Belkin F5D8011 User Manual

N1 Wireless Notebook Card

User Manual

F5D8011

Table of Contents

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

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

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

Placement of your Wireless Networking Hardware for

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

2 Overview

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

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

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

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

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

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

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

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

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

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

Step 1: Install . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Step 2: Insert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Step 3: Configure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Accessing the Belkin Wireless Networking Utility from the

Windows System Tray. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Network Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Available Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Network Status and Solution Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Setting Wireless Network Profiles

Securing your Wi-Fi Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Configuring your Card to use Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

30 38

Introduction

Thank y ou for purcha sing the Belkin N 1 W ireless No teboo k C ard. Now you can ta ke advan tage o f t his great new techn ol ogy an d g ain the fre edom t o n etwor k y our home and office co mpute rs wireles sly. T his Card allo ws you to co nnect a not ebook co mpute r t o your ne twork . Please be sure to read throu gh this Use r Manu al compl etely, a nd pay specia l attent ion to th e s ectio n entitl ed “Plac ement of your Wirel ess Networ king Hardw are f or Opt imal Per formanc e”.

sec tion

Benefi ts of a Ho me Netwo rk

Your B elkin Home Net work wil l a llow you to:

• Sh are o ne high- speed In ter net conn ectio n w ith al l t he compu ters in your ho me

• Sh are res ources, su ch as fil es , and hard dri ves am on g all the connec ted comp uters in your hom e

• Share a sin gle prin ter with th e entire fa mily

• Share docu ments , m usic, vi deo, and digit al pictu res

• Store, retri eve, and co py fil es from one co mp uter t o a nothe r

• Simul taneous ly pla y g ames onl ine, che ck Inter net email, a nd chat

Advant ages o f a Wi re less Net work

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

• Mob ility – y ou no lon ger need a d edicate d “com pu ter

roo m”—yo u can wor k o n a netwo rked lap top or de sk top comput er anywh ere within your wirel ess rang e

• Easy in stall at ion – Bel kin Easy Install ation Wi zards make

setup s imple

• Flexib ility – s et up and ac cess pri nters , c omput ers, and ot her

networ king dev ices f rom a nywhere in yo ur home

• Easy ex pansi on – t he wid e r ange of B elkin ne tworkin g products

lets yo u e xpand yo ur net wo rk to inc lude dev ices suc h as prin ters and gam ing cons oles

• No cabl ing required – you can spare the expen se and hass le of

ret ro fitti ng Ether net ca bling th ro ughou t t he home o r o ff ice

• Widesp re ad indus try acce ptanc e – choos e f ro m a wide ran ge of

interope rable ne twork ing produc ts

Introduction

sec tion

Placement of your Wireless Networking Hardware for Optimal Performance

Your w ireless co nnect ion will be stronger t he close r your co mputer is to your wireless route r (or acc ess poin t). Typica l i ndoor op erati ng range f or your wirel ess devi ces is be tween 10 0 a nd 200 fe et. In th e same wa y, you r w ireless co nnect ion and per forma nce will de grade somewh at as the di stanc e b etwee n your wi re le ss router ( or acces s point) and conn ected de vices in creases . T his may o r m ay not be notice able to y ou. As yo u m ove fart her from yo ur wireless rou ter (or access point), conne ct ion sp eed may dec re ase. Fac tors tha t can weaken signals simpl y b y g ettin g in the way of your net work’s radi o waves a re me tal appl iance s o r obstru ction s, and wa lls.

If you hav e concer ns a bout you r n etwor k’s pe rforman ce tha t m ight be rel ated t o r ange or o bstruct ion fact ors, t ry movin g t he compu ter to a positi on betwe en fiv e a nd 10 fee t f ro m t he wireles s router (o r a ccess point) in order to se e i f distan ce is the prob lem. If d ifficulti es persi st even at cl ose rang e, ple as e cont act Belk in Tech nical Support .

Note: W hile som e of the ite ms liste d below c an affect net work

perfor mance , t hey wi ll not prohib it your w irel ess netw ork from functi oning ; i f you are conc ern ed that y our netw ork is no t o perat ing at its max imum effec tivenes s, this c heckl is t may hel p.

1. Placement of your Wireless Router (or Access Point)

Place y our wirele ss ro uter (or access p oint), t he centr al conne ction point o f y our netw ork, a s c lose as p ossible to the cent er of you r wireless network devices .

To ach ieve t he best wirel ess netw ork cove rage for your “wi re less client s,” (i.e . comp ut ers en abled by Be lkin Wirel ess Note book Cards , Wireless Desktop Card s, and Wi re less USB Ad apter s):

• Ensure th at your wirel ess router ’s (or ac cess poi nt’s) anten nas are paral lel to each other, and are p ositi oned ver tically (towa rd the cei ling). I f y our wi rele ss router ( or acces s p oint) it self i s positi oned ver tical ly, po int the a nt ennas as much as p ossible in an upwa rd di re ction.

