Dell TrueMobile 1300 User Manual

Dell™ TrueMobile™ 1300 Wireless USB2.0 Adapter
User's Guide

Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
© 2003 Dell Computer Corporation. All rights reserved.

The copying or reproducing of any material in this document in any manner whatsoever without the written
permission of Dell Computer Corporation is strictly forbidden.

The trademarks

Dell

, the

DELL

logo, and

TrueMobile

are trademarks of Dell Computer Corporation.

Microsoft

and

Windows

are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming the
marks and names or their products. Dell disclaims any proprietary interest in trademarks and trade names
other than its own.

A

00 release: November 2003

Contents

Getting Started With Your Dell TrueMobile 1300 Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter
Using Your Dell Wireless Configuration Utility
Mounting a Dell TrueMobile 1300 Wireless Adapter to Your Computer
Technical Specification
Regulatory Information
Troubleshooting
Appendix
Glossary

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Getting Started with your Dell TrueMobile 1300 Wireless
USB Adapter:
Dell™ TrueMobile™ 1300 Wireless USB Adapter User's
Guide

To complete the setup of your TrueMobile 1300 Wireless USB Adapter, perform the following 3
steps:

1. Installing the software (drivers and Dell Wireless Configuration Utility)

2. Connecting the device to the computer

3. Connecting to your wireless network

1. Installing the Software

a. Insert the

Dell TrueMobile 1300 Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter CD

into the CD or DVD

drive of your computer. If the

Main Menu

screen does not appear automatically, select

Start-->Run

and then type

x:\setup.exe

(where x:\ is your CD-ROM drive letter) and click

OK

.

b. Click on

Install Software

.

c. The wizard will install the Dell Wireless Configuration Utility and the driver for your device.

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2. Connecting the Dell TrueMobile 1300 Wireless USB Adapter to Your Computer

a. Connect the small connector of the USB cable to the connector in the

Dell TrueMobile

1300 Wireless USB Adapter

as shown in Figure 1.

NOTE: If you did not purchase this device with a new Dell system, please start at step 1.
If you purchased this device with a new Dell system, please skip to step 2

.

NOTE: This installation is required before connecting the device to the system.

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Figure 1

b. Connect the other end of the USB cable to any USB connector on the back of your

desktop computer as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2

c. The

Found New Hardware

screen will appear.

d. The driver for your device will be automatically detected and installed.
e. Check for the

Green Light

on the device to make sure the USB cable is connected

between the device and the system correctly.

f. The

New network device installed

screen will appear on the bottom right corner. Click X

to close the message.

(XP only)

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3. Connecting to Your Wireless Network

To connect to the wireless network, the wireless network name (SSID) of the

wireless USB

adapter

must match the wireless network name specified by your Wireless Broadband Router*.
To set the network name, follow the instructions below for Windows XP operating system. For
Windows 2000, follow instructions under

section 3.2

.

3.1 Connecting using Windows® XP Operating System

a. Click on the

Wireless Network Connection

pop up message on the

bottom right corner.

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b. In the

Available networks

list, you should see the wireless network name
that you specified in your wireless broadband router. Select that network
name and click

Connect

. You may see the names of other wireless
networks in this list. You only need to set the configuration for your wireless
network.

c. A pop up message on the bottom right corner will show that the device is

Connected to:

the network whose name was specified in step b) and also

indicates the

Signal Strength

.

d. Open the

Internet Explorer

and you should be able to browse the

Internet

.

3.2 Using the Dell Wireless Configuration Utility for Windows 2000

The Dell Wireless Configuration Utility is a software utility that you can use to:

! Check the quality of your wireless connection.
! View/change the settings of your network connection.
! Monitor your network connection.

Use the following procedure to start the Dell Wireless Configuration Utility:

a. Click

Start

_

> Programs _> Dell TrueMobile _> TrueMobile 1300 USB2.0

WLAN Card Utility

.

b. An icon like this will appear in the system tray (bottom right corner of your

screen).

