3Com WL-308 Users Manual

11 Mbps Wireless LAN Workgroup Bridge User Guide

Quickly and cost-effectively create Wi-Fi certified workgroups

Version 1

http://www.3com.com/ http://support.3com.com/registration/frontpg.pl/

Published December, 2001 Version 1.0.3

3Com Corporation

5400 Bayfront Plaza Santa Clara, California 95052-8145

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 and NBX are registered trademarks and the 3Com logo is a trademark of 3Com Corporation. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. 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

Infrastructure and Ad Hoc Operating Modes 5 Example Conﬁgurations 5

Wireless Network for the Ofﬁce or Classroom 5 Converged Connections in the Ofﬁce 6 Workgroup Ad Hoc Networks 6

Product Registration and Support 6

NSTALLING

Before You Begin 7

Where should I Place the Bridge? 7 Do I Need to Conﬁgure the Bridge? 7

Connecting the Bridge 8

About the Client List 8 Hub Connection 9 3Com NBX Telephone Set Connection 9 Printer Connection 10

Computer Connection 10 Checking the LED Indicators 10 Summary of Conﬁguration Steps 11 Installing the Infrastructure Device Manager 11

ONFIGURING

Locating a Wireless Device 13 Entering, Clearing, and Applying System Conﬁguration Settings 14 Changing System Properties 14 Setting IP Network Properties 15 Refreshing the Client List 15 Setting Wireless Network Properties 16 Setting Advanced Performance Properties 16 Setting up an Ad Hoc Network 17 Changing Security Settings 18

No Security (Open System) 18

40-bit Shared Key (Wi-Fi) 18

128-bit Shared Key 18

128-bit Dynamic Security Link 19

Setting up the Wireless Network Login 19 Resetting the Bridge 19

THE

ORKGROUP

RIDGES

RIDGE

Restoring a Bridge to Factory Defaults 19 Upgrading the System 19

Locating Upgrade Files 20

Installing an Upgrade 20 Changing the Administration Password 20 Backing up a Conﬁguration 20 Restoring a Conﬁguration 21 Viewing System Status 21 Interoperating with Third-Party Equipment 21

ROUBLESHOOTING

Disconnecting the Bridge 24 Uninstalling the Infrastructure Device Manager 24 Uninstalling Conﬁguration Help Files 24 Upgrading Bridge Firmware 24

NDEX

EGULATORY

OMPLIANCE

NFORMATION

NTRODUCTION

3Com wireless technology has all the beneﬁts of a local area network (LAN) without the restraints and expense of network wiring. 3Com 11 Mbps Wireless LAN products provide easy, affordable, ﬂexible ways to extend wireless networks to more users.

This guide shows how you can use the 3Com 11 Mbps Wireless LAN Workgroup Bridge in your ofﬁce or classroom to connect groups of wired Ethernet client devices to your wireless LAN.

Infrastructure and Ad Hoc Operating Modes

Example Conﬁgurations

Wireless Network for

the Ofﬁce or Classroom

Operating in infrastructure mode and connected to an Ethernet hub, a single workgroup bridge can combine up to four client devices—such as computers with network adapters, printers, and 3Com NBX

workgroup . The workgroup associates with the wired network through a wireless

LAN access point such as the 3Com 11 Mbps Wireless LAN Access Point 6000. Infrastructure conﬁgurations extend your wireless LAN to devices that would otherwise have to be connected to the wired network.

Operating in at close range without an access point, allowing their workgroups to communicate. You may wish to set up an ad hoc 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 wired LAN.

The following examples illustrate ways you can use the wireless workgroup bridge to conﬁgure Ethernet client devices into workgroups. (Details for setting up speciﬁc conﬁgurations are in “Installing the Workgroup Bridge” on page 7.)

Y ou can connect several computers, including those with non-Windows operating systems, and printers, as shown below.

ad hoc mode, two or more bridges can associate among themselves

telephone sets—into a multiclient

HAPTER

NTRODUCTION

1: I

Converged Connections

in the Ofﬁce

Workgroup Ad Hoc

Networks

Y ou can pr ovide converged voice and data services by connecting the bridge and a computer to a 3Com NBX

telephone set as shown below.

