Belkin F5D7011B Users Manual

Belkin Ltd.

7 Bowen Crescent, West Gosford NSW 2250, Australia +61 (0) 2 4372 8600 +61 (0) 2 4372 8603 fax

Belkin B.V.

Boeing Avenue 333 1119 PH Schiphol-Rijk, The Netherlands +31 (0) 20 654 7300 +31 (0) 20 654 7349 fax

Belkin Tech Support

US: 877-736-5771

310-898-1100 ext. 2263 Europe: 00 800 223 55 460 Australia: 1800 235 546 New Zealand: 0800 235 546 Singapore: 800 616 1790

Belkin Corporation

501 West Walnut Street Los Angeles, CA 90220-5221, USA 310-898-1100 310-898-1111 fax

Belkin Ltd.

Express Business Park, Shipton Way Rushden, NN10 6GL, United Kingdom +44 (0) 1933 35 2000 +44 (0) 1933 31 2000 fax

© 2006 Belkin Corporation. All rights reserved. All trade names are registered trademarks of respective manufacturers listed. 54g is a trademark of Broadcom Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. The mark Wi-Fi is a registered mark of the Wi-Fi Alliance. The “Wi-Fi CERTIFIED” logo is a certification mark of the Wi-Fi Alliance.

P74488-C

Wireless G Plus

Notebook Card

User Manual

F5D7011

Connect your notebook computer to a wireless network

Wireless G Plus

Notebook Card











�













�

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

Benefits of a Home Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Advantages of a Wireless Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Placement of your Wireless Networking Hardware for

Optimal Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Product Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Applications and Advantages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Product Specifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Package Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

3 Installing and Setting up the Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Step 1: Install the Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Step 2: Plug the Card into an Available CardBus Slot on your

Notebook Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Step 3: Use the Belkin Wireless Networking Utility . . . . . . . . . . . 10

4 Using the Belkin Wireless Networking Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Accessing the WNU from the Windows System Tray . . . . . . . . . 11

Network Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Available Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Network Status and Solution Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Setting Wireless Network Profiles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Securing your Wi-Fi Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Configuring your Wireless G Plus Notebook Card to

use Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

5 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

6 Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Table of Contents

Introduction

sec tio n

Thank you fo r purchasing th e Belkin Wi re le ss G Plus Note book Card (the Card). No w y ou can take ad vantage of th is great new techno logy and ga in the fre edom to net work your h om e and office comput ers wireless ly. This Ca rd al lows you to co nnect a noteb ook comput er to your net work. Plea se be sure to re ad through this User Manu al compl et ely, a nd pay specia l a ttent io n to the secti on entitl ed “Placem ent of your Wi re le ss Netwo rking Hardwa re for Optima l P erforma nce”.

Benefi ts of a Home Netw ork

Your B elkin Ho me Network wi ll allow yo u t o:

• Share one hig h-speed In terne t c onnec ti on with all th e c omput er s in your ho me

• Share resources, su ch as files, a nd hard dr ives amo ng all the connec ted comput ers in your ho me

• Share a single p ri nter wit h t he entire famil y

• Share docume nts, music , v ideo, an d d igital pic tures

• Store, re triev e, and copy file s f ro m o ne compu te r to anothe r

• Simul ta neous ly play games on line, ch ec k Internet ema il , and chat

Advant ages of a Wirele ss Ne twork

Here are some of the advantages of setting up a Belkin wireless network:

• M obili ty – y ou’ll no long er need a dedi cated “com puter

roo m”—no w y ou can work on a net worked lap top or desk top comput er anywhere wit hin your wi rele ss range

• Easy inst allatio n – Belkin Eas y I nstalla tion Wiz ard mak es

setup sim ple

• Flexib ility – set up an d a ccess pr in ters, co mputers , a nd other

networ king devic es from anywhere in you r h ome

• Easy expa nsion – the wi de range of Be lk in netwo rking produc ts

lets you e xp and your ne twork to in cl ude devi ces such as prin ters and gamin g c onsol es

