Airlink101 AWLC3026 User Manual

Airlink101 802.11g Cardbus Adapter

Model # AWLC3026

User’s Manual

Ver. 1A

Table of Contents

1. Introduction .................................................................................................................3

1.1 Package Contents .................................................................................................3

2. Installation...................................................................................................................4

2.1 Install Driver & Utility..............................................................................................4

2.2 Verify Driver Installation.......................................................................................10

3. Initializing the 802.11g Wireless Cardbus Adapter....................................................12

3.1 Disabling the Windows Wireless Configuration Utility……………………………...12

3.2 Setting Up the 802.11g Wireless Cardbus Adapter………………………………...13

4. Configuring the 802.11g Wireless Cardbus Adapter .................................................15

4.1 The Status Tab.....................................................................................................15

4.2 The Configuration Tab..........................................................................................16

4.3 The Advanced Tab...............................................................................................17

4.4 The Profile Tab.....................................................................................................18

4.5 The Network Tab..................................................................................................19

4.6 The Statistics Tab.................................................................................................20

4.7 The About Tab......................................................................................................21

5. Troubleshooting.........................................................................................................22

6. Technical Specifications............................................................................................23

7. Technical Support .....................................................................................................23

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1. Introduction

Thank you for purchasing the 802.11g Wireless Cardbus Adapter. This Cardbus
Adapter is designed to comply with IEEE 802.11g Wireless LAN standard and is
suitable for notebook computers or desktop computers with a 32-bit Cardbus slot.

This Adapter supports 64/128-bit WEP data encryption that protects your wireless
network from eavesdropping. It also supports WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) feature
that combines IEEE 802.1x and TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol) technologies.
Client users are required to authorize before accessing the APs or AP Routers, and the
data transmitted through the network is encrypted/decrypted by a dynamically changing
secret key.

Features:

• Compatible with IEEE 802.11g high rate standard to provide wireless Ethernet
speeds of 54Mbps data rate

• Dynamic date rate scaling at 54, 48, 36, 24, 18, 12, 9 and 6Mbps for 802.11g

• Dynamic date rate scaling at 11, 5.5, 2 and 1Mbps for 802.11b

• Maximum reliability, throughput and connectivity with automatic data rate

switching

• Supports wireless data encryption with 64/128-bit WEP and WPA standard for
security

• Integrated micro-strip dual diversity antenna for the multi-path environment

• Drivers support Windows 98(SE), 2000, ME and XP

1.1 Package Contents

Before you begin the installation, please check the items of your package. The package
should include the following items:

• Airlink101 802.11g Wireless Cardbus Adapter

• Quick Installation Guide

• Installation CD (Driver/Utility/Manual)

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2. Installation

2.1 Install Driver & Utility

This section provides instructions on how to install the 802.11G Cardbus Adapter. The
driver is installed along with the utility.

Note: Do not insert the Cardbus Adapter until you have reached the appropriate step.

For Windows 98SE and ME users, you may be prompted to insert the Windows 98SE or
ME CD during the driver installation. Be sure to have your Windows 98SE or ME CD
ready.

Step 1 Insert the Driver & Utility CD into your CD drive and select Install Driver and

Utility from the menu.

Note: If the Autorun screen doesn’t appear automatically go to Start, Run, and type
D:\autorun.exe (where D is the letter of your CD drive) and click OK.

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Step 2 Click Next at the welcome screen.

Step 3 Click Next to accept the default destination folder.

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Step 4 Click Next to select the appropriate program folder from the list of names.

Step 5 Select Finish to complete driver installation on to your computer.

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Step 6 Now, insert the Cardbus Adapter into your computer. The Found New Hardware

Wizard will appear once your computer detects the adapter. Select No, not this time on

the menu and press Next to continue.

Step 7 Select Install the software automatically and click Next.

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Step 8 The Found New Hardware Wizard will now show you the list of drivers available

for your Cardbus Adapter. Windows will automatically select the driver most suitable for
the installation. Make sure the driver is highlighted and press Next to continue.

Step 9 Click Continue Anyway at the Windows Logo Screen.

(For Windows 2000, click Yes at the Digital Signature Not Found prompt).

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Step 10 Click Finish to complete installation. (Restart the computer for Windows 98SE

and ME).

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2.2 Verify Driver Installation

To verify if the driver has been installed successfully, please perform the following steps.

