can display it as follows:

In the Control Panel, double-click System to display the System Properties dialog box. Click the General Tab to display the Windows 95 version information. Version B (also known as OSR 2) is identified as 4.00.950b.

■ Windows 98

■ Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me)

■ Windows NT with Service Pack 4 or above

■ Windows 2000

Internet Explorer version 5.5 recommended. You can download Internet Explorer from www.microsoft.com

■ 3Com End User Utilities CD, which comes with the PC Card and

contains utilities for users.

■ 3Com Administrator Utilities CD, which comes with the 3Com

11 Mbps Wireless LAN Access Point and contains utilities for users and tools for administrators.

■ The installation program may ask for the operating system

installation media (usually a CD supplied with your computer) or for a path to the operating system files. If you have other networking software installed on your computer, the installation program may ask for its installation media.

■ If you need to install from diskettes, see “Disk Factory”.

IRELESS

LIENT

Disk Factory

If you are installing the software on a computer that does not have a CD-ROM drive, or if you choose to install the drivers manually, you will have to make diskettes from the for creating disks from CD. To use disk factory, you need access to a computer

3Com CD . The setup application includes Disk Factory, a utility

10 CHAPTER 2: INSTALLING THE WIRELESS CLIENT

with a CD-ROM drive and a ﬂoppy drive and eight or more diskettes. Make sure you have enough diskettes on hand.

1 For the driver software, prepare a diskette labeled Drivers.

For the rest of the software, label diskettes numerically (Disk 1, Disk 2, Disk 3...).

2 Put the 3Com CD in the CD-ROM drive. The setup program should start

automatically. If it does not start, you can run it manually by selecting Run from the Start menu and specifying the srsetup.exe program (for example, d:\srsetup.exe).

3 In the 3Com 11 Mbps Wireless LAN menu, click Tools and Utilities. 4 In the Tools and Utilities menu, click Create Installation Diskettes. 5 In the Disk Factory window, click Next. 6 Select the software you want to transfer to diskette. The Disk Factory displays the

number of diskettes that will be required. Make sure you have that number of diskettes.

7 Select the action (for example, Create and Verify Disks), specify the destination

location, and click Next.

Inserting the PC Card

Follow the prompts on the screen. If you are installing the drivers manually, use the Drivers diskette when the setup

wizard for your operating system prompts for drivers supplied by the manufacturer.

When you are ready to install the application software from diskette, put 3Com 11 Mbps Wireless LAN Application Disk 1 in the ﬂoppy drive and run the setup.exe program.

1 Turn on the computer. 2 Insert the 3Com PC Card into the PC Card slot until it seats snugly.

Arrows on the front of the card indicate the insertion point to the slot. Align the card properly before inserting it in the slot.

CAUTION: Forcing the card into the slot can damage the computer or the card.

Installing the Software 11

Installing the Software

Windows Wizard Installation

Depending on how your computer is set up, the installation program may ask for the operating system installation media (usually a CD supplied with your computer) or for a path to the operating system ﬁles. If you have other networking software installed on your computer, the installation program may ask for the networking software installation media. Make sure that you have the appropriate installation CDs or that you know the appropriate paths before you begin installing the software.

If you need help during the installation, see “Troubleshooting” on page 31. Follow the instructions for your operating system:

For this Windows version: See this procedure:

Windows 2000, Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me), Windows 98, Windows 95

Windows NT “Windows NT Installation with Networking Installed” on

“Windows Wizard Installation” on page 11

page 12 or “Windows NT Installation Without Networking Installed” on page 35.

Make sure that the computer is running and the PC Card is inserted. The driver installation process starts automatically when the PC Card is inserted.

Install Files

1 Put the 3Com CD in the CD-ROM drive.

If you are installing from diskettes, insert the Drivers diskette.

