Buffalo WLI2-PCI-G54 User Manual

54Mbps 802.11g Wireless LAN Card

User’ s Manual

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The seller provides this documentation without warranty, term, or condition of any kind. The seller may make improvements or changes in the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in this documentation at any time.

Contents

About This Manual........................................................................................................................................................V

Chapter 1 Introduction............................................................................................................................................... 1

Wireless LAN Basics................................................................................................................................................... 2

Local Area Network (LAN)........................................................................................................................................................2

Ad-Hoc Mode............................................................................................................................................................................3

Infrastructure Mode ..................................................................................................................................................................4

Roaming ....................................................................................................................................................................................5

Chapter 2 Installing the Wireless LAN Card............................................................................................................ 7

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

Installing Wireless LAN Driver and Software.............................................................................................................. 8

Chapter 3 Using Broadcom Wireless Configuration Utility ................................................................................. 11

Accessing Broadcom Wireless Configuration Utility................................................................................................. 12

Notice When Assessing Broadcom Utility under Windows XP................................................................................................12

Wireless Networks Tab .............................................................................................................................................15

Connecting to an Existing Wireless Network.......................................................................................................................... 15

Configuring a New Wireless Network Connection.................................................................................................................. 17

54Mbps 802.11g Wireless LAN Card

Configuring an Existing Wireless Network Connection..........................................................................................................20

Specifying a Network Type to Access......................................................................................................................................21

Link Status Tab .........................................................................................................................................................22

Statistics....................................................................................................................................................................25

Site Monitor............................................................................................................................................................... 26

Advanced Site Monitor............................................................................................................................................................29

Diagnostics Tab......................................................................................................................................................... 32

Information Tab......................................................................................................................................................... 35

Chapter 4 Windows XP Wireless Zero Configuration Utility ............................................................................... 37

Connecting to an Access Point or Wireless LAN Card...........................................................................................................37

Viewing Wireless Connection Status.......................................................................................................................................39

Configuring Your Wireless Properties....................................................................................................................................40

Chapter 7 Troubleshooting ..................................................................................................................................... 47

Radio Interference..................................................................................................................................................... 47

Card Not Detected..................................................................................................................................................... 48

Cannot Connect to Another Wireless LAN Card.......................................................................................................48

Poor Link Quality....................................................................................................................................................... 49

Cannot Connect to Access Point .............................................................................................................................. 49

Appendix A Limited Warranty................................................................................................................................. 51

Wireless LAN Hardware............................................................................................................................................ 51

Wireless LAN Software .............................................................................................................................................52

Appendix B Regulatory Compliance...................................................................................................................... 53

Contents

FCC Part 15 Declaration of Conformity (DoC).......................................................................................................... 53

FCC Rules and Regulations - Part 15....................................................................................................................... 54

FCC Radiation Exposure Statement......................................................................................................................... 55

Appendix C Setting Up TCP/IP................................................................................................................................ 57

For Windows 98/ME.................................................................................................................................................. 57

For Windows 2000/XP .............................................................................................................................................. 59

Appendix D Specifications ........................................................................................................................................ 63

Glossary....................................................................................................................................................................... 65

III

54Mbps 802.11g Wireless LAN Card

List of Figures

Figure 1-1 Peer-to-Peer Group (Ad-Hoc Mode)....................................................................................................3

Figure 1-2 Infrastructure Mode ............................................................................................................................4

Figure 1-3 Roaming Across Multiple Access Points .............................................................................................5

Figure 3-13 Windows XP Configuration Utility-Connect to Wireless Network ....................................................38

Figure 3-14 Windows XP- Connection Status.....................................................................................................40

Figure 3-15 Windows XP Connection Properties -General.................................................................................41

Figure 3-16 Windows XP Connection Properties-Wireless Networks.................................................................42

Figure 3-17 Windows XP-Add Preferred Networks.............................................................................................43

Figure 3-18 Windows XP Configuration Utility-Set up Network to Aceess .........................................................45

Figure 3-19 Windows XP Connection Properties -Authentication.......................................................................46

About This Manual

This manual was written for the following types of wireless adapter:

For brevity, throughout this manual Wireless LAN Card is used to indicate both types. Also, the following terms/abbreviations are used interchangeably:

This User’s Manual contains information on how to install and configure your Wireless LAN Card. From now on, we will guide you through the correct configuration steps to get your device up and run.

