NDC comm Instant Wave User Manual

High Rate

11Mbps Wireless Networking

Access Point

User’s Guide

DEC 2000

National Datacomm Corporation.

4F, No. 24-2, Industry East 4th Road, Science Park,
Hsin-Chu, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Rev.10

Technical Support

E-mail: [e-mail]

NDC World Wide Web

www.ndc.com.tw

TRADEMARKS

NDC and InstantWave are trademarks of National Datacomm Corporation. All
other names mentioned in this document are trademarks/registered trademarks of
their respective owners.
NDC provides this document “as is”, without warranty of any kind, neither
expressed nor implied, including, but not limited to, the particular purpose. NDC
may make improvements and/or changes in this manual or in the product(s) and/or
the program(s) described in this manual at any time. This document could include
technical inaccuracies or typographical errors.

FCC WARNING

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B
Digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to
provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential
installation. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency
energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause
harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that
interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause
harmful interference to radio or televisi on re cept i on, whi ch can be determined by
turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the
interference by one or more of the following measures:

 Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna
 Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver
 Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which

the receiver is connected

 Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help
You are cautioned that changes or modifications not expressly approved by the

party responsible for compliance could void your authority to operate the
equipment.
This device complies with part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the
following two conditions:

1. This device may not cause harmful interference, and

2.

This device must accept any interference received, including interference that
may cause undesired operation

ii InstantWave High Rate

Access Point

Table Of Contents

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

INSTANTWAVE HIGH RATE FAMILY ..........................................................1

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ..............................................................................1

CABLING............................................................................................................1

Glossary...............................................................................................................................................2

How to Use this Guide...................................................................................................................... 3

Planning Your Network................................................................................................................... 4

INFRASTRUCTURE NETWORK TYPES.........................................................4

PLANNING AN INFRASTRUCTURE NETWORK..........................................6

Single AP Installation .......................................................................................6

Multiple AP Installation....................................................................................6

ROAMING...........................................................................................................7

ACCESS POINT PLACEMENT GUIDELINES.................................................8

Placing For Performance...................................................................................8

Placement Tools................................................................................................8

MOUNTING THE AP.........................................................................................8

Getting Started...................................................................................................................................9

ACCESS POINT HARDWARE INSTALLATION............................................9

LED INDICATORS.............................................................................................9

AP MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE INSTALLATION/UNINSTALLATION.11

Installation.......................................................................................................11

Uninstalling.....................................................................................................11

AP COMFig Tool............................................................................................................................12

USING THE AP COMFIG TOOL.....................................................................12

AP COMFig Password....................................................................................12

AP COMFig Service.......................................................................................13

Perform AP Self Diagnostic Test....................................................................18

InstantWave

High Speed Access Point

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Upgrade AP Firmware....................................................................................18

Reset AP Configuration ..................................................................................18

T rouble Sh ooting.............................................................................................................................19

Operational Problems...................................................................................19

T echnic al Support...........................................................................................................................21

NDC Limited W arranty................................................................................................................22

Index...................................................................................................................................................26

iv InstantWave High Rate

Access Point

List of Figures

IGURE

F

IGURE

F

IGURE

F

IGURE

F

IGURE

F

IGURE

F

IGURE

F

IGURE

F

IGURE

F

IGURE

F

IGURE

F

IMPLE WIRELESS INFRASTRUCTURE NETWORK

1. S

2. AP

3. M

4. A

5. A

6. A

7. LED F

8. AP COMF

9. C

10. E

11. C

TO WIRED ETHERNET BRIDGE

ULTIPLE

CCESS POINT

CCESS POINT

CCESS POINT

UNCTIONS

ONFIGURATION/GENERAL

NCRYPTION

ONFIGURATION/FILTER

ETWORK

AP N

....................................................... 5

........................................................................ 9

........................................................................ 9

LEDS............................................................ 10

.................................................................. 13

IG TOOL/SERVICE

........................................................................ 16

.................................................... 117

.......................................... 5

................................................ 13

.................................................. 13

.................... 4

InstantWave

High Speed Access Point

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Packing List

The package should contain the following items:

• One Access Point

• One diskette for AP Management Software

• One AC Power Adapter

• This User’s Guide

vi InstantWave High Rate

Access Point

Introduction

Congratulations on choosing one of NDC’s InstantWave High Rate wireless
networking product’s family. InstantWave High Rate was one of the first IEEE

802.11b wireless standard compliant products in the industry and was designed to
maximize the convenience of networking. You will find InstantWave High Rate
products very easy to setup and use.