2 In the Add New Hardware Wizard window, click Next. 3 Respond to the instructions in the next windows:

a When the driver location is conﬁrmed, click Next. b Verify the driver name (3Com 3CRWE62092A Wireless LAN PC Card) and

click Next. The installation program copies ﬁles from the 3Com CD and Windows

operating system. This copying process may take a few moments, and the progress bar may seem

to update slowly. The installation may prompt for your operating system installation CD, for a

path to the operating system, or for the installation CD of other installed networking software. If it does, remove the 3Com CD and insert the appropriate CD.

c When you are notiﬁed that the installation is complete, remove the CD and

click Finish.

4 At the prompt to restart the computer, click Yes.

12 CHAPTER 2: INSTALLING THE WIRELESS CLIENT

Set Up the PC Card After the computer restarts, the 3Com 11 Mbps Wireless LAN Client Setup

window opens, in which you specify the PC Card conﬁguration.

1 In the 3Com 11 Mbps Wireless LAN Client Setup window, select Typical and

click Next. Typical conﬁgures the PC Card with the following default values:

WLAN Service Area—Attach to any WLAN Service Area automatically Security Setting—No security (Open system)

If you want to customize the PC Card conﬁguration, for example, to add security, select Custom. See “Custom Installation Options” on page 16 for details on custom settings. For the fastest installation, it is recommended that you use the typical settings. Y ou can customize the conﬁguration later as described in “Setting the Wireless Client Conﬁguration” on page 23.

2 In the Summary window , review the PC Car d setup. To install the software utilities,

make sure that the Start client software installation when ﬁnished box is checked. If you are reinstalling the PC Card and already have the software utilities installed,

this box is unchecked.

3 Click Finish to complete the PC Card setup and start the software utilities

installation.

Install Utilities

The 3Com 11 Mbps Wireless LAN Setup program starts. If you are installing from diskettes, insert Disk 1 and run the setup.exe program to

start the software utilities installation.

1 Read the Welcome page and click Next. 2 Read the Software License Agreement and click Yes. (If you click No, the

installation stops.)

3 Select a destination folder for the software ﬁles and click Next. 4 In the Setup Type window, select the type of installation for the software:

Typical—Installs the software and documentation. Compact—Installs the software, but not documentation. Custom—Allows you to choose the components to install.

5 Follow the directions in the Select Program Folder window and click Next. 6 In the Desktop Icon Option window, click Yes. 7 In the Setup Complete window, click Finish. 8 If you are prompted to restart your computer, do so.

This completes the basic installation. To conﬁrm the installation, see “Conﬁrming the Installation” on page 15.

Windows NT Installation with Networking Installed

The following procedure is for installing the card software when networking is already installed on your computer. If networking is not already installed, see “Windows NT Installation Without Networking Installed” on page 35.

Install Files

Windows NT Installation with Networking Installed 13

The CardWizard utility, which helps Windows NT to load and manage software, must be installed. If the installation program does not detect the CardWizard utility on your computer, it will ask whether you want to install it. If you already have a similar utility installed, you must ﬁrst uninstall that utility to prevent conﬂicts with CardWizard.

Internet Explorer version 4 is required to view help ﬁles. It is recommended that you install Internet Explorer version 5 or later.

1 Make sure that the computer is running and the PC Card is inserted. 2 Put the 3Com CD in the CD-ROM drive.

If the 3Com 11 Mbps WLAN Menu appears, click Exit.

3 From the Windows Start menu, select Settings/Control Panel. 4 In the Control Panel, double-click Network. 5 Click the Adapters tab. 6 In the Adapters tab, click Add. 7 In the Select Network Adapter window, click Have Disk. 8 In the Insert Disk window, make sure that the correct path to your CD-ROM drive

appears in the entry box (for example, d:) and click OK. If you are installing from diskettes, enter the path to the diskette drive.

9 In the Select OEM Option window, select 3Com 3CRWE62092A Wireless LAN PC

Card and click OK.

10 In the PC Card Setup window, accept the default settings and click OK.

The default settings work in most cases. However, you may need to specify values for your installation.

Wait while the ﬁles are copied.

