Belkin F7D2101AK User Manual

Surf/Share

WIRELESS USB ADAPTER

User Manual

F7D2101ak 8820ak00384

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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

Benefits of a Home Net work.................................... 1

Advantages of a Wireless Network .............................. 2

Placement of your Wireless Networking Hardware for Optimal

Performance................................................. 3

Overview..................................................7

Product Features ............................................ 7

Applications and Advantages .................................. 8

Product Specifications ........................................ 9

System Requirements ........................................ 11

Package Contents ........................................... 11

Installing and Setting up the Adapter ........................12

A. Installation Process for Windows Vista and 7 .................. 12

B. Installation Process for Windows XP .........................20

Connecting to a Secure Wi-Fi® Network ........................24

Troubleshooting ......................................... 25

Technical Suppor t ........................................... 31

Information.............................................. 32

FCC Statement.............................................. 32

Belkin International, Inc., Limited 3 -Year Product Warranty .........34

INTRODUCTION

Tha nk you for purc has ing the Belkin Su rf/Share Wirel ess USB Adapter. N ow you can take adv ant age of th is great new tec hnology and ga in the fr eed om to net work your ho me and office computers wirelessly. This Adapter allows you to connect a noteboo k o r desk top computer to yo ur net work. Pl eas e b e sur e to read through thi s U ser Ma nua l c ompletely, an d p ay spe cial att ent ion to th e s ection titl ed, “Placement of you r Wir ele ss Networki ng Hardwa re for Op tim al Per forma nce.”

Benefits of a Home Network

Your Belkin Home Network will allow you to:

• Share one high-speed Internet connection

with all the computers in your home

• Share resource s, suc h a s f iles, and hard drives among

all the connected computers in your home

• Share a single printer with the entire family

• Share documents, music, video, and digital pictures

• Store, retrieve, and copy files from one computer to another

• Simultaneously play games online, check Internet email, and chat

INTRODUCTION

Advantages of a Wireless Network

• Mobility – you’ll no longer need a dedicated “computer roo m”—no w you can work on a networked laptop or desktop computer anywhere within your wireless range

• Easy installation – Be lkin E asy Install ati on Wizards make setup simple

• Flexibility – set up and access printers, computers, and other networking devices from anywhere in your home

• Easy expansion – the wide range of Belkin ne tworking pro ducts let yo u expa nd your network to in clude devices such as printers and gaming consoles

• No cabling required – you can spare the expens e a nd has sle of retrofitting Ethernet cabling throughout the home or office

• Widespread industry acceptance – choose from a wide range of interoperable networking products

INTRODUCTION

Placement of your Wireless Networking Hardware for Optimal Performance

Your wir eless conne ction will be strong er the cl oser your co mputer is to your wireles s router (or acc ess po int). Typ ical indoor op era tin g ran ge for your wirele ss dev ices is bet wee n 10 0 a nd 200 fe et. In th e same way, your wireless connection and performance will degrade som ewh at as the di stanc e between yo ur wir ele ss router (or ac cess poi nt) and conn ected dev ices increa ses . T his ma y or may not be not iceable to y ou. As you move far ther from your wireless ro ute r (or acc ess point), c onnectio n s peed m ay dec rease. Factors tha t can weaken sign als si mply by g ettin g in the way of your netw ork ’s radio waves are metal appliances or obstructions, and walls.

If you have c oncerns abo ut your netw ork’s per forma nce th at mig ht be rel ate d to rang e or obst ruction factor s, try moving the co mpu ter to a posi tio n b etween five and 10 fee t from th e wire les s router (or access point) in order to see if distance is the problem. If difficulties persist even at close range, please contact Belkin Technical Support.

Note: While so me of the items li ste d below c an affect network per forma nce, t hey will not prohibit your wirele ss net work from functioning; if you are concerned that your network is not operating at its maximum effectiveness, this checklist may help.

INTRODUCTION

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

Pla ce your wire les s r outer (or acc ess point), t he central con necti on poi nt of your netw ork , a s c lose as pos sib le to the center of your wireless network devices.

To ac hie ve the best wirele ss net work coverage for you r “ wirel ess clients,” (i.e., computers enabled by Belkin Adapters or Cards):

• Ensure that you r w ire less router ’s (o r acce ss point ’s)

antenn as are pa rallel to ea ch oth er, and ar e posi tioned ver tical ly (tow ard th e c eiling). I f your wirel ess ro ute r (o r acc ess point) i tself is posit ion ed ver tically, poi nt the antennas as much as possible in an upward direction.

• In multistory homes, plac e t he wir ele ss router (or ac cess poi nt) on a

flo or that i s a s c lose to t he center of th e h ome as possibl e. Thi s may mean placing the wireless router (or access point) on an upper floor.

• Try not to pl ace th e w ire less router (or acces s

point) near a cordless 2.4GHz phone.

2. Avoid Obstacles and Interference

Avoi d p lacing yo ur wireless router (or acce ss poi nt) near device s tha t m ay emit radi o “ noise”, su ch as microwave ove ns. Other objects that can inhibit wireless communication can include:

• Refrigerators

• Washers and/or dryers

• Metal cabinets

• Large aquariums

• Metallic-based, UV-tinted windows

• Microwaves

If your wireles s s ignal seems weak in some spots, make su re tha t o bje cts such as th ese ar e n ot blo cking the sign al’s pa th between your computers and wireless router (or access point).

INTRODUCTION

3. Cordless Phone Placement

If the pe rform ance of your wi rel ess network is im pai red af ter attending to the above issues, and you have a cordless phone:

• Try mov ing cordles s p hon es away from the wireles s router

(or access point) and your wireless-enabled computers.