Double click the icon.

c. Click on the

Wireless Connections

tab.

d. In the

Available networks

list, you should see the wireless network name
that you specified in your wireless broadband router. Select that network
name and click

Configure

. (You may see the names of other wireless
networks in this list. You only need to set the configuration for your wireless
network.)

e. In the

Wireless Network Properties

box, click OK and the window will

close. It may take up to one minute for the network connection to be made.

f. The network name and icon should now appear at the top of the

Preferred

networks

list when you next open the

Wireless Connections

tab in

Wireless Network Properties

. Your computer will be connected to the
selected network when you see a blue bubble on top of the icon for that
network.

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NOTE:

If you are unable to access the

Internet

, refer to the

Trouble Shooting

section o

f

guide

.

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Securing your Network

Your network administrator may have implemented measures to help make your wireless
network secure. If so, you must get the required settings from your administrator to establish a
connection to the network. For detailed information on how to change these settings under any
of the supported Windows operating systems, please consult the Network Configuration

section

of your Dell Truemobile 1300 Wireless USB Adapter User’s Guide.

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Using your Dell Wireless Configuration Utility:
Dell™ TrueMobile™ 1300 Wireless USB Adapter User's
Guide

The Dell Wireless Configuration Utility allows you to configure your TrueMobile 1300 Wireless USB adapter
and your connection to the wireless network. The sections below provide complete information on the
operation of the Configuration Utility.

Contents

OPERATION

System Tray Icon
Icon Menu
Starting the Configuration Utility

CONNECTING TO THE WIRELESS NETWORK

Windows XP With Wireless Zero Configuration Enabled
Windows 2000 or Windows XP With Wireless Zero Configuration Disabled

CONFIGURING A WIRELESS NETWORK

Network Configuration
Association Tab
Creating Encryption Keys Manually
Creating Encryption Keys Using a Passphrase
Authentication Tab
PEAP Authentication
TLS/Smart Card Authentication
EAP

– Cisco Wireless (LEAP) Authentication

MD5 Challenge Authentication
TTLS Authentication

LINK STATUS

SITE MONITOR

DIAGNOSTICS

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Operation of Your Dell Wireless Configuration Utility:
Dell™ TrueMobile™ 1300 Wireless USB Adapter User's
Guide

This section discusses operation of the utility once it has been installed. It describes the system tray icon, the

icon menu

, and starting the utility.

System Tray Icon

After the installation of the Dell Wireless Configuration Utility, its icon appears in the System
Tray in the bottom right corner of your desktop.

The color behind the logo indicates the link status, as follows:

You can also view more complete information on the connection status of the link by placing the
cursor over the Configuration Utility icon. When your computer has established a link, placing
the cursor over the icon displays the network name, network type (infra structure or ad-hoc) and
connection speed. If your computer has not established a link, placing the cursor over the icon
indicates the problem (no network adapter or no available network, for example).

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Icon Menu

Clicking the right mouse button on the System Tool Tray Icon displays a menu similar to the
following illustration:

Weak

Marginal

Good

Excellent

Disconnected

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Clicking a command in the menu will cause the following action to occur:

About

opens the Utility with the

About

tab selected, giving information on your TrueMobile
Wireless adapter (its hardware and firmware components) and its associated software (driver
and configuration utility).

Help

opens the help file.

Hide Systray Icon

removes the icon for the utility from the System Tray at the bottom of your
screen. When you choose this command, the driver continues to operate the adapter in the last
commanded configuration, but to restart the Configuration Utility you must select

Programs

→

Dell TrueMobile

→

TrueMobile 1300 USB2.0 WLAN Card Utility

from the

Start

menu.

Link Status

opens the Utility with the

Link Status

tab selected. This tab provides information on
the details and current quality of your connection to the wireless LAN. The section Link Status
explains the information displayed by this tab.

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Site Monitor

opens the Utility with the

Site Monitor

tab selected. The section titled Site Monitor

explains the operation of this tab.

