Acer ALH-608ds User Manual

8-Port A c e r H u b

Dual-Speed Ethernet Hub

ALH-608ds

User's Manual

Copyright

Copyright©1998-1999 Acer Netxus Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this
publication may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a
retrieval system, or translated into any language or computer language, in
any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, optical,
chemical, manual or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Acer
Netxus Inc.

Disclaimer

Acer Netxus Inc. makes no representations or warranties, either expressed
or implied, with respect to the contents hereof and specifically disclaims
any warranties, merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose. Any
software described in this manual is sold or licensed “as is”. Should the
programs prove defective following their purchase, the buyer (and not this
c o m p a n y, its distributor, or its dealer) assumes the entire cost of all
necessary servicing, repair, and any incidental or consequential damages
resulting from any defect in the software. Furthermore, Acer Netxus Inc.
reserves the right to revise this publication and to make changes from time
to time in the contents hereof without obligation to notify any person of
such revision or changes.

Other brand and product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of
their respective holders.

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IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

1. Read these instructions carefully. Save these instructions for future
reference.

2. Follow all warnings and instructions marked on the product.

3. Unplug this product from the wall outlet before cleaning. Do not use
liquid cleaners or aerosol cleaners. Use a damp cloth for cleaning.

4. Do not use this product near water.

5. Do not place this product on an unstable cart, stand, or table. The
product may fall, causing serious damage to the product.

6. The openings should never be blocked by placing the product on a
bed, sofa, rug, or other similar surface. This product should never be
placed near or over a radiator or heat register, or in a built-in
installation unless proper ventilation is provided.

7. This product should be operated from the type of power indicated on
the marking label. If you are not sure of the type of power available,
consult your dealer or local power company.

8. Do not allow anything to rest on the power cord. Do not locate this
product where persons will walk on the cord.

9. If an extension cord is used with this product, make sure that the total
ampere rating of the equipment plugged into the extension cord does
not exceed the extension cord ampere rating. Also, make sure that
the total rating of all products plugged into the wall outlet does not
exceed 15 amperes.

10.Do not attempt to service this product yourself, as opening or
removing covers may expose you to dangerous voltage points or other
risks. Refer all servicing to qualified service personnel.

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About this Manual

Purpose

This user manual gives you all the information you need to operate the
AcerHub ALH-608ds dual-speed Ethernet hubs properly.

Note: ALH-608ds is the model number of AcerHub 608ds.This model number

"ALH-608ds" will be used through this manual.

Manual Structure

This user manual consists of Quick Installation Guide, four chapters and one
appendix as follows:

Quick Installation Guide

Chapter 1 Overview

This chapter describes the features and functions of the AcerHub ALH-608ds
hub, and the items in the package.

Chapter 2 Make Your Hub Ready

This chapter describes the installation procedures to quickly make your hub
ready for networking and the easiest way to find out if the hub is working well.

Chapter 3 Building Feasible Networks

This chapter describes the network topology for hybrid 10Mbps and 100Mbps
networks, cabling requirements for connections, and the interoperability
between other hubs and switches. A detailed introduction of the bridged uplink
port will also be given.

Chapter 4 Troubleshooting

This chapter provides a simple troubleshooting guideline that you can follow to
eliminate errors for quick network recovery.