• Unplug and rem ove the ba ttery from any co rdless phon e t hat

operates on the 2.4GHz band (check manufacturer’s information). If this fixes the problem, your phone may be interfering.

• If your phone supports channel selection, change the channel

on the phone to the farthest channel from your wireless network as pos sible. Fo r example, chan ge the ph one to ch annel 1 a nd move your wireless router (or access point) to channel 11. (Your chan nel se lecti on wil l vary dependi ng on your regi on.) See your phone’s user manual for detailed instructions.

• If necessary, consider switching to a

900MHz or 5GHz cordless phone.

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

In loc ations where home s o r office s are clo se tog eth er, suc h as apa rt men t b uil dings or of fice complexes, th ere may b e wir ele ss netwo rks ne arby t hat ca n c onflict wit h your s. Use the Sit e Survey capabilitie s of your Belki n W ire less Net wor kin g Uti lit y to locate any ot her wireless networks, and move your wireles s r outer (or acc ess point) a nd computers to a cha nnel as far away from other netwo rks as po ssible.

Experiment with more than one of the available channels in ord er to fin d t he cle are st conne cti on and avoid inter ference from neighboring cordless phones or other wireless devices.

For more Bel kin wi reless netw orking product s, use th e d eta iled Site Survey and wirel ess ch annel information included in your User Manual.

INTRODUCTION

5. Secure Connections, VPNs, and AOL

Sec ure connect ions typ ically require a user name an d passwor d, and are used where security is important. Secure connections include:

• Virtual Private N etwork ( VPN) connect ions, of ten

use d t o c onn ect remotely to an of fice net work

• The “ Bring Your Own Access” pr ogram from Americ a

Onl ine (AO L), whi ch let s you use AOL th rou gh broadband provided by another cable or DSL service

• Most online banking websites

• Many c ommercia l webs ite s t hat re qui re a user

name and password to access your account

Sec ure connect ions can be interrupted by a c omputer’s power man agement set ting, which cause s it to “go to s leep.” The si mplest solution to avoid this is to simply reconnect by re-running the VPN or AOL software, or by re-logging into the secure website.

A seco nd alternative is to change yo ur computer ’s p ower man agement set tings so it does not go to sle ep; however, thi s m ay not be appropri ate for portab le com puters. To change your power management setting in Windows, see the “Power Options” item in the Control Panel.

If you conti nue to have d iffic ulty wit h S ecure Connecti ons, VPNs, and AOL , p lease review st eps 1– 4 in the previous pages to be sure you have addressed these issues.

These guidelines should allow you to cover the maximum possible are a with your wireless rou ter. Should yo u n eed to cover an even wi der area, we suggest the Belkin Wireless Range Extender/Access Point.

For more inform ati on reg arding our net wor king produc ts, visit our website at www.belkin.com/networking or call Belkin Technical Support.

OVERVIEW

Product Features

The Adapter com pli es with the IEE E 8 02.11n sp ecifi cat ion to communicate with other 802.11n-compliant wir ele ss dev ices at up to 3 00 Mbp s*.

The Adapter is also comp ati ble with 802.11g device s a t 54M bps as we ll as 802 .11b p roducts at 11Mbps.

The Adapter operates on the same 2.4GHz frequenc y band as 802.11b/g Wi-Fi® products.

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

• USB 2. 0 interface, fo r oper ati on in virtu ally any

computer with a USB 2.0 bus-power port

• WPA, WPA 2, 64 -bit WEP (Wi red Eq uiv ale nt

Privacy), or 128-bit encryption

• Wireless access to networked resources

• Data rate of up to 300Mbps* (802.11n), 54Mbps

(802.11g), or 11Mbps (802.11b)

• Easy installation and use

• LED power and network link /activity indicator

OVERVIEW

Applications and Advantages

• Wireles s r oam ing with a lap top ar oun d t he home or office – Offers the freedom of networking without cables

• Connection rates of up to 300Mbps* – Provides imm ediate hi gh-sp eed wi reless conn ectiv ity at home, work, and hotspot locations without compromising the use of existing 802.11b/g products

• Compatibility with 802.11b/g products – Th e Adapter is bac kward -compati ble wi th exi sting Wi-Fi (IEEE 802 .11b/g) produ cts

• Difficult-to-wire environments – Enables netw orking in bui ldi ngs with solid or finis hed walls , or open areas where wiring is difficult to install

• Frequently changing environments – Adapts eas ily in of fices or environments that frequently rearrange or change locations

• SOHO (Small Office/Home Office) networking needs – Pr ovi des the easy and quick, small network installation SOHO users need

OVERVIEW

Product Specifications

Host Interface: USB 2.0

Operating Temperature: 32–104 degrees F (0–40 degrees C)

Storage Temperature: -4–158 degrees F (-20–70 degrees C)

Humidity: Max. 90% (non-condensing)

Typical Opera tin g R ange: Up to 1, 200 f t.**

*NOTE: The standa rd tra nsmissio n r ate —300 Mbps— is th e physical data rate. Actual data throughput will be lower.

**W ireless per forma nce may vary depending on the networking environment.

OVERVIEW

(b)

(a) Protective Cap

The cap is provided to protect the USB connector dur ing transpo rt ati on. Re move the cap before inserting the Adapter to y our co mputer’s USB port.

(b) Power/Activity LED

Lights when the Adapter is powered on and flashes when it is active.

(a)(c)

Part of the Adapter that fits into your computer’s USB port.

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