Diagnostics

opens the Utility with the

Diagnostics

tab selected. The section titled Diagnostics

explains the operation of this tab.

View Available Networks

: The window displayed by this command depends on whether your

computer operates with the Wireless Zero Configuration service enabled under Windows XP:

! If you are already connected to a wireless network, choosing this command opens the

Wireless Network Connection

window if your computer operates with Wireless Zero
Configuration enabled. Otherwise, choosing this command opens the Configuration Utility
with the

Link Status

menu displayed.

! If you are not connected to a wireless network, choosing this command opens the

Connect to Wireless Network

window if your computer operates with Wireless Zero
Configuration enabled. Otherwise, choosing this command opens the Configuration Utility
with the

Wireless Networks

menu displayed.

Exit

closes the Utility.

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Starting the Configuration Utility

You can launch the Configuration Utility in one of three ways:

! by simply clicking the left mouse button on the Configuration Utility icon.
! by clicking the right mouse button on the Configuration Utility icon and selecting one of

the first five commands in the pop-up menu.

! If the Configuration Utility icon is not displayed in the System Tray, you can restart the

Configuration Utility from the Start Menu by selecting

Programs

→

Dell TrueMobile

→

TrueMobile 1300 USB2.0 WLAN Card Utility

.

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Back to the Table of Contents

Note:

The window displayed by the utility depends on whether your computer runs the Window

s

system with the Wireless Zero Configuration service enabled. With this service enabled, many

o

configuration and security functions of your adapter are controlled by the operating system rath

e

Configuration Utility.

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Back to the Table of Contents

Connecting to the Wireless Network:
Dell™ TrueMobile™ 1300 Wireless USB Adapter User's
Guide

With the Dell TrueMobile 1300 USB2.0 WLAN Card driver and Configuration Utility installed,
your computer automatically scans for wireless networks. You can connect to any of the
networks your card sees, and change the parameters of your communications with any of these
networks, by starting the Configuration Utility. The facilities provided by the Configuration Utility
to accomplish this differ slightly depending on whether or not your computer ru ns the Windows
XP operating system with the Wireless Zero Configuration service enabled.

Windows XP With Wireless Zero Configuration Enabled

Windows 2000 or Windows XP With Wireless Zero Configuration Disabled

Windows XP With Wireless Zero Configuration Enabled

The Wireless Zero Configuration service allows the Windows XP operating system to handle the
configuration of your connection to a wireless network. With this service enabled, if you are not
connected to a wireless network when you start the Configuration utility, the following window
appears on your desktop:

This window lists the networks to which you can connect. To connect to any of these networks,
choose it from the list and click the

Connect

button. Once your connection is established, the

Wireless Network Connection

window (shown below) appears on your desktop.

With this service enabled, if you are already connected to a wireless network when you start the
Configuration utility, the following window appears on your desktop:

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You can click the

Open Network Properties

button to access the tools provided by Windows
XP to manage network connections. Consult your operating system documentation for
information on using these tools.

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Windows 2000 or Windows XP With Wireless Zero Configuration Disabled

If your computer runs the Windows 2000 operating system or the Windows XP operating system
with Wireless Zero Configuration disabled, all configuration of your connection to the wireless
network is controlled by the Configuration Utility. Under these conditions, if you are not
connected to a wireless network when you start the Configuration utility, the Wireless Networks
window appears on your desktop:

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The networks to which you can connect are listed in the window in the

Available networks

section. To connect to any of these networks, choose it from the list and click the

Configure

button to the right of the list. Configuration of a network is explained in the Configuring a

Wireless Network section of this manual.

If you are already connected to a wireless network when you start the Configuration utility, the
Link Status menu appears on your desktop. Refer to the Link Status

section for a description of
the information displayed by this menu. To connect to a different network, follow the instructions
in the Configuring a Wireless Network

section of this manual.

