Belkin F5D7011 User Manual

F5D7011

High-Speed Mode Wireless G Notebook Network Card

Connect your laptop computer to a FASTER wireless network

User Manual

Table of Contents

1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Advantages of a Wireless Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Placement of your Wireless Networking Hardware for

Optimal Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Product Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Applications and Advantages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Product Specifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Package Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3 Installing and Setting Up the Card

Step 1: Install the Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Step 2: Plug the Card in an Available CardBus

Slot of your Laptop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Step 3: Let Windows Finish the Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

4 Using the Belkin Wireless LAN Utility

Setting Wireless Network Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Securing your Wi-Fi Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Monitoring the Status of your Network Connection. . . . . . . . . . . 28

Monitoring Data Transfer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Finding Available Networks in your Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Performing Diagnostic Tests on your Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

5 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

6 Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

34 43

Introduction

Thank you f or purc hasin g the Belki n High-Sp eed Mode Wi reless G Noteb ook Netwo rk Card ( the Card). Now you can t ake advantage of this great new te chnology witho ut using ca bles. The H igh-Spe ed Mode Wireles s G No teboo k Network C ard wor ks like a convention al netwo rk card , but witho ut the wires. The easy i nstal lation an d setup will have y ou networking wi reles sly in minu tes. Plea se be sure to read through this User Manua l complet ely, and p ay special atten tion to the secti on entitl ed “Place ment of you r Wireless Net working H ardware for Optim al Perfor mance ”.

Advan tages of a wireles s network

• Mobil ity – you no long er need a ded icated “c omputer room ”— you can wor k on a n etwor ked lapto p or d eskto p compute r anywh ere wit hin your wi reles s range

• Easy installat ion – Belki n Easy Inst allation Wizards make setup simple

• Flexi bility – se t up a nd access p rinters, compu ters, and o ther netwo rking dev ices from anywhere in you r home

• Easy Expansion – the w ide range o f Belkin ne tworking pro ducts let you exp and your ne twork to in clude dev ices such a s printers and gaming conso les

• No cabling required – you c an spare the expen se and hass le of ret rofit ting Ethernet cabl ing throughout t he home or office

• Wides pread i ndustry a ccept ance – choo se from a wid e range of interoper able netw orkin g produ cts

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Introduction

Placement of your Wireless Networking Hardware for Optimal Performance

Your wireless co nnect ion will be strong er the clos er your com puter is to your Wi reles s Router (o r Access Po int). Typica l indoor op erating range for y our wireless devices is between 10 0 and 200 feet. I n the same way, your wireles s connect ion and per forma nce will de grade somew hat as the distance be tween you r Wirel ess Route r (or Acces s Point ) connect ed device s increases. T his may or may no t be notic eable to yo u. As you move fu rther from your Wi reless Route r (or Access Point ), connec tion spee d may decrease . Fa ctors that can weake n signals s imply by ge tting in the wa y of your net work’s r adio waves are metal ap plian ces or obst ructions, and wall s.

If you have c oncerns abo ut your net work’s perfor mance that might be rela ted to rang e or obstru ction factors, t ry moving t he c omput er to a positi on between five and te n feet from the Wireless Ro uter (or Acces s Point), i n order to se e if distan ce is the problem. I f diffi culties persi st even at close range , pl ease contact Bel kin Techn ical Supp ort.

Note: W hile some o f the items listed bel ow can affect netw ork

perfo rmance, t hey will no t prohi bit your wi reless netwo rk from funct ioning; i f you are concerned th at your net work is not operatin g at its maxi mum eff ectiv eness, th is checklist may hel p.

1. Placement of your Wireless Router or Access Point

Place your Wireless Rou ter (or Acc ess Point ), the cent ral conne ction point of yo ur network, as close a s possibl e to the cent er of your wireless net work devi ces.

To achiev e the best wireles s network c overage f or your “wi rel ess clien ts,” (i.e . compute rs enabled by Belkin W ire less Note book Netwo rk Card s, Wire less Desk top Network Cards, and Wi reles s USB Adapters):

• Ensure that your W ire less Rout er (or Acce ss Point) a ntennas are par allel to ea ch other, and are positioned ve rtically (towa rd the ceiling). If your Wireless Rou ter (or Acc ess Point ) itself is posit ioned ver tical ly, poin t the anten nas as much as po ssibl e in an upward direction .