11 In the Adapters tab, click Close. 12 If the Microsoft TCP/IP Properties screen appears, enter the requested information

for your network environment. Refer to the Windows NT documentation for assistance. If you choose the DHCP

server option, click Yes to the DHCP prompt. When you are ﬁnished entering the appropriate TCP/IP information, click OK.

13 When prompted to restart the computer, click Yes.

Install CardWizard

If CardWizard was already installed before you began installing the PC Card, this portion is skipped and the installation proceeds directly to “Set Up the PC Card”.

1 At the prompt to install CardWizard, click Yes.

If you click No and you do not have CardWizard installed, the installation stops.

2 In the CardWizard window, click Next. 3 In the CardWizard welcome page, click Next.

14 CHAPTER 2: INSTALLING THE WIRELESS CLIENT

4 Read the CardWizard Software License Agreement and click Yes. 5 When prompted to remove the PC Card, eject the card and click Yes. 6 In the Select Type of Platform window, select your computer type and click Next.

If your computer type is not listed, select Other Notebook and click Next.

7 Respond to the prompts to install CardWizard. 8 When the CardWizard installation ﬁnishes, click the radio button to restart the

computer and click Finish.

9 Insert the PC Card.

Set Up the PC Card After the computer restarts, the 3Com 11 Mbps Wireless LAN Client Setup

window opens, in which you specify the PC Card conﬁguration.

1 In the 3Com 11 Mbps Wireless LAN Client Setup window, select Typical and

click Next. Typical conﬁgures the PC Card with the following default values:

WLAN Service Area—Attach to any WLAN Service Area automatically Security Setting—No security (Open system)

Install Utilities

2 In the Summary window, review the PC Card setup and click Finish. 3 When prompted to run the Setup program, click OK. 4 Run the Setup program:

a From the Windows Start menu, select Run. b In the Run dialog box, enter a path to the Setup program on the 3Com CD. For

example, d:\srsetup.exe. The 3Com 11 Mbps Wireless LAN Setup program starts.

1 Read the Welcome page and click Next. 2 Read the Software License Agreement and click Yes. (If you click No, the

installation stops.)

3 Select a destination folder for the software ﬁles and click Next. 4 In the Setup Type window, select the type of installation for the software:

Typical—Installs the software and documentation. Compact—Installs the software but not documentation. Custom—Allows you to choose the components to install.

5 Follow the directions in the Select Program Folder window and click Next. 6 In the Desktop Icon Option window, click Yes.

Confirming the Installation 15

7 In the next window, if the option to restart the computer appears, select it and

click Finish. If you had a service pack installed before setting up the PC Card, reinstall it and

restart the computer. This completes the basic installation. To conﬁrm the installation, see “Conﬁrming

the Installation”.

Conﬁrming the Installation

Using the XJACK Antenna

When the PC Card and software are installed correctly, you will see the following items after you restart the computer:

■ PC Card LED is blinking.

■ 3Com WLAN Launcher is running. This utility shows the status of your network

association.

■ 3Com icon is in the Windows system tray.

■ Shortcut icon to the 3Com WLAN Launcher is on your desktop (unless you

speciﬁed no icon during the installation).

If you do not see the 3Com WLAN Launcher window, click the 3Com icon in the Windows system tray to display it.

If the 3Com WLAN Launcher is not already running, you can start it by double clicking the shortcut on your desktop, or, from the Windows Start menu, select Start/Programs/3Com 11 Mbps Wireless LAN/3Com WLAN Launcher.

For more information, see “Using the Wireless LAN” on page 19.

The XJACK antenna, which is attached to the end of the PC Card, has two positions: extended and retracted. To extend or retract the antenna, gently but ﬁrmly press and release it. The antenna must be extended to make a network association. To prevent it from damage, the antenna should be retracted when not in use, when you are inserting the card in your computer, or when you are transporting the computer.

CAUTION: Do not pull on the antenna to remove the card.

The ﬁgures below show the antenna extended and retracted.

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