• No cablin g req uire d – you can spa re the e xp ense and ha ssle of

ret ro fitting Et her net cablin g t hroughout th e h ome or office

• Widesp re ad industr y a cceptan ce – c hoose from a wid e r ange

of interope rable netw orking produ cts

Introduction

Placement of your Wireless Networking Hardware for Optimal Performance

Your w ireless conn ection wil l b e stronger th e c loser your co mputer is to your wi rele ss ro uter. Typical ind oor oper at ing rang e f or your wireless de vices is betw een 100 and 20 0 f eet. In the sa me way, your wirele ss connect ion and per fo rmanc e w ill degrad e s omewhat as the dis ta nce betw een your wirele ss ro ut er and conn ected devi ces increase s. This may or ma y n ot be noticea ble to you. As yo u m ove farthe r f ro m y our wireless rout er, c onnec ti on speed ma y d ecrease. Factor s t hat can wea ken signal s s imply by ge tting in the way of your netw ork’s ra dio wave s a re me tal applia nces or obs tr uctio ns , and walls .

If you hav e c oncer ns about yo ur network ’s perfo rmance t ha t might be rel ated to ran ge or obstr uc tion fac tors, try mov ing the com puter to a positio n b etwee n f ive and 10 fee t f rom t he wire less router in o rder to see if dis tance is the p robl em. If difficul ties persi st even at clo se range, pl ease con ta ct Belki n Techn ical Suppo rt.

Note: W hile some o f t he items list ed below ca n a ff ec t networ k

perfor mance, the y w ill not prohi bi t your wirele ss network from functi oning; if y ou are c on cer ned that yo ur network is no t o peratin g at its max im um effective ness, th is checkli st may help.

1. Placement of your Wireless Router

Place you r w ireless router, t he central co nnectio n p oint of you r networ k, as close as po ssible to t he center of you r w ireless networ k d evices.

To ach ieve the be st wire less net work cover age for you r “ wire less client s,” (i.e. c om puter s e nabled by Wirel ess Notebo ok Cards, Wireless De sktop Cards, an d W irel ess USB Ada pters):

• Ensure that yo ur wireless route r’s ante nnas are parall el to each other, an d a re po sitione d v ertical ly (toward the c ei ling) . I f y our wireless router it self is pos itioned ve rticall y, poi nt the antenn as as much as po ssible in an u pw ard d irection.

• In multistory homes, place the wireless router on a floor that is as close to the center of the home as possible. This may mean placing the wireless router on an upper floor.

• Try not to plac e t he wireless route r n ear a cordles s

2.4GHz ph one.

Introduction

sec tio n

2. Avoid Obstacles and Interference

Avo id placi ng your wireles s rou te r near devi ces that ma y e mit radio “noise ”, such as mic rowa ve ovens . O ther objec ts that can in hibit wireless co mmunica tion can incl ude:

• Refrig erators

• Washe rs and/or d ry ers

• Metal cab inets

• Large aquariu ms

• Metall ic-base d, UV-tinte d w indows

If your wi rele ss signal s ee ms weak in som e s pots, ma ke sure that object s s uch as thes e a re no t b locking th e s ignal ’s path bet ween your comput ers and wireles s rou ter.

3. Cordless Phone Placement

If the per fo rmanc e o f y our wireless ne twork is im pa ired after at te nding to the abo ve issues, an d y ou have a cordle ss phone:

• Try movin g c ordless phon es away from the wi rele ss ro uter and your w irel ess-ena bled compu ters.

• Unplug an d rem ove the bat te ry from any cordless ph one that oper ates on the 2. 4GHz band ( ch eck manu facturer’s inform ation). If th is fixes th e p ro blem, your ph one may be interf ering.

• If your ph on e suppor ts channel se lection , c hange th e channe l o n t he phone to th e f arthe st channel from yo ur wireless ne twork as poss ible. Fo r e xample, ch ange the phone to c ha nnel 1 and mov e y our wireless rout er to chann el

11. (Your chan ne l select ion will vary de pendi ng on your region .) See your ph one’s us er manual f or detail ed instruc tions.

