Creative CW2202 User Manual

User’s Guide

Network Blaster Wireless Access Point Router CW2202

Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Creative Technology Ltd. No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, for any purpose without the written permission of Creative Technology Ltd. The software described in this document is furnished under a license agreement and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of the license agreement. It is against the law to copy the software on any other medium except as specifically allowed in the license agreement. The licensee may make one copy of the software for backup purposes only.

The Software License Agreement is found in a separate folder on the Application CD.

Version 1.1

July 2004

The Creative logo, Blaster, Network Blaster and Turbo-G are registered trademarks or trademarks of Creative Technology Ltd. in the United States and/or other countries. Microsoft, MS-DOS, Windows and the Windows logo are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Intel and Pentium are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation. All other products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners and are hereby recognized as such. All specifications are subject to change without prior notice. Actual contents may differ slightly from those pictured.

Contents

Introduction

Package Contents ........................................................................................................................... 1-1

System Requirements .................................................................................................................... 1-1

Model Number, Serial Number and MAC Address ............................................................ 1-2

More Help ......................................................................................................................................... 1-2

Product Registration ...................................................................................................................... 1-2

Customer Support Services and Warranty ........................................................................... 1-2

Document Conventions ............................................................................................................... 1-3

About Your Wireless AP Router

Front Panel ................................................................................................................................................. 2-1

Rear Panel ................................................................................................................................................... 2-2

Setting Up Your Wireless AP Router

Configuring Basic Settings

Step 1: Preparing a client ...................................................................................................................... 4-2

Configuring your wired client ..................................................................................................... 4-2

Configuring your wireless client ................................................................................................ 4-4

Step 2: Configuring basic settings on your Wireless AP Router ............................................... 4-5

Disabling the proxy setting in your web browser ................................................................ 4-5

Accessing the configuration page ............................................................................................... 4-5

Configuring Internet connection settings ................................................................................ 4-8

Configuring Wireless LAN settings ........................................................................................ 4-12

Configuring Wireless Security settings .................................................................................. 4-13

i i

Configuring Advanced Settings

Configuring LAN settings ............................................................................................................. 5-1

Configuring Wireless MAC Address Access Control ........................................................ 5-2

Configuring Forwarding settings ................................................................................................ 5-3

Configuring Wireless Advanced settings ................................................................................ 5-4

Changing router web page access password ......................................................................... 5-5

Upgrading Firmware ...................................................................................................................... 5-6

Restoring or saving a profile ........................................................................................................ 5-7

Resetting the Wireless AP Router ............................................................................................ 5-8

Appendixes

A About Wireless LANs

Features and Benefits of Wireless LANs ......................................................................................... A-1

About Ad-Hoc Mode ............................................................................................................................. A-2

About Infrastructure Mode .................................................................................................................. A-3

Setting Up Wireless LANs ................................................................................................................... A-4

B Frequently Asked Questions

Turbo-G ...................................................................................................................................................... B-1

C Technical Specifications

Standards .......................................................................................................................................... C-1

Interface ............................................................................................................................................ C-1

Antenna ............................................................................................................................................ C-1

Frequency Band .............................................................................................................................. C-1

Data Rate ......................................................................................................................................... C-1

ii ii

Channels ........................................................................................................................................... C-1

Security ............................................................................................................................................. C-1

Dimensions ...................................................................................................................................... C-1

D Safety Precautions

General Safety .......................................................................................................................................... D-1

Exposure to Radio Frequency Caution ............................................................................................ D-1

Power Adapter Safety Notice ............................................................................................................. D-1

Power Source ................................................................................................................................. D-1

Cleaning ............................................................................................................................................ D-2

Damage Requiring Servicing ....................................................................................................... D-2

Servicing ............................................................................................................................................ D-2

E Glossary

iii iii

Introduction

Thank you for choosing the Creative Network Blaster™ Wireless Access Point (AP) Router.

