Linksys WPC11-V31 Users Manual

If this screen does not appear automatically, you can access the installation by

Network PC Card

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clicking the Start button and choosing Run. In the drop-down box provided,
type D:\setup.exe (where D: is the letter of your CD-ROM drive). Alternately,
double-click My Computer, and then double-click the CD-ROM drive where
the Setup Utility CD is located. Double-click the Setup.exe icon that appears.
Follow the instructions that appear on your screen. If you have any questions
or difficulty, refer to the section called Installing the Drivers and

Configuration Utility for Windows 95, 98, ME, and 2000.

Chapter 7: Configuration Utility

The Configuration Utility is provided to allow you further customization of
the Network PC Card and your wireless network.

Using the Configuration Utility

Once the Configuration Utility has been installed, an icon will be placed in the
system tray (next to the clock) when the Network PC Card is inserted, as shown
in Figure 7-1.

Figure 7-1

You can also start the Configuration Utility by clicking the Startbutton, select­ing Programs, and choosing the folder for the Network PC Card. Choose
Configuration Utility. You will see the Wireless LAN Configuration Utility
screen (shown in Figure 7-1). This utility is divided into six parts: Link Info,

Configuration, Site Survey, Encryption, Advanced, and About. You should
change all configuration settings for your Network PC Card using this utility
and not under the Network Properties section in your Control Panel.

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LINK INFO

The Link Info screen (shown in Figure 7-2) provides information about the cur­rent link between the Network PC Card and a wireless Access Point.

When in Infrastructure Mode, State will display the connection statistics for
the network segment that you are on.

The Current Channel field shows to what channel the Network PC Card is set.
The Current Transfer Rate field shows the transfer rate in megabits per sec-

ond.
The Current Service Set Identifier shows the current SSID set for the wire-

less network. This SSID can be modified at the Configuration screen.
The Throughput fields show the rate at which data is transferred and received

in Bytes per second.

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Figure 7-2

Network PC Card

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CONFIGURATION

The Configuration screen, shown in Figure 7-3, allows you to customize the
settings for the Network PC Card and your wireless network.

The Wireless Mode setting determines the architecture of your wireless net­work. Select Ad-Hoc or Infrastructure Mode depending on your network
type. The Ad-Hoc mode is used for a simple peer-to-peer network and allows
the sharing of local resources only between Network PC Cards without need­ing a wireless Access Point. The Infrastructure mode allows a wireless net­work to be integrated into an existed, wired network through an Access Point.

The Link Quality field will display a bar indicating the percentage, between 0
and 100 percent, of the quality of the link. The higher the percentage, the bet­ter the link.

The Signal Strength field will display a bar indicating the percentage, between
0 and 100 percent, of the strength of the signal. The higher the percentage, the
stronger the signal.

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Note: When in Ad-Hoc mode, Link Quality and
Signal Strength indicators will not be available.

Figure 7-3

Infrastructure networks permit roaming between Access Points while main­taining a connection to all network resources.

An acronym for Service Set Identifier, SSID is the unique name shared among
all points in a wireless network. The SSID must be identical for all points in the
network. It is case sensitive and must not exceed 32 characters.

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The Transfer Rate field shows the current transfer rate for the Network PC

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Card. To optimize performance and range, the TX Rate should be set to Fully
Automatic, which will automatically adjust the transfer speed for best per­formance and longest range.

The Channel setting specifies the channel used in wireless communication and
should be set to the same channel as the other points in the wireless network.
This setting can only be adjusted in Ad-Hoc mode.

Power Saving Mode, or PS Mode, enables or disables the power saving features
of your Network PC Card.

SITE SURVEY

The Site Survey screen shows the available access points and their features.
Click on the desired access point. Then click Connect to connect or Search to
search for more access points.

ENCRYPTION

On the Encryption screen, shown in Figure 7-5, you can set the level of security
with which you will be using the Network PC Card.

Under the drop-down box, you can choose to have WEP encryption Disabled, 64-
Bit, or 128-Bit. Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is an encryption scheme used to
protect wireless data communication. The Disabled setting prevents the sharing of
data with other computers on the WEP network. When selecting Manual Entry
for the WEP Key Entry, enter the hexadecimal number set by other wireless WEP
settings; these settings have to be identical to the WEP encryption on all points in
your wireless network in order to network to your Network PC Card.

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Figure 7-4

Figure 7-5

Note: In order to enable WEP encryption,

hexadecimal values must be entered.

Note: The WEP Key Entry must match the Key on all other devices

on the wireless network, or else this device will be unable to trans­mit or receive data.

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In order to enable 128-bit WEP encryption, choose 128 Bits in the drop-down

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box. In the drop-down box near the bottom right-hand corner of the page,
choose which Default Tx Key will be used for the encryption. By default, Key
1 will be used. In the box corresponding to the default you chose, enter a hexa­decimal number that the encryption algorithm will be based on. Click Apply

Changes when you are done.

ADVANCED

The Advanced screen (Figure 7-6) allows you to set the Fragmentation
Threshold, the RTS/CTS Threshold, and the Preamble Type. The
Fragmentation Threshold Value indicates how much of the network resources

is devoted to recovering packet errors. The value should remain at its default
setting of 2,432. If you experience high packet error rates, you can decrease this
value but it will likely decrease overall network performance. Only minor mod­ifications of this value are recommended.

The RTS Threshold Value should remain at its default setting of 2,432. A pre­amble is a signal used to synchronize the transmission timing between two or
more systems. A series of transmission pulses is sent before the data to indicate
that “someone is about transmit data.” This ensures that systems receiving the
information correctly when the data transmission starts.