• If necess ary, c on sider sw itching to a 9 00 MHz or 5GHz cordless ph one.

4. Choose the “Quietest” Channel for your Wireless Network

In locati ons where homes or offi ces are close to ge ther, su ch as apartm ent buildi ngs or office co mp lexes , t here ma y be wireless networ ks nearby t ha t can confl ict with yo ur s. Use the Sit e S urvey capabi lities of y ou r Wireless Ne tw orkin g U tility to loc ate any oth er wireless ne tworks, an d m ove your wi rele ss ro uter and co mp uters to a channe l a s f ar away from oth er network s a s p ossib le .

Experi ment with m ore tha n o ne of the avai lable ch an nels, in orde r t o find the c le arest connec tion and av oid interf eren ce from neigh bo ring cordless ph ones or other wi re less devic es.

For more wireles s n etworki ng prod ucts from Bel kin, use the det ailed Site Surv ey and wireless ch annel in formati on include d i n y our User Manu al.

5. Secure Connections, VPNs, and AOL

Secure conn ections ty pically requ ire a us er name and pa ss word, and are used where secu rity is impor tant. Se cu re co nnectio ns inclu de :

• Vir tual Pri vate Netwo rk (VPN) co nn ectio ns , often use d t o c onnec t rem otely to an offi ce network

• The “Brin g You r O wn Access” prog ram from Americ a O nline (AOL), wh ich lets yo u u se AOL through broad band provide d b y anothe r D SL or cable se rvice

• Most onli ne banki ng website s

• Many comm ercial websi tes that require a user na me and passwo rd to ac cess your a cc ount

Secure conn ections ca n b e i nterr up ted by a compu ter’s po wer manage ment setti ng, whic h c auses it to “g o t o s leep.” The si mplest soluti on to avoid th is is to simpl y recon nect by re-runn ing the VPN or AOL softw are, or by re -loggin g i nto the sec ure w eb 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 computers. To change your power management setting in Windows, see the “Power Options” item in the Control Panel.

If you con ti nue to have di ff iculty wit h S ecure Connec tions, VPN s, and AOL, plea se re view steps 1– 4 above to be s ure you ha ve addressed these iss ues.

These gui delines sh ould all ow you to cove r t he maximum po ssible are a with your wi re less ro uter.

For more infor mation regarding ou r networ king product s, visit our websit e a t w ww.belki n.com/n etworki ng or call Bel kin Technical Suppor t a t:

US: 877-7 36-5771 310-89 8-1100 ext . 2 263

Europe: 00 800 22 3 5 5 460 Austra lia: 1800 2 35 546 New Zeala nd: 0800 23 5 5 46 Singap ore: 800 616 1790

Introduction

sec tio n

Product Features

The Card compl ies with th e I EEE 802.11 g s tandard in order to commun icate with ot her 802. 11g-com pliant wirel es s device s a t 54Mbps or th e faster G Plu s. The Card is comp atible wit h a ll

802.11 g d evices a s w ell as other 8 02 .11b product s a t 11Mbps .

802.11 g p ro ducts run at s pe eds of up to 54 Mb ps (or 125M bps* using G Pl us ) and opera te on the same 2. 4GHz frequen cy band as 802.11 b W i-Fi® p ro ducts.

• 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, WPA2, 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

• Data rate of up to 125Mbps* in G Plus, 54Mbps (802.11g), or 11Mbps (802.11b)

• Easy installation and use

• External antenna

• LED power and network link indicators

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

Overview

Applications and Advantages

• Wireless roam in g w ith a lapto p a ro und the hom e o r o ff ic e Off ers the freed om of network ing withou t c ables

• Connec tion rates of up to 54Mbps o r 1 25Mbps* us ing G Plus Pro vides im mediate hi gh-spee d w ireless conn ectivit y a t h ome, work, and ho tspot lo cations wi thout comp ro mising the us e o f existi ng 802.11b an d 802.11 g p ro du cts