Step 1 Right-click on My Computer from your desktop and select Properties.

Step 2 Select the Device Manager tab. (For Windows 2000/XP, select the Hardware

tab first then click on Device Manager).

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Step 3 Expand Network adapters from the list and verify that Airlink101 802.11g

Cardbus Adapter is listed and no yellow question mark is beside it.

If Airlink101 802.11g Cardbus Adapter is not listed, or you see a yellow question mark
beside it, please re-install the driver again.

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3. Initializing the 802.11g Wireless Cardbus Adapter

This section describes how to connect your Airlink101 802.11g Cardbus Adapter to a
wireless network.

Note to Windows XP Users:

You must disable the Wireless Zero Configuration Utility in order to use the bundled
Wireless Utility. Please follow the steps below to disable XP’s wireless utility.

3.1 Disabling the Windows Wireless Zero Configuration Utility
(Windows XP only)

Step 1 Double-click on the Wireless Network Connection Icon in the system tray to

open the Windows Wireless Utility.

Step 2 In the left hand margin, look for the box labeled Related Tasks. Inside the box,

click on Change advanced settings to access the Windows Wireless Utility properties.

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Step 2 Go to the Wireless Networks tab, uncheck the “Use Windows to configure

my wireless network settings” check box and click OK.

3.2 Setting up your 802.11g Wireless Cardbus Adapter

Step 1 After you have completed installing the bundled Driver and Utility programs,

Windows will automatically recognize the Wireless Cardbus Adapter and start the
Wireless Utility program.

The following window will appear. Select the country domain and click OK to continue.

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Step 2 Click Yes to confirm your country selection and proceed.

Step 3 The Wireless Utility will now appear and begin to scanning for any available

wireless networks in its range. Once it connects to a wireless network, the SSID will
display on the top of the window and the bottom of the window will display the Signal
Strength and Link Quality.

Congratulations! You have now successfully installed and configured your 802.11g
Wireless Cardbus Adapter. However, for further settings, please see Chapter 4.

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4. Configuring the 802.11g Wireless Cardbus Adapter

This section describes the various functions of the Wireless Utility that you can
configure, including the settings of wireless encryption.

There are two ways to access the Wireless Utility:

1. Click Start > Programs > Airlink101 802.11g Cardbus Utility

2. Double-click on the Airlink101 Wireless Icon located in the system tray

4.1 The Status Tab

Once you have accessed the Wireless Cardbus Adapter utility, you will have additional
menus to configure your adapter. The first window that appears once you open the
utility is the Status tab.

This window displays all the information for the Wireless Cardbus Adapter under its
current configuration settings. This information includes the selected SSID, Network
Mode, Channel, Transmit Rate, Encryption Type and Signal Strength/Link Quality.

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4.2 The Configuration Tab

There are two parts to the Configuration Tab: Network and Security.

Network Settings There are three options:

• Network Mode: Select from Infrastructure (Access Point) or Ad-Hoc (Computer-
to-Computer.

• Network SSID: Select from ANY (First available) or any of the detected SSID’s.

• Channel: Displays the current Wireless Channel.

Security In order to utilize the Security function, click the Enable Encryption box.
From here you can choose:

• Encryption Mode: You may select from WEP-Key, WEP-Passphrase, and WEP­PSK.

• Authentication Mode: You may select from Auto, Open System, and Shared
Key.

• Default Key: Select from the list of default keys.

• Key Length: Select the appropriate key length, which may be 40/64 Bit or 128

Bit.

• Key Format: Select either Hex or ASCII

• WEP-Key: Use this box to enter in your designated WEP-Key.

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4.3 The Advanced Tab

The Advanced Tab allows you to access the advanced configuration functions for the
Wireless Utility.

From this window, you may select the following:

• Wireless Mode: Choose to select 802.11b or 802.11g (Ad-Hoc mode only).

• Power Saving: This allows you to select the appropriate power-saving mode:

Normal, Maximum, or Off.

• Transmit Power: This allows you to set the appropriate level of transmit power

• Preamble Type: Select either Auto, Long Tx Preamble, or Short Tx Preamble.

• Country Domain: Select the appropriate country of location.

The two levels on the bottom of the window also allow you to customize your
Fragmentation Threshold and your RTS/CTS Threshold.