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Configuring a Wireless Network:
Dell™ TrueMobile™ 1300 Wireless USB Adapter User's
Guide

The Dell WLAN Configuration Utility allows you to configure the parameters of your
communications with the wireless network through the

Wireless Networks

menu. The following

topics are covered in this section of the manual:

The

Wireless Networks

Menu

Network Configuration
The Association Tab
The Authentication Tab

The Wireless Networks Menu

Note:

If your computer runs the Windows XP operating system
with the Wireless Zero Configuration service enabled,
configuration of a wireless connection is controlled by that
service. You must disable that service in order to use the Dell
WLAN Configuration Utility to configure wireless
communications.

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Available Networks:

The first section of this menu displays a list of the available wireless
networks. If you are associated with a network, a blue bubble appears over the icon for the
network in both this list and in the

Preferred networks

list.

The

Configure

button to the right of this list allows you to configure your connection to the

highlighted network; refer to Network Configuration

for an explanation of this process. The

Refresh

button forces the Configuration Utility to update the list by scanning for available

networks.

Preferred Networks:

The second section of this menu displays a list of preferred networks. This
list shows the order, from top to bottom, of the networks to which your computer will attempt to
connect. If your computer is connected to any of these networks, a blue bubble appears over the
icon for that network. If your computer cannot find any of these networks when it per forms a
scan, a crossed-out red bubble appears over the icon for that network

When your computer starts searching for a wireless network, it begins by attempting to connect
to the first network in this list. If it cannot connect to this network, it then attempts to connect to
the second network in the list. This process continues until the computer establishes a
connection with one of these networks. After a connection is established, if a higher priority
network become available, then the current connection is dropped and the computer connects
with the higher priority network.

You can change the order of preferred networks by highlighting a network in this list and clicking
the

Move Up

or

Move Down

buttons.

The

Add

button allows you to add a network to the list of preferred networks. The

Properties

button allows you to configure the selected network. Refer to Network Configuration

for an

explanation of the operation of these buttons. The

Remove

button removes the selected

network from the list of preferred networks.

Two items appear beneath the

Preferred networks

section. The

Show wireless configuration

icon in systray

field determines whether the icon for the Dell WLAN configuration utility

appears in the system tray at the bottom right side of your desktop. If this field is not checked,
you can start the Configuration Utility from the Start Menu by selecting

Programs

→

Dell

TrueMobile

→

TrueMobile 1300 USB2.0 WLAN Card Utility

.

Clicking on the

Advanced...

button displays the following menu:

The first section of this menu allows you to specify the networks to access when your computer
is searching for a wireless network connection. Clicking the check box next to the

Automatically connect to non-preferred networks

field allows your computer to connect to

any available network if it cannot connect to a preferred network.

At the bottom of the

Wireless networks

menu are three buttons. Clicking the OK button applies

any changes you made in this or any of the other menus of the Configuration Utility and closes

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the utility. Clicking the

Cancel

button cancels any changes you made since you last clicked the

Apply

but does not close the utility. Clicking the

Apply

button saves any changes you made in

this or any of the other menus of the utility and leaves the utility open.

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Network Configuration

There are three ways to configure a network through the Dell WLAN Configuration Utility:

! by choosing a network in the list of available networks and clicking the

Configure

button

! by choosing a network in the list of preferred networks and clicking the

Properties

button

! by clicking the

Add

button beneath the list of preferred networks

When you click any of these buttons a window similar to the following appears on your screen:

If you clicked the

Configure

or

Properties

button, the name of the network highlighted when

you clicked the button appears in the

Network name (SSID)

field. If you clicked the

Add

button
to display this menu, this field is blank. To add a network to the list of preferred networks, enter
its name in this field.

Two buttons appear at the bottom of this menu. Clicking the OK button applies any changes you
made in this or any of the other menus of the Configuration Utility. Clicking the

Cancel

button

cancels any changes you made since you last clicked the

Apply

button. Clicking either of these

buttons returns to the

Wireless networks

menu.

Network configuration consists of specifying values for association and authentication

, as

explained in the following sections.

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