• Compat ibility wi th 802.1 1b prod ucts

802.11 g w ireless LAN sol utions a re back ward-comp atible wit h existi ng Wi-Fi (I EE E 802.11 b) prod ucts and wi th other produc ts that disp lay the 54g™ m ark

• Difficul t- to-wi re en vi ro nments Enable s n etworki ng in build ings with sol id or finis hed walls, or open areas whe re wi ring is difficu lt to install

• Fre quent ly changin g e nvironmen ts Adapts ea sily in offices or environment s t hat frequent ly re arrange or change lo catio ns

• Temporary L AN s f or speci al proj ects or pea k t ime Sets up te mp orary ne tworks suc h a s a t trade sho ws, exhibi tions, and const ruction si tes, whi ch need netwo rks on a short -term basis; al so compa ni es who need ad ditiona l w orkst at ions for a peak acti vity per io d

• SOHO (Sma ll Office/Ho me Office) netw orking n ee ds Provides the easy and quick, small network installation SOHO users need

* When operating in G Plus, this Wi-Fi device may achieve an

actual throughput of up to or greater than 34.1Mbps, which is the equivalent throughput of a system following 802.11g protocol and operating at a signaling rate of 125Mbps. Actual throughput will vary depending on environmental, operational, and other factors.

Product Specifications

Host Inte rface: 32-bit PC I

Power Con sumptio n: Tx/Rx pea k 5 60/26 0m A @ 3.3VDC (ma x.)

Operat ing Temperature: 32—185 de grees F (0—85 de gree s C )

Storag e Tempe rature: -40—19 4 d egrees F (-40—9 0 d egrees C)

Humidi ty: M ax. 95% (no n-conde nsing)

Typical Opera ting Ran ge : Up t o 400 ft. (231 m)

(wireles s p erforma nce may vary d ep endin g on the net wo rking en viro nment)

Overview

sec tio n

Overview

(a) Power LED

Lights up wh en the Card is powe re d o n

(b) Activity LED

Lights up wh en the Card is acti ve

Part of th e C ard t ha t fits into yo ur compu te r’s Ca rdBu s s lot

System Requirements

• PC-com patible la ptop wit h o ne availab le CardBus slot

• Window s® 2 000 or XP

Package Contents

• Wireless G Plu s N otebook Ca rd

• Quick Ins tallati on Guide

• Instal lation Sof tware CD

• User Manu al

(a)

(b)

(c)

Step 1 Install the Software

Important note: Install the software before inserting the Card.

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

1.2 The Wireless Networking Utility (WNU) setup screen will automatically

appear (may take 15–20 seconds to appear).

1.3 Click “install” from the menu.

Note: If the WN U s etup screen d oe s not appea r w ithin 20 se conds,

access yo ur CD-RO M: double- click on the “ My Compute r” icon and then doub le-clic k o n the CD-RO M d rive int o w hich you have pl aced the insta llation CD . Double -click on the fo lder nam ed “Files” , t hen double -click on t he icon named “s etup.ex e”.

Installing and Setting up the Card

Step 2

Plug the Card into an Available CardBus Slot on your Notebook Computer

2.1 D uring th e i nstall proce ss , you

will be prompt ed to inser t y our Card. Firml y i nsert the C ard, la bel side UP, int o y our comp ut er’s CardBus slo t u ntil it sto ps . Click “OK”. The po wer ligh t o n t he top of the Card will l ig ht when the Card is insert ed properly.

N ot e: If your sys tem did not

pro mpt you to ins ert your Ca rd after the in stall at ion is comp leted, please do so now.

N ot e: If you are using th e

Window s X P o perat in g system , you will n ot be prom pted to reboo t until aft er the driv ers are install ed.

2.2 The wiza rd wi ll prompt you to

instal l s oftware for the Ca rd . Select th e “ Insta ll the softwa re automa tically (R ecommen ded)” option . C lick “Ne xt ”.

2.3 Hardware ins ta llati on is now

comple te. Click “ Fi nish” to cl ose the wizard.

sec tio n

+ 26 hidden pages