The User’s Guide gives comprehensive instructions on installing and using the
InstantWave High Rate Access Point (AP). The AP provides a transparent bridged
connection between a wired network and a wireless network and allows your
wireless stations to communicate with devices attached to your wired network. It
manages the flow of data packets from the wired LAN to the wireless LAN, and
vice versa.

InstantWave High Rate Family

The InstantWave High Rate Access Point is part of a family of easy to use high
performance wireless communication products. The family products include:

• InstantWave High Rate Access Point (NWH660, NWH650)

• InstantWave High Rate PCI Card (NWH630)

• InstantWave High Rate PC Card (NWH610)

System Requirements

System requirements to install and operate the InstantWave High Rate Access
Point are:

• A RS-232 cable

• An Ethernet drop (UTP)

• A PC (only used when configuration of the AP ’s Net w ork properties is

necessary)

Cabling

Connecting the AP to an Ethernet network requires an Unshielded Twisted-Pair
cable. The AP fits into the network just as any other node would do. An LED will
light to indicate a connection. The cable length should follow Ethernet standards
in each case.

InstantWave High Rate

Access Point

1

Glossary

Group ID/BSSID

A Group ID (the 802.11 standard uses the term BSSID) is the ID of a wireless cell.
A wireless cell is usually made up of stations in an area that the radio signal can
comfortably cover. In other words, any wireless station in the cell can
communicate with any other within reach of the radio signa l .

Domain Name/ESSID

A “Domain” is most commonly used to refer to a group of computers whose
hostnames share a common suffix. The domain is usually defined by the network
administrator as a segment/subnet of a large network and may be made up of
overlapping wireless cells. Wireless nodes can roam freely within the same
domain without disconnecting from the network.

Roaming

The convenience of a mobile PC is the ability to move freely. The concept is
similar to that of a cellular phone moving from one base station to another.
InstantWave High Rate offers built-in high performance and seamless roaming
capabilities.

Regulatory Domain

InstantWave High Rate products use the unlicensed ISM (Industrial, Scientific,
Medical) band to communicate through radio waves. Different countries offer
different radio frequencies to be used as the ISM band. There are four frequency
bands defined by 802.11: Japan (2.4 7 1G Hz – 2.497 GHz), USA, Extended Japan,
Canada, and Europe (2.4 GHz – 2.4835 GHz), Spain (2.445 GH z – 2.475 GHz),
and France (2.4465 GHz – 2.4835 GHz). To use InstantWave High Rate in a
country not listed above, check with your government’s r egu lating body to find the
correct frequency band to use. All InstantWave High Rate products are supplied
preset to the country of sale’s frequency band.

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How to Use this Guide

InstantWave High Rate is extremely versatile in providing varying levels of
network management. For Small Office/Home Office users, setup and
configuration is a quick, four-step process. The Access Point Hardware
Installation section, on page 9, provides simple instructions to get your network up
and running within minutes. Go to the Access Point Hardware Installation section
if your network will meet the following criteria:

• You will accept all default values

• Your network will have only one Access Point

The AP COMFig Tool, see page 12, permits AP configuration from a PC via a
COM port connection. The program enables the user to change the default Access
Point IP configuration settings before introducing a new AP to an already
established wireless network.

Before using the setup tool, you should read through the next section “Planning
Your Network”, in order to get the best possible performance from your
InstantWave High Rate wireless network.

InstantWave High Rate

Access Point

3

Planning Your Network

Infrastructure Network Types

An Infrastructure network is formed by several stations and one or more Access
Points (APs), with the stations within a set distance from the AP. Figure 1 depicts
a typical Infrastructure network topology.

There are three infrastructure network setups that are commonly used. It is a good
idea to understand the possible network setups and configuration requirements
before planning your wireless network.

Type 1. The simplest wireless infrastructure network is composed of one

Access Point (AP) and a few wireless Stations communicating via
radio waves (Figure 1). This setup enables mobile stations to
communicate with each other. The main benefit of this type of
network is to extend the range of the network. If an AP is placed
between Station-1 and Station-2, the radio transmission distance is
effectively doubled since Station-1 can talk to Station-2 through the
AP. The drawback of this configuration is that the effective
bandwidth is halved since all communication is relayed by the AP.

Figure 1. Simple Wireless Infrastructure Network

Type 2. The next simplest wireless network is very similar to the Type 1

network. This time the AP is connected to a wired Ethernet network
as a node. In this configuration the AP is effectively performing as a
bridge between the wired Ethernet and the wireless networks (Figure

2).

Wireless users have the same access to the network resources as they
would have if they were wired. This type of network is usually used
to extend an existing network into a difficult to wire or a roaming
environment.

4 InstantWave High Rate

Access Point