• In multistory homes, place the Wireless Router (or Access Point) on a floor that is as close to the center of the home as possible. This may mean placing the Wireless Router (or Access Point) on an upper floor.

• Try not to place th e Wirel ess Router (or Access Point ) ne ar a cordless 2.4 GHz phone .

Introduction

2. Avoid Obstacles and Interference

Avo id p lacin g your Wireless Ro uter (or Ac cess Poin t) near dev ices that may em it radio “n oise” , su ch as microwav e ovens. Ot her objec ts that can in hibit Wirele ss commun icati on can incl ude:

• Refri gerators

• Washers an d/or drye rs

• Metal cabinets

• Large aquariums

• Metal lic-based UV tinte d windows

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If your wireless s ignal seems weak in so me spots, m ake sure that objec ts such as these are not b locking t he signal’s pat h between y our compu ters and Wi reles s Router (o r Access Po int).

3. Cordless Phone Placement

If the perf orman ce of your wireles s network i s impaired after atten ding to the above issu es, and you hav e your cordles s ph one:

• Try moving co rdles s phones aw ay from W ireless Rout er o r Acces s Point and your wireless-e nable d compute rs

• Unplu g and remove the battery from a ny cordless ph one that operate on the 2. 4GHz band ( check man ufact urers infor mation). If this fix es the problem, yo ur phone ma y be interfering .

• If your pho ne supports chan nel selec tion, cha nge the chann el on the phone t o the furth est chann el from y our wireless net work, as po ssible. F or example, chan ge t he phone to ch annel 1 and m ove your Wi reles s Router (o r Acces s Point) to channel 11 . Se e your phon e’s us er m anual for detailed ins tructio ns.

• If necessary, c onsider s witch ing to a 900MHz o r 5GHz cordless pho ne.

4. Choose the “quietest” channel for your wireless network

In locations whe re home s or o ffi ces are close toge ther, such as apart ment buil dings or office co mplex es, there may be wireless netwo rks nearb y that can co nflict wi th yours. U se the Site Survey capab ilities o f your Wireless LA N Utility t o locate an y other wireless

Introduction

netwo rks, and mo ve your Wireless R outer (or A ccess Poi nt) and compu ters to a channel as far awa y from ot her netwo rks as poss ible.

Exper iment wit h more th an one of the ava ilabl e channel s, in ord er to find the cl earest conne ction and a void inte rference from neigh boring cordless pho nes or othe r wirel ess devic es.

Use the det ailed Site Surve y an d wireless cha nnel info rmation inclu ded in your User Guide for m ore inf ormat ion.

5. Secure connections, VPNs, and AOL

Secure conne ctions are conne ction s that typi cally require a user name and pa ssword, and are used where security is important . Secure conne ctions in clude :

• Vir tual Priv ate Netwo rk (VPN) co nnect ions, oft en used to connect rem otely to an office network

• The “Bring Your Own Access” program from Amer ica Online (AOL) , which let s you use AOL through broadband provided by anoth er cable or DSL s ervic e

• Most on-line ban king webs ites

• Many commerc ial websi tes which require a username and passw ord to access your account

Secure conne ctions ca n be interr upted by a co mputer’s powe r manag ement set ting, whi ch causes i t to “go to sleep.” The simplest solut ion to avoi d this is to simp ly reco nnect by re-running the VPN o r AOL software , or b y re-logging i nto the secure web site.

A second alternative is to change your computer’s power management settings so it does not go to sleep; however, this may not be appropriate for portable com puters. To ch ange your p ower managemen t setting under Windows, s ee the “Pow er O ption s” item in the Co ntrol P anel.

If you cont inue to hav e diffi culty with Secure Conne ction, VP Ns and AOL please review steps 1-4 a bove to be su re you have a ddressed these issues.

The se guidelines should allow you to cover the maximum possible area with your W ireless Rout er. Sh ould you ne ed to cover a n ev en wider are a, w e suggest B elkin ’s Wireless Range Exte nder/Ac cess Point.