Y ou can pr ovide ﬂexible wireless network association for small gr oups in areas that cannot be wired as shown below.

Product Registration and Support

To register your product with 3Com, go to the following Web page: http://support.3com.com/registration/frontpg.pl For support information, log on to the 3Com Web site at http://www .3com.com

and navigate to the product support page.

Before You Begin

NSTALLING

Make sure that you have the following items, which are included with the 3Com 11 Mbps Wireless LAN Workgroup Bridge:

Power supply and power cord.

■

Standard Category 5 unshielded twisted pair (UTP) Ethernet cable.

To connect the bridge to a hub that does not have an uplink (MDIX) port, you need an Ethernet crossover cable (not supplied).

Before you connect the bridge, decide where to place it and whether you need to conﬁgure it.

To conﬁgure the bridge, you need a computer running one of the following operating systems and one of the following browsers:

THE

ORKGROUP

RIDGE

Where should I Place the

Bridge?

Do I Need to Conﬁgure

the Bridge?

Operating Systems

Windows XP Windows 2000 Internet Explorer 5.0 or later Windows NT 4.0 Windows Me Windows 98 Windows 95

You should place the bridge in a dry, clean location near the hub, telephone, computer, or printer that will be connected to the bridge. The location must have a power source and be within 300 feet (100 meters) of a Wi-Fi compliant wireless LAN access point. The location should be away from transformers, heavy-duty motors, ﬂuorescent lights, microwave ovens, refrigerators, or other equipment that could cause radio signal interference.

If your network has a DHCP server and no special security requirements, you can use the workgroup bridge just as it is shipped from the factory. If your network is more complex, you will want to organize devices so that you can manage the wireless LAN easily and keep it secure. The following table shows the workgroup bridge conﬁguration factory defaults.

Property

Device Name Device Location None

Browsers

Netscape 4.7 or later

Default Setting

3ComWWB

HAPTER

2: I

NSTALLING

THE

ORKGROUP

RIDGE

Property

Help File Location Local Drive Help File Path c:\Program Files\3Com\Management Help IP Network Setting Obtain IP address automatically IP Address Obtained automatically Subnet Mask Obtained automatically Gateway IP Address Obtained automatically Clear Channel Select Off Channel Uses access point channel. Wireless LAN Service Area Attach to any WLAN Service Area automatically Network Mode Access Point (infrastructure) Access Point Privacy Mode Off Network Traffic Accelerator Off (Wi-Fi interoperable) Data Preamble Long (Wi-Fi interoperable) Security Setting No Security (Open System) Administration Password None TFTP Server IP Address None (Uses TFTP port 69.)

Default Setting

If the conﬁguration that was set at the factory does not meet your network requirements, or if you want to customize settings, see “Summary of Conﬁguration Steps” on page 11 before connecting the bridge.

If the factory defaults meet your requirements, you can connect the bridge as described in the following topics:

■

“Hub Connection” on page 9

“3Com NBX Telephone Set Connection” on page 9

■

“Computer Connection” on page 10

■

“Printer Connection” on page 10.

Connecting the Bridge

The workgroup bridge supports up to four speciﬁc Ethernet devices. It uses a

client list of MAC addresses to keep track of speciﬁc devices that have

been connected.

About the Client List Each time a new device is connected to the bridge, either directly or through a

hub, that device’s MAC address is added to the client list. After four different devices have been connected, the client list is full, and you must refresh it before the next new device can associate with the network through the bridge. To refr esh

Connecting the Bridge 9

the list, you must access the bridge’s conﬁguration management system. Details on this procedure are in “Refreshing the Client List” on page 15.

Hub Connection You can supply network connections for up to four devices, such as computers

and printers, by connecting the bridge to an Ethernet hub, as shown below.

Uplink port

3Com NBX

Telephone Set

Connection

Make sure that the workgroup bridge Ethernet cable is plugged into the hub uplink (MDIX) port. If your hub does not have an uplink port, you must use an Ethernet crossover cable (not provided), which can be connected in any port.

You can provide converged voice and data services in an ofﬁce cubicle that is not wired for Ethernet by connecting the bridge to a 3Com NBX telephone set as shown below. The NBX server is connected to the same switch or router to which the access point is connected.

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