• 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 pl ace the w ireless rout er (or acce ss point ) near a cordless 2.4GHz p hone.

2. Avoid Obstacles and Interference

Avo id pla cing you r w ireless rout er (or ac ce ss poi nt) near de vices th at may emi t r adio “no ise”, su ch as mic ro wave ove ns. Othe r object s that can inh ibit wirel ess comm unicati on can in clude :

• Refrig erato rs

• Washe rs and/o r dryers

• Metal c abinets

• Large aquar iums

• Metall ic-ba sed, UV-t inted wi ndows

If your wi re less sig nal seem s weak in so me spo ts , make su re th at object s such as th ese are not bl ockin g t he sig na l’s pa th bet we en you r comput ers and w ireless rout er (or acce ss point ).

3. Cordless Phone Placement

If the per forma nce of your wire less n et work i s i mpaired af ter atte nding to the abo ve issue s, and yo u h ave a cordl ess phon e:

• Try movin g cordless phones a way from the w irel ess router (or acc ess poin t) and yo ur wireless- enabl ed compu ters.

• Unplug and remove th e batter y from any cordl ess phon e that op erates o n t he 2.4 GH z band (c heck man ufact urer’s inform ation ). If thi s f ixes the prob lem, y ou r phon e m ay be inte rfering .

• If your ph one supp orts c ha nnel s electio n, chang e the channe l on the pho ne to the fa rthes t channe l fro m your wireless network as possi ble. For ex ample , c hange the phone t o c hanne l 1 and move yo ur wireles s router (o r access point) t o c hanne l 1 1. (Your chan nel se le ction will var y depend ing on yo ur re gion. ) S ee your p ho ne’s u ser manu al for detail ed instr uctio ns.

• If nece ssary, consid er switc hing t o a 90 0MHz o r 5 GHz cordless phone.

Introduction

Overview

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

In locations where homes or offices are close together, such as apartment buildings or office complexes, there may be wireless networks nearby that can conflict with yours. Use the Site Survey capabilities of your Belkin Wireless Networking Utility to locate any other wireless networks, and move your wireless router (or access point) and computers to a channel as far away from other networks as possible.

Experi ment wit h more than on e of the ava ilabl e c hanne ls in order to find th e c learest co nnect ion and avo id int er ference from neighbo ring cordless phones o r o ther wirel ess devi ces.

For more Bel kin wirele ss netwo rking prod ucts, us e the det ailed Si te Survey and wirele ss chann el infor matio n i nclud ed in your User Ma nual.

5. Secure Connections, VPNs, and AOL

Secure co nnectio ns typic ally requi re a u ser name and pass word , and are used whe re se curit y i s impo rtant. S ecure conn ections include :

• Vir tual P rivate N etwork ( VPN) con necti on s, oft en used to c onnect rem otely to an office net work

• The “Br ing Your Own Acc ess” progr am from Ameri ca Onl ine (AOL ), which l ets you use AOL throug h b ro adban d p ro vided by another cable o r D SL servi ce

• Most on line ban king web sites

• Many co mmercial w ebsites that requi re a u se r name an d passwo rd to acce ss your acc ount

Secure co nnectio ns can be in terru pted by a co mpute r’s po we r manage ment set ting, wh ich ca uses it to “ go to sleep .” The si mples t soluti on to avo id this i s t o s imply reco nnect by re -runnin g the VPN or AOL sof tware, or by re-lo gging into the se cure websi te.

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 tinue to have diffi culty wi th Secure Con necti ons, VPN s, and AOL, pl ease revie w s teps 1–4 in the previo us pages to be sure you have ad dressed th ese issu es.

The se guideli nes should allow you to cover th e maximum possible area wi th your wirele ss router. S hould you need to cover an even wider area, w e suggest the B elkin Wireless Range Exten der/Access Point.

For more informat ion regarding our networking p roducts, visit our web site at www.belki n.com/networkin g or call Belkin Technical Support.