For more information regarding our ne twork ing pro ducts, vi sit our website at www.belkin.com/networking or call Belkin Technical Support.

Overview

Product Features

The Card complies with the IE EE 802.11g stand ard in order to commu nicate wi th other 80 2.11g-compli ant wireless devices at 54Mbp s or t he faster 1 25 High-S peed Mode ( HSM)* . The card is compatible wi th all 802. 11g devic es as well as oth er 802.11b pro ducts at 11Mbps. 802 .11g products op erate on th e same 2.4G Hz fre quency ba nd as 802.1 1b Wi-Fi product s.

• 2.4GHz ISM (Industrial, Science, and Medical) band operation

• Integrated easy-to-use Wireless Configuration Utility

• CardBus interface, for operation in virtually any notebook computer

• WPA, 64-bit WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy), or 128-bit encryption

• Wireless access to networked resources

• Support for both Infrastructure and Ad-Hoc (peer-to-peer) networking modes

• Easy installation and use

• Internal antenna

• LED power and network link indicators

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*When operating in High-Speed Mode, this Wi-Fi device may achieve an actual throughput of up to or greater than 34.1 Mbps, which is the equivalent throughput of a system following 802.11g protocol and operating at a signaling rate of 125 Mbps. Actual throughput will vary depending on environmental, operational and other factors.

Overview

Applications and Advantages

• Wireless roaming wi th a l aptop a round t he h ome or office Off ers the freedom of networki ng withou t cables

• Conne ction rat es of up to 54Mbp s or 125Mbp s* using HS M pro vides imm ediate, h igher- speed wirele ss connec tivit y at h ome, work, and h ot spot loc ation s wi thout compro misin g th e use of exist ing 802.1 1b prod ucts

• Compa tibilit y with 802. 11b products

802.1 1g wire less LAN so lutions a re back ward-compa tible with exist ing Wi-Fi ( IEEE 802. 11b) product s and with othe r products that display the 54g m ark and/o r 125HSM ma rk

• Difficult- to-wi re envi ronments Enabl es networ king in bui ldings wi th solid or f inished w alls, or open areas where wiri ng is difficult to install

• Fre quently c hanging e nvironment s Adapt s easily in office s or e nvironment s that frequen tly rea rrange or change l ocati ons

• Tempora ry LANs for s pecial proje cts or peak tim e Sets up tem porar y network s, (such as at tr ade shows, exhib itions and constructi ons sites ), on a short -term bas is; also co mpani es who need ad ditio nal works tations f or a peak act ivity per iod.

• SOHO (Small Office/Ho me Offi ce) networking n eeds Provides the easy and quick, small network installation SOHO users need.

Product Specifications

Host Interface 32-bi t Cardb us

Power Consumpt ion Tx/Rx peak 550/3 50mA @

3.3 VDC (max)

Opera ting Temperature 32 –185 deg rees F (0 –85 d egrees C)

Stora ge Temperature -40 –194 de grees F ( -40 – 90 degrees C)

Humid ity (Max . 95% (non- conde nsing)

Typical O perating Range Up to 200 fee t (Wire less perf orman ce

may vary de pendi ng on the netwo rking env ironment)

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Overview

(a) Power LED

Light s up w hen the Card rec eives pow er

(b) Link LED

Light s up w hen the Card links t o a wi rel ess netwo rk Slowl y flashes w hen not lin ked to a wire less network

Part of the C ard tha t fits into your compu ter’s CardBus slot

System Requirements

• PC-co mpatible lapto p wi th one avai lable CardBu s slot

• Windo ws

9 8SE, Me, 20 00, XP

Package Contents

• High- Speed Mod e Wirel ess G Noteb ook Network Card

• Quick Installa tion Guid e

• Insta llation S oftwa re CD

• User Manual

(a)

(b)

(c)

Installing and Setting up the Card

Step 1 Install the Software

WARNING:

1.1 Insert the Installation Software CD into your CD-ROM drive.

1. 2 The Belkin Setup Utility will automatically appear.

INSTALL THE SOFTWARE BEFORE INSERTING THE CARD.