Appendix A Specifications

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Overview

1.1 Product goal 1-1

1.2 Product features 1-1

1.3 Product configuration 1-2

Chapter 2 Make Your Hub Ready

2.1 Connecting to the external power supply 2-1

2.2 Installing the hub on your working surface 2-4

2.3 Connecting to computers 2-7

2.4 Does the hub work well? 2-9

2.4.1 LED overview 2-9

2.4.2 System status indicators 2-10

2.4.3 Network status indicators 2-11

2.4.4 Network utilization indicators 2-12

Chapter 3 Building Feasible Networks

3.1 Network topology for AcerHub ALH-608ds 3-1

3.2 Interconnection to hubs and switches 3-4

Chapter 4 Troubleshooting
Appendix A Specifications

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Quick Installation Guide

1. Unpack the AcerHub ALH-608ds dual-speed Hub and it's
accessories (refer section 1.3).

2. Connect the Hub to the external Power supply (refer to section 2.4.1)

3. Use the normal ports to connect to PCs and computers.

4. Use the uplink port to connect to another hub or LAN switch.

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1. Overview

Congratulations on your purchase of the AcerHub 608ds. The AcerHub ALH­608ds is a 8-port dual-speed fast Ethernet repeater hub for connection with
multiple PCs to a workgroup LAN (Local Area Network) environment to share
network resources.

1.1 Product goal

AcerHub ALH-608ds provides high-speed and easy access to the LAN and
Intranet both for SOHO (Small Office/ Home Office) and corporations. It
allows data transmission at speeds of 10 Mbps or 100Mbps, depending if the
connected device is running at 10Mbps or 100Mbps. Besides the high-speed
data access, the AcerHub ALH-608ds also supports one uplink port for Class­II cascading connection between hub stacks. The uplink port will support the
bridge function that permits a distance of 100 meters for data transmission in
Class-II cascading and eliminates the repeater count limitation in IEEE 802.3u
specifications. It will be easy to construct your own LAN with ALH-608ds by
this explicit expanding capability of data transmitting distances and user
accounts.

Installation of AcerHub ALH-608ds is relatively simple and all you have to do
is plug the cables from the adapter cards to the ports, check the LEDs and
you can start networking.

1.2 Product Features

AcerHub ALH-608ds provides the following features:

• 8-port dual-speed hub, each port is a 10/100 Mbps dual-speed connection

with network speed auto-detection

• Fully complies with IEEE 802.3 and 802.3u specifications

• Built-in switching function to connect 10 and 100Mbps network

domains

• Stackable function to provide maximum stacking of 5 sets as a single hub

count by SCSI-II cables

• In slave hub mode, an uplink port with bridge function which provides

scalable network expansion.(This function is very useful in constructing a

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1-1

large network,refer section 3.1 for details.)

• Built-in switch auto-disable function to avoid data looping when

stacking

• External switching power supply for lower power consumption and

heat emission

• Compact design for SOHO desktop environment for easy

networking

1.3 Product configuration

The product configuration inside the package is shown in the figure 1-1.
Please check the contents of the package if there is any missing part before
using the hub. The accessories of this product include:

ALH-608ds dual-speed hub 1 piece
External switching power adapter 1 piece
Power cord 1 piece
Stacking cable (SCSI-II) 1 piece
Stacking kit 1 pair
User's manual 1 piece

1-2

Figure 1-1 Product configuration of AcerHub ALH-608ds

User's Manual

2. Make Your Hub Ready

This chapter will guide you through how to install the AcerHub ALH-608ds. It
includes procedures for connecting to the external power supply, installing the
hub on your working surface, connecting the Hub to your computer, and
guidelines to see if it works well. Before setting up your hub, please take note
of the front and rear panel of this hub, as shown in Figure 2-A and 2-B.

Figure 2-A Front Panel

Note: The ports marked "II"", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7","8" are

normal ports.

Figure 2-B Rear Panel

Please follow the installing procedures to make your network ready:

2.1 Connecting to the external power supply

Carefully unpack the AcerHub ALH-608ds and it's accessories. For the first
time that you use this hub, please make sure there is nothing missing in the
package. The procedures for connecting to the power outlet are:

2.1.1 Take out the hub and the power adapter from the packing box, as shown

in Figure 2-1.

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2-1

Figure 2-1 Get the hub and power adapter

2.1.2 Place the hub on the desktop and remove the packing box of the power

adapter, as shown in Figure 2-2.

Figure 2-2 Put the hub on desktop and find the proper power adapter

2-2

User's Manual