Product Features

The Card com plies wi th the IE EE draft -802. 11 n spec ificati on to commun icate wi th oth er draft -802.11 n-com pliant w ireless de vices at up to 300M bps*. Th e Card is also compati ble wi th 802.1 1g devic es at 54Mbps as well as 8 02.11 b p ro ducts at 11 Mbps. Th e Card oper ates on the sam e 2.4GHz frequency band as 802 .11b/ g W i-Fi

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

• Integrated easy-to-use Belkin Wireless Networking 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

• Data rate of up to 300Mbps* (draft 802.11n), 54Mbps (802.11g), or 11Mbps (802.11b)

• Easy installation and use

• LED power and network link/activity indicators

p ro ducts .

sec tion

Applications and Advantages

• Wireless roam ing wi th a l aptop arou nd the ho me or offic e Off ers th e f re edom of net worki ng witho ut cable s

• Connec tion r at es of up t o 3 00Mbp s* Pro vides immedia te high- speed wi re less con necti vity at h om e, work, a nd hotsp ot locat ions wit hout com promisi ng the use o f existi ng 802.1 1b/g p rodu cts

• Compat ibili ty with 8 02 .11b/ g pro ducts The Card is b ackward-c ompat ible wit h e xisti ng Wi-Fi (IEEE 8 02.11b/ g) product s

• Difficul t-to- wire environme nts Enable s networ king i n b uildi ngs with so lid or fi nished w alls, or open area s where wirin g is diffic ult to in st all

• Fre quent ly chang ing envi ro nment s Adapts easily i n o ff ices or e nvironmen ts that f re quently re ar range or chan ge locat ions

• SOHO (S mall Offic e/Home O ff ice) net working needs Provides the easy and quick, small network installation SOHO users need

Product Specifications

Host In terface : 32-bit CardBus

Power C onsumpt ion: 802.11 b/802 .11g/ 80 2.11n

802.11 b: 1Mbps, 18 dBm, 630 mA

802.11 g: 6M bps, 18 dBm , 670mA

802.11 n: MCS15 HT20, 18 dBm, 660mA/HT40, 18 dBm, 700mA

Operat ing Temper ature: 3 2—140 de grees F (0—60 degrees C)

Storag e Temperat ure: -4—176 degrees F (-2 0—80 deg re es C)

Humidi ty: Max . 90% (no n-con densing )

Typical Ope ratin g R ange: Up to 1 ,000 ft. (3 04.8m )**

NOT E: T he s ta nd ard t ra ns missi on r at e– 300Mb ps –i s th e ph ysi ca l da ta r at e. A ct ual dat a throu ghp ut wil l be low er.

**Wi rel es s pe rform an ce m ay v ar y de pen di ng o n th e ne tw or kin g envir onm en t.

Overview Overview

(a) Power LED

Lights up when the Card is powered up

(b) Link/Activity LED

Lights up when the Card is conne cted; fl ashes wh en wireles s activi ty is det ected

Part of th e Card that fi ts into y our comp uter’s CardBus s lot

System Requirements

• PC-com patib le lapto p w ith on e a vaila ble CardBu s s lot

• Window s

2 000 or XP

Package Contents

• N1 Wirele ss Noteb ook Card

• Quick I nstalla tion G ui de

• Instal latio n S oftwa re CD

• User Ma nual

(a)

(c)

(b)

Installing and Setting up the Card

sec tion

Step 1 Install

IMPORTANT

: Install the software before inserting the Card.

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

1.2 1.2 The Belkin Wireless Card Installer screen will automatically appear.

(This may take 15–20 seconds.) Click “Install Software” or “Next” to start the installation.

Note: If the Belkin Wireless Card Installer screen does not appear

within 20 seconds, access your CD-ROM by double-clicking on the “My Computer” icon; then double-click on the CD-ROM drive into which the installation CD has been placed. Double-click on the icon named “Setup.exe”.

1.3 The InstallShield Wizard will now

start. Click “Next” to continue.

1.4 Select a different destination folder

for the software installation, or simply click “Next”.

1.5 The first in a series of

progress-monitoring screens will let you know where you are in the setup process.

1.6 You might see a screen similar to

this one. This DOES NOT mean there is a problem. Our software has been fully tested and is compatible with this operating system. Select “Continue Anyway” and follow the on-screen instructions.

1110

Installing and Setting up the Card

sec tion

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Step 2 Insert

Insert the Card into your Computer

2.4 The Wiz ard w ill now i nstall

your so ftware.

2.1 After t he softw are i nstal lation i s

finish ed, the m essag e “ Pleas e p lug in your No teboo k C ard now” wi ll appear. I nsert yo ur Card.

2.2 The Fou nd New Hardwa re Wi zard

will ap pear. (Thi s may tak e 3–15 second s.) Sele ct “Yes, this time only” a nd click “N ext” t o i nstal l the hardw are.

2.3 Select “Instal l the sof tware

automa tical ly” and c li ck “Ne xt” to instal l the hardw are.

2.5 You mi ght se e a scre en simil ar

to this on e. This D OES NOT mean th ere i s a problem. O ur softwa re has been fu lly test ed and is com patib le with t hi s operat ing syst em. Se le ct “Conti nue Anyw ay” an d f ollow the on- screen ins tructio ns.

2.6 The ins tallati on is now co mplet e.

Click “ Finish” to exit.

+ 16 hidden pages