Note: If th e Setup Uti lity screen does n ot appear w ithin 20 se conds,

open your C D-ROM drive by doubl e-cli cking on th e “My Compu ter” icon and in sert the CD . Double- click on th e CD-ROM dr ive that th e insta llation C D has been pl aced in to star t the insta llati on. Then, doubl e-click o n the folde r named “Fi les”. Nex t, double-clic k on the icon named “setu p.exe”.

1.3 In the menu wind ow, dr ag your mouse ove r the “Insta ll” button

then select “Cl ick here” to start the s oftware installa tion program.

Installing and Setting up the Card

1.4 The instal ler will no w start. Cl ick

“Next ” and follo w the on-sc reen in structions.

Step 2 Plug the Card in an Available CardBus Slot of your Laptop

2.1 Durin g the insta ll proc ess, you

will be prompted t o insert yo ur Card. I nsert the C ard , label sid e UP, into your compu ter’s Ca rdB us slot firmly unti l it s tops. The p ower light on th e top will tu rn on wh en it is inser ted pro perly.

I f your syst em did not

Note:

pro mpt you to inse rt your Card after the i nstal lation is c omplete d, pleas e do s o now.

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2.2 After the i nstal lation is c omplete ,

click “Finish” .

1110

Installing and Setting up the Card

Step 3 Let Windows Finish the Installation

3.1 Depen ding on the version of

Windo ws you are us ing, you might see t he “Found N ew Hardware W izard ” screen. Selec t “Instal l the softw are autom atically (Reco mmended )” and click “ Next” .

3.2 You migh t also see a screen

simil ar to this one. T his DOES NOT mean th ere is a problem .

Selec t “Contin ue Anyway ” and follo w the on-sc reen in structions.

3.3 If you are u sing Wind ows 98SE

or Me, you wi ll be asked to restart your computer. If you are usi ng Windows 2000 or XP, clic k “Finish ” to finish t he insta llation p rocess.

3.4 When the installa tion is

compl ete, a smal l Signal Indic ator icon i n your syst em tray (bottom rig ht corner of most screens ) will appe ar. Doubl e-click t he Signal Indic ator icon t o bring up the Wireless Net work” screen .

Installing and Setting up the Card

3.5 Select t he networ k you want

to connect to under “Available netwo rks” and cl ick “Conn ect”.

3.6 The Signal I ndica tor icon in

your system tray should now turn green (yell ow if the signa l is weak.)

Insta llation i s now compl ete!

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1312

Using the Belkin Wireless LAN Utility

How to Access the Belkin Wireless LAN Utility

Doubl e-click t he Signal I ndicator icon to bri ng up the “Wi reles s Netwo rk” screen.

The following sc reen wi ll appear :

Next, click on the “Ad vance d” b utton to en able the Be lkin Wireles s LAN Utility. Th is utilit y will allo w you to view and c onfigure the wireless set tings of yo ur card .

Using the Belkin Wireless LAN Utility

Setting Wireless Network Preferences

Click on the “Wireless Networks” tab.

(a)

(b)

(i)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

(j)

(k)

(h)

(g) (m)

(a) Enable Radio

Use t his option t o tur n your wirel ess network radio ON or OFF. You may w ant to turn th e rad io off whi le in airpla nes o r to co nserv e the batte ry life of y our m obile c omput er. When the r adio is disa bled, the power LED on your Card will turn o ff an d the system tray wireless netwo rk icon will be d epicted with an “X”.

(b) Available Networks

This displays a l ist o f wireless networ ks in your area . If you don ’t see a nam e in the box , cli ck on t he “R efres h”

avail able network s. To c onnec t to a netwo rk, select a netw ork name in the Availa ble N etworks list box and cli ck th e “Configure” (i) button Click “OK” (m) in th e “Wi reles s Net work Prope rties” box t o add the netwo rk name to t he “P refer red Networ ks” (c) list. Wa it up to one minut e for the ne twork connec tion to be made. Your co mpute r is

conne cted to the selec ted net work when you see a bl ue bubb le on to p of the ico n for that n etwor k.

Displ ays a list o f the networ ks th at you have previously conf igure d. The o ne with the blue bubble

conne cted to. You ma y rank the n etworks by s elect ing the netw ork

(d) is the network you a re cu rrently

(j) butt on to resc an for any

(l)

(d)

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+ 33 hidden pages