Security is used for WEP only. By selecting Deny Unencrypted Data
Frames, all unencrypted data will not be seen. For Authentication Type, you
may choose between Open System or Shared Key.

Shared Key is when both the sender and recipient share a secret key. Both

units use this key for an extended length of time, sometimes indefinitely.
Any eavesdropper that discovers the key may decipher all packets until the
key is changed.

Open System, the default setting, is when the sender and the recipient do
not share a secret key. Each party generates its own key-pair and asks the
receiver to accept the (usually randomly) generated key. Once accepted,
this key is used for a short time only; then a new key is generated and
agreed upon.

The Preamble Type
should be set to Short (if
the network environment
is “noisy”) or Long (if the
environment is clear).
Click OK to complete the
configuration.

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Figure 7-6

ABOUT

The About screen (Figure
7-7) shows the release
information for the Driver
Version, Configuration
Utility Version, and
Firmware Version

Figure 7-7

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Chapter 8: Installing Network

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Protocols

Protocols are necessary for computers to communicate on your network.

3. Highlight Protocol from the

list of network component
types, as shown in Figure 8-3,
and click the Add button.

1. From the Start

Menu, select
Settings and
bring up the
Control Panel,
as shown in
Figure 8-1. From
the Control
Panel, double­click the
Network icon.

2. Select Instant Wireless

Network PC Card V3.0

from the list (as shown in
Figure 8-2) and click the
Add button.

Figure 8-1

4. From the screen
shown in Figure 8­4, select Microsoft
from the list of
“Manufacturers”
and TCP/IP from
the list of “Network
Protocols” and click
the OK button.

Repeat steps two
through four to
install other proto­cols, such as
NetBEUI or IPX/SPX.

5. To verify that the drivers are
working under Enhanced
Mode on the Driver Typetab
or reconfigure the card on
the Advanced tab, go to the
screen shown in Figure 8-2
and click the Properties but-
ton. This will bring up the
Properties Tabs, where such
values can be refined.

Figure 8-3

Figure 8-4

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Figure 8-2

When finished, you must
restart your computer to
complete installation.

Figure 8-5

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Network PC Card

Chapter 9: Advanced Properties

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The Advanced Properties for Windows 95, 98, ME, and 2000

The Advanced Properties of the card are supplied for fine tuning the card’s set­tings. These values should only be changed by those completely familiar with
both the operating system and the settings of the network. Unless your specif­ic situation requires changing them, the default settings should be sufficient for
your card’s proper operation. Linksys advises that you change these values in

the Configuration Utility rather than using this method, to insure that the set­tings you change will be recognized everywhere.

Check your wireless network settings before changing any of these values.

1. To access the Network Configuration screen (shown in Figure 9-1), click the

Start button, choose Settings and open the Control Panel. Double-click the
Network icon and choose the Advanced tab.

2. Select Authentication

Algorithm from the list

provided and select a
Value from the drop­down menu on the
right, as shown in
Figure 9-2.

Figure 9-2

WECA Compliant (Default) (also referred to as Open Authentication)
The sender and recipient do NOT share a secret key. Each party generates its
own key-pair and asks the receiver to accept the generated key. Once accept­ed, this key is used for a short time only.

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Figure 9-1

Must use Shared with WEP (Optional)
This is when both the sender and recipient share a secret key. They use this key
for an extended length of time. Any eavesdropper that discovers the key may
decipher all packets until the key is changed. As indicated, you should always
use WECA Compliant (Always Use) unless you have some other reason to do
so.

Choose Channel to continue or click the OK button to finish setting the
Advanced Options

3. The Channel setting,

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shown in Figure 9-3,
must be the same for
all wireless points in
the network. Use the
settings, 1-11, to find
the best channel for
your connection. For
further information,
see Chapter 7:

Configuration
Utility. Once your

card is configured,
click the OKbutton to
finish setting the
Advanced Options.

4. Select either Disabled, 64
bit, or 128 bit as the
value under Encryption,
shown in Figure 9-4.
Wired Equivalent
Privacy (WEP) is an
encryption method used
to protect wireless data
communication. The
Disabled setting pre­vents the sharing of data
with other computers on
a WEP network. For data
sharing to be enabled,
select either 64 or 128 bit
encryption, depending
on your needs. For fur­ther information, see

Chapter 7:
Configuration Utility.

Once your card is con­figured, click OK to fin­ish setting the Advanced
Options.

Figure 9-3

Figure 9-4

5. The Fragmentation
Threshold Value,

shown in Figure 9-5 indi­cates the maximum size
of the transmit frame.
Any data frame larger
than this value will be
fragmented into multiple
frames. Lowering this
value usually means a
lower frame error rate,
but a lower value also
creates more overhead,
which negatively affects
network performance.
The value can only be
entered in increments of

128. Only minor modi­fications of this value are
recommended. Click

Maximum Listen
Interval to continue or

the OK button to finish
setting the Advanced
Options.

6. The Maximum Listen
Interval, as shown in
Figure 9-6, only applies
when operating in the
Infrastructure mode
while Power Saving is
enabled. The value you
input here will deter­mine how often the com­puter “wakes up” from
the power saving mode
to receive any packets
that were sent while it
was “asleep.” The higher
the value entered here,
the longer the time your
computer “sleeps”
between waking up to
check for packets. Click
Network Type to con­tinue or the OK button
to finish setting the
Advanced Options.

Figure 9-5

Figure 9-6

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