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4.4 The Profile Tab

The Profile Tab allows you to create/load/delete wireless profiles. Wireless profiles allow
you to save all of your Configuration Settings and then reload them at any time if they
have been changed.

To create a Profile: Type a name in the Profile Name box and click Save.

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4.5 The Network Tab

The Network Tab displays all the available Wireless Networks within the Cardbus
Adapters detectable range. You may click Rescan at any time to refresh the wireless
network availability.

To select a specific network, double-click the SSID.

The Network window also displays the MAC Address of the wireless signal, the Channel,
the Signal strength, the Security status, and the Mode.

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4.6 The Statistics Tab

The Statistics Tab allows users to view their Transmit Performance and Receive
Performance. The charts display the amount of information being sent/received over
specific time intervals.

From here, you may easily observe the amount of information being transferred over
your wireless adapter.

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4.7 The About Tab

The About Tab displays important information about the Wireless Adapter including the
Device Name, Regulatory Domain, Driver Version, Firmware Version, MAC Address, as
well as the Wireless LAN configuration Utility.

Article I. Technical Support

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5. Troubleshooting

1. How do I verify if the driver is installed correctly?

To verify if the driver for the wireless adapter is installed correctly, follow the steps
below.

Step 1 Right-click on My Computer from your desktop and choose Properties.
Step 2 Select the Device Manager tab. (For Windows 2000/XP, select the Hardware

tab first then click on Device Manager).

Step 3 Expand Network adapters and verify that Airlink101 802.11g Cardbus

Adapter is in the list and that no yellow question mark or exclamation mark is beside it.

Step 4 Close the Device Manager. If you do not see Airlink101 802.11g Cardbus

Adapter in the list, try to reinstall the driver again.

2. The computer does not recognize the Cardbus adapter.

Make sure that the Cardbus adapter is properly seated in the computer’s Cardbus bus
slot. If there are additional free Cardbus slots, try to install the Cardbus adapter in those
slots.

3. The CARDBUS adapter does not work properly after the driver is installed.

Restart the computer. In some cases, it will be necessary to restart the computer after
installing the driver. If the device is not working properly and a yellow exclamation mark
is displayed, then there is probably a resource conflict. In this case, make sure the
computer system has a free IRQ and if necessary, uninstall the driver, restart the
system, and repeat the driver installation procedure.

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6. Technical Specifications

Radio Technology

Interface Cardbus Type II specification 32bit data bus

Section 1.01 Receiver Sensitivity

Section 1.02 Wireless LAN
Frequency Range

Section 1.03 Transmit Power

Section 1.04 Driver Support

Security

Antenna Integrated Microstrip dual diversity antennas

Section 1.05 Continuous Current
Consumption

IEEE 802.11g (OFDM)
IEEE 802.11b (DSSS)

54Mbps: Typical - 73dBm @ 10% PER
11Mbps: Typical - 85dBm @ 8% PER

2412 ~ 2484 MHz ISM band (channels 1 ~ 11)

Minimum 15dBm typically @ 802.11b
Minimum 12dBm typically @ 802.11g

Windows 98(SE) / 2000 / ME / XP

64/128-bits WEP Encryption
Wireless Fidelity Protected Access (WPA)

240mA typ. for receive mode
530mA typ. for transmit mode

Section 1.06 Dimensions (W x H
x D)

Section 1.07 Certifications

7. Technical Support

E-mail: [e-mail]

Web Site: www.airlink101.com

118 x 54 x 7 mm (W x H x D)

FCC Part 15.247 for US

Toll Free: 1-888-746-3238

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*Theoretical maximum wireless signal rate based on IEEE standard 802.11g specifications. Actual data throughput will vary.
Network conditions and environmental factors, including volume of network traffic, building materials and construction, mix of
wireless products used, radio frequency interference (e.g., cordless telephones and microwaves) as well as network overhead lower
actual data throughput rate.

Copyright © 2005 AirLink101. All rights reserved. AirLink101, the stylized AirLink101 logo, specific product designations, and all
other words and logos that are identified as trademarks and/or service marks are, unless noted otherwise, the trademarks and
service marks of AirLink101. All other product or service names are the property of their respective holders. AirLink101 products are
protected under numerous U.S. and foreign patents and pending applications, mask work rights, and copyrights. MIMO XR is a
registered trademark of Ralink Technology Corporation.

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