Your Creative wireless device comes equipped with Turbo-G™ technology, which improves your device's performance by 35%, without affecting that of other wireless local area network (WLAN) devices in the neighbourhood. Powerful router functions and a user-friendly web-based configuration make it easy to set up and share a single broadband Internet connection with multiple clients. Other features include backward compatibility with IEEE 802.11b devices, an auto-sensing function that lets you achieve the fastest possible connection speeds, and robust WEP or WPA-PSK encryption.

Note: If you are new to networking, you may initially find the prospect of setting up a networking solution daunting. But with a little patience and the aid of this User’s Guide, you will not only be able to establish a working network, but a secure one as well.

Package Contents

System Requirements

The following items are included in your package:

Creative Network Blaster Wireless AP Router CW2202

❑ ❑ Power adapter (12 V DC, 1 A) ❑ RJ-45 Ethernet cable ❑ Stand for Wireless AP Router ❑

Quick Start leaflet

❑ Application CD

❑ Installed network interface card with RJ-45 Ethernet port, or a wireless network client

(IEEE 802.11b or 802.11g compliant)

❑ Internet Explorer version 6.0

Introduction 1-1

Model Number, Serial Number and MAC Address

Record the model number, serial number and the MAC addresses on your Wireless AP Router.

You will need to provide the model and serial numbers when contacting Technical Support. You may also need to provide the MAC addresses to a network administrator if you plan to use your device on a large network, such as in a school or office.

More Help Depending on the type of broadband internet service that you subscribe to, you

may need additional information from your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to complete the setup of your Wireless AP Router. Contact your ISP's customer or technical support staff for details.

Product Registration

Customer Support Services and Warranty

Enjoy a host of benefits by registering your product during installation, or at

www.creative.com/register. Benefits include:

Service and product support from Creative

❑ ❑ Exclusive updates on promotions and events

You can find Customer Support Services, Warranty and other information in the Installation CD.

Customer Support Services

Warranty d:\warranty\<region>\<language>\warranty.pdf

Regulatory d:\fcc\<language>\doc.pdf

(replace d:\ with the drive letter of your CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive, <region> with the region that you are in, and <language> with the language that your document is in).

d:\support\<language>\support.pdf

Please keep your Proof of Purchase for the duration of the warranty period.

Introduction 1-2

Document Conventions

This User’s Guide uses the following icons to highlight useful or urgent information.

Tip. This tells you about short cuts or hints relating to a feature.

Note. This highlights additional or important information about a feature.

Caution! This highlights proper usage of your product. Follow these directions to prevent the loss of data, or damage to your product or system.

Warning! This warns you of possible hazards that may result in bodily harm or life-threatening situations.

Introduction 1-3

About Your Wireless AP Router

Front Panel

The front panel has light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that show the status of your Wireless AP Router.

Power LED

Figure 2-1: Front panel of the Wireless AP Router

Wireless LED

CW2202

Internet LED

LAN LEDs

LED Status

POWER

WIRELESS

❍ Off: Power off ❍ On: Power on

❍ Off: Wireless LAN not initialized ❍ On: Wireless LAN initialized and ready ❍ Blinking: Sending/Receiving data via wireless LAN

INTERNET

❍ Off: Network or network device not connected or not ready ❍ On: Network or network device connected and ready ❍ Blinking: Sending/Receiving data via internet connection

About Your Wireless AP Router 2-1

LED Status

Rear Panel

LAN 1, 2, 3,

POWER connector

Connects to the 12 V DC power adapter

❍ Off: Network device not connected or not ready ❍ On: Network device connected and ready ❍ Blinking: Sending/Receiving data via wired LAN

LAN ports

Connect to the Ethernet ports of your computer

Figure 2-2: Rear panel of the Wireless AP Router

INTERNET port

Connects to the DSL modem or cable modem

CW2202

Antenna

Sends data to, and receives data from, wireless clients

RESET button

Erases all of your configured settings and replaces them with the factory defaults

About Your Wireless AP Router 2-2

Setting Up Your Wireless AP Router

1. Before you begin, choose the best location for your Wireless AP Router. For optimal reception and performance, place the Wireless AP Router in the center of your wireless LAN, on a flat horizontal surface, and where there is minimum obstruction between wireless clients and the Wireless AP Router.