Contents

• PC Card

• PCI Card

• Mini PCI Card

• Access Point – AP

• Peer-to-Peer – Ad Hoc

• Wireless LAN – WLAN

• Ethernet network – LAN – network

54Mbps 802.11g Wireless LAN Card

Chapter 1 Introduction

This Wireless LAN Card is an IEEE 802.11g wireless LAN adapter. 802.11g is the latest in the series of 802.11 specifications for wireless local area networks (WLANs) and provides data transfer of up to 54 Mbps. Since 802.11g operates on the same frequency of 2.4 GHz as

802.11b, so it is backwards compatible with existing Wi-Fi devices!

It allows your computer to connect to a wireless network and to share resources, such as files or printers without being bound to the network wires. Operating in 2.4GHz Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) radio transmission, the Wireless LAN Card transfers data at speeds up to 54Mbps. Both Ad-Hoc and Infrastructure mode are supported. For network security concern, 64/128-bit Wired Equivalent Protection (WEP) algorithm is used. In addition, its standard compliance ensures that it can communicate with any 802.11b/g networks.

54Mbps 802.11g Wireless LAN Card

Wireless LAN Basics

This section conations some Wireless LAN basics to help you better understand how the product work together to create a wireless network.

Local Area Network (LAN)

Simply put, a LAN is a network that exists in a relatively limited area. A network is two or more computers connected together sharing files and peripheral devices such as printers.

The Wireless LAN Card allows you to interact with other computers without having to run cables normally associated with networks. This lets you move your computer around while staying connected to your network.

There are two ways to use the Wireless LAN Card. One way is to connect directly to one or more Wireless LAN Card equipped computers, forming an Ad-Hoc wireless network. The second way is to connect to an Access Point that gives you access to an existing wired LAN, forming an Infrastructure wireless network.

Chapter 1 Introduction

Ad-Hoc Mode

The Ad-Hoc Group offers peer-to-peer connections between workstations, allowing communication between computers within range that have an 802.11g DSSS compatible PC card installed. A wireless Ad-Hoc network can also access a wired LAN’s TCP/IP service (such as e-mail and the Internet) by using a TCP/IP software router on an Ethernet equipped PowerBook or notebook.

Figure 1-1 Ad-Hoc Mode

54Mbps 802.11g Wireless LAN Card

Infrastructure Mode

The Infrastructure network uses an AP or several APs as a gateway, linking the wireless network to a wired LAN. As a result, portable workstations or desktops on your wireless network have access to all of the features of your wired LAN including e-mail, Internet access, network printers and files server.

Figure 1-2 Infrastructure Mode

Chapter 1 Introduction

Roaming

Multiple Access Points can be installed to extend the wireless service coverage area for seamless wireless access. Within an extended service area, all Access Points and wireless clients must have the same Service Set Identity (SSID). Roaming among different Access Points is controlled automatically to maintain the wireless connectivity at all times.

Figure 1-3 Roaming Across Multiple Access Points

Chapter 2 Installing the Wireless LAN Card

This chapter describes the installation process for the driver and software fo r the Wireless LAN Card. Proper driver installation is to allow the device to operate on your host computer while the utility software, Broadcom Wireless Configuration Utility, is to help you configure and monitor your Wireless LAN Card.

System Requirements

To use the Wireless LAN Card, your computer mu st meet the following minimum requirements:

 Pentium-class PC,300MHz or better recommended  64 MB of RAM, additional memory recommended  Hard disk space at least 30 Mbytes  Windows 98(SE)/Me/2000/XP  UL listed I.T.E. computers

54Mbps 802.11g Wireless LAN Card

Installing Wireless LAN Driver and Software

Follow these steps to install the Wireless LAN Card driver and software:

Caution: Do not connect the Wireless LAN Card device to your computer before installing its driver. If this happens, the Windows PnP function will detect the wireless adapter and issue a dialog box requesting for its driver. Click Cancel to quit the wizard and unplug the Wireless LAN Card.