2. Position the antenna such that it points up, and attach the optional stand if you want to place your Wireless AP Router upright.

Figure 3-1

Setting Up Your Wireless AP Router 3-1

3. Set up your Wireless AP Router as shown in Figure 3-2.

Wireless clients

Up to four computers can be connected via wire to your Wireless AP Router.

Power adapter

Wired client (optional)

Power outlet

Ethernet port

Wireless AP Router

RJ-45 Ethernet cable

DSL modem or cable modem

Ethernet port

Wall outlet

Figure 3-2

Setting Up Your Wireless AP Router 3-2

Although not essential to operation, configure your security settings after setting up your Wireless AP Router to safeguard the data exchanged within your network.

4. Congratulations! Depending on your hardware configuration, you should be able to access the Internet from any wired or wireless client connected to your Wireless AP Router right away.

If not, additional steps may be required to set up your Wireless AP Router properly. The following chapter, "Configuring Basic Settings", leads you through these steps. It also shows you how to enable the powerful security features of your Wireless AP Router, in order to prevent unauthorized users from accessing your network.

Setting Up Your Wireless AP Router 3-3

Configuring Basic Settings

This chapter guides you through the steps required to access your Wireless AP Router’s configuration page, and thereafter, to configure its basic settings.

The arrangement of information in this chapter is designed to benefit users who are new to networking. If you are an experienced user, proceed directly to "Accessing the configuration page" on page 4-5 and subsequently to "Configuring Internet connection settings" on page 4-8 to learn more about the configuration options available for each protocol.

Please note that manually configuring your Wireless AP Router’s settings is not a prerequisite for proper operation in all scenarios. If you connect to the Internet using a cable modem, for example, it is very likely that you will be able to access the Internet from any wired or wireless client connected to your Wireless AP Router, immediately after it has been properly set up (see Chapter 3, “Setting Up Your Wireless AP Router”).

You should therefore only attempt to configure your Wireless AP Router’s settings if:

• you are unable to access the Internet from a computer connected (via wire or

wirelessly) to your Wireless AP Router; or

• you would like to enable your Wireless AP Router’s security features.

If you are already able to access the Internet from a client, proceed to "Accessing the configuration page" on page 4-5

Configuring Basic Settings 4-1

Step 1: Preparing a client

Make sure that the computer you are using has a functioning network interface card (NIC).

You can access your Wireless AP Router’s configuration page using any computer on your wired or wireless LAN. Whichever you choose, you must first make sure that the computer can communicate with your Wireless AP Router. To do this, you need to configure the computer to obtain an IP address from your Wireless AP Router and to ensure that a valid IP address has been assigned to your network interface card (NIC).

The default settings of your Wireless AP Router are:

IP address: 192.168.2.1

❑ ❑ Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

For more information, see "Configuring your wired client" below or "Configuring your wireless client" on page 4-4.

Configuring your wired client

In Windows 2000/XP

The following steps also apply if you are configuring a wireless client, but an additional step is required before proceeding. See “Configuring your wireless client” on page 4-4 for more information.

1. Click Start → Settings → Control Panel or Start → Control Panel.

2. For Windows XP users, double-click the Network Connections icon. For Windows 2000 users, click the Network and Dial-Up Connections icon.

3. Right-click the Local Area Connection icon and then click Properties.

4. When the Local Area Connection Properties dialog box appears, select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and then click the Properties button.

5. When the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties dialog box appears, click the Obtain an IP address automatically option.

6. Click the OK button.

7. When the Local Area Connection Properties dialog box appears, click the OK button.

Configuring Basic Settings 4-2

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