1. Close all Windows programs that are running. Insert the provided Software Utility CD

into your CD-ROM drive. Run setup.exe from the Driver folder of the Software Utility CD.

2. If the wireless adapter is not yet inserted into your computer, click Yes. Otherwise click No to remove the device. Then restart your system and run setup.exe again.

Chapter 2 Installing the Wireless LAN Card

3. When the welcome screen pops up, click Next.

4. Upon hardware detection, Windows OS hardware wizard will appear requesting for the driver. Just follow the on-screen instructions to proceed.

5. Click Finish when the following screen appears.

54Mbps 802.11g Wireless LAN Card

Now you are done with the installation procedure. The provided Broadcom Wireless Configuration Utility should be launched automatically with its icon appearing on the right

side of the taskbar. Proceed to next chapter to configure or fine-tune your Wireless LAN Card settings.

Note: If you need to set up the TCP/IP address or the subnet mask, refer to “Appendix C Setting Up TCP/IP” for details.

Chapter 3 Using Broadcom Wireless Configuration Utility

Once your wireless adapter software is properly installed, the provided Broadcom Wireless Configuration Utility is ready for use. The utility comes with six tabs. The Wireless Networks tab allows to configure your wireless connection. The Link Status tab displays the current link status. The Site Monitor tab allows to monitor available networks. The Diagnostic tab allows to perform diagnostics. The utility information is displayed on the Information tab. The Statistics tab displays the statistics and status information pertaining to

your Wireless LAN Card.

See the ensuing subsections for instructions to launch the utility and description of each tab.

Note: If you are using Windows XP, you can also use the Windows XP-included wireless utility to configure and monitor your wireless network. For more information on using Windows wireless utility, please refer to Windows XP on-line help.

54Mbps 802.11g Wireless LAN Card

Accessing Broadcom Wireless Configuration Utility

You can access the Broadcom Wireless Configuration Utility by any of the following methods:

• Double-click the Broadcom Wireless Utility icon on the system tray and then

click Advanced.

• Right-click the tray icon and select Open Utility from its context menu.

• Under Control Panel, double-click the Broadcom Wireless Utility icon.

The Broadcom Wireless Configuration Utility screen pops up with six available tabs: Wireless Network, Link Status, Statistics, Site Monitor, Diagnostics and Information.

Please see the appropriate section which describes each tab item.

Notice When Assessing Broadcom Utility under Windows XP

Aside from using Broadcom Wireless Configuration Utility for wireless network configuration, Windows XP includes a Wireless Network Connection utility to configure your wireless adapter. By default, your wireless adapter is controlled by Windows XP-included wireless utility.

Chapter 3

You can choose to configure your wireless network via either the Broadcom Wireless Configuration Utility or Windows XP-included wireless utility.

Using Broadcom Wireless Configuration Utility

To use Broadcom Wireless Configuration Utility for configuration purpose, you should disable the Windows XP-included wireless utility by these steps:

1. Double-click the Broadcom wireless icon on system tray and click the Wireless Networks tab. Or double-click the Windows wireless icon and then click Advanced (or Properties) > Wireless Networks.

Broadcom wireless icon

Windows wireless icon

2. On the Wireless Networks tab, uncheck the Use Windows to configure my wireless

network settings box and click OK. This will restore the Wireless Networks tab in Broadcom Wireless Configuration Utility.

54Mbps 802.11g Wireless LAN Card

Reverting back to Windows XP-included Wireless Utility

To revert back to using Windows XP-included wireless utility, double-click the Windows wireless icon (not the Boradcom icon) and then click Advanced (or Properties). Click the

Wireless Networks tab and check the Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings box and click OK.

Wireless Networks Tab

Wireless Networks tab allows to do the following task:

• Connecting to an Existing Wireless Network

• Configuring a New Wireless Network Connection

• Specifying a Network Type to Access

See the appropriate subsection according to your need.

Connecting to an Existing Wireless Network

To connect to an existing Access Point/Wireless LAN Card, take the following steps:

1. Double-click the Broadcom Wireless Utility icon on the system tray.

2. When the Connect to Wireless Network window pops up, you will see all the wireless networks available in the air. Under Available networks, select the wireless network you want to connect to.

Chapter 3

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