NETGEAR HA501 User Manual
HA50154 Mbps
802.11a Wireless CardBus Adapter
Installation Guide
Introduction
Thank you for purchasing the NETGEAR HA501 802.11a Wireless CardBus Adapter. This
wireless adapter enables you to network various PC’s together without physically laying any
wire and delivers high-speed wireless performance – up to 54 Mbps, 72 Mbps in turbo mode.
It provides small business networks with reliable, standards-based 802.11a LAN connectivity
that is protected with industry-standard security. NETGEAR's 802.11a solution is interferencefree and coexists with 802.11b and BluetoothTMdevices. It works with Windows®98, Me, NT
4.0, 2000, and XP operating systems.
This installation guide shows you how to install the adapter and the software for the adapter,
and configure it to create a wireless network. Setup is easy—follow the instructions in this
guide and your system will be up and running quickly.
If you have problems, there is a troubleshooting section on page 17 to help you. Or you can
get more detailed troubleshooting information from the reference guide on the HA501 Resource
CD-ROM. NETGEAR also offers free support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on the Web
(www.NETGEAR.com), by e-mail (support@NETGEAR.com), and by phone (see the
provided support information card for phone numbers).
Installation Overview
Estimated setup time: 10 to 15 minutes
1. Determine the configuration of your wireless network.
2. Install the wireless adapter.
3. Install the wireless configuration utility for the adapter.
4. Configure the adapter.
5. Test the connection.
Note: Users of SystemSoft’s CardWizard must install NT 4.0 with Service pack 6 in
order for the HA501 Wireless Adapter to function properly.
For more detailed information about installation, troubleshooting, and configuration procedures, see the reference guide on the HA501 Resource CD-ROM.
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NETGEAR, INC.
4500 Great America Parkway
Santa Clara, CA 95054
USA
Phone: 1-888-NETGEAR
E-mail: support@NETGEAR.com
www.NETGEAR.com
Technical Support
YOU MUST REGISTER TO OBTAIN TECHNICAL SUPPORT. PLEASE RETAIN
PROOF OF PURCHASE and the warranty information.
To register your product, get product support or obtain product information and product
documentation, go to http://www.NETGEAR.com. If you do not have access to the World
Wide Web, you may register your product by filling out the registration card and mailing it to
NETGEAR customer service.
You’ll find technical support information at: http://www.NETGEAR.com/ through the
customer service area. If you want to contact technical support by telephone, see the support
information card for the correct telephone number for your country.
©2002 by NETGEAR, Inc. All rights reserved.
NETGEAR is a registered trademark of NETGEAR, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.
Other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
Information is subject to change without notice.
Determine the Network Configuration
To set up the wireless adapter, you need to determine the network setting of your wireless network.
Are you running the wireless network in ad-hoc mode or
infrastructure mode?
There are two modes of configuring your wireless adapter: ad-hoc mode or infrastructure mode. In
an ad-hoc wireless network, there is no access point. Each node communicates with any other node
directly. (A node is a network connection point. For example, a PC in a LAN is a node.)
In the infrastructure mode, the wireless access point bridges between the wired LAN and wireless
network. Connecting multiple access points via a wired Ethernet backbone can further extend the
wireless network coverage. As a mobile computing device moves out of the range of one access
point, it moves into the range of another. As a result, wireless clients can freely roam from one
Access Point domain to another and still maintain a seamless network connection.
If you are running a wireless network in infrastructure mode, please set up the access point (such as
the NETGEAR HE102 802.11a Wireless Access Point) first, before you set up this wireless adapter.
Ad-hoc mode or infrastructure mode: _________________________________________
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What’s in the Box
When you open the box, verify that you received everything.
The package includes:
• HA501 802.11a Wireless CardBus Adapter
• HA501 Resource CD-ROM, including a full reference guide
• HA501 Installation Guide (this document)
• Warranty and registration card
• Support information card
If you don’t have everything listed above, see the Support information card for contact
information. If the support information card is missing, go to
www.NETGEAR.com/support_contacts.html to obtain contact information.
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1
1
NOTEBOOK with
HA501
Wireless Adapter
NOTEBOOK with
HA501
Wireless Adapter
NOTEBOOK with
HA501
Wireless Adapter
Ad Hoc
DSL or cable modem
10 Mbps
Ethernet
10/100 Mbps
FR318 Firewall Router
HE102 Wireless Access Point
PC with
FA311
PC with
FA311
Internet
MR314
MODEL
Cable/DSL
Wireless Router
LOCALINTERNET
LNK
ACT
100
LNK/ACT
PWR TEST
4
321
WIRELESS
LNK
ACT
HE 102
802.11a Access Point
NOTEBOOK with
HA501
Wireless Adapter
NOTEBOOK with
HA501
Wireless Adapter
NOTEBOOK with
HA501
Wireless Adapter
Note: Twenty-four bits in the encryption key are factory preset and not modifiable.
A 64-bit encryption key can be represented by ten (10) hexadecimal digits. For a
128-bit encryption key, twenty-six (26) hexadecimal digits need to be provided. For
a 152-bit encryption key, thirty-two (32) hexadecimal digits need to be provided.
Note: Hexadecimal digits are the first ten numbers of the decimal system (0, 1, 2,
3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9) and the letters A, B, C, D, E, and F. Your choice of characters
is arbitrary. You might use, for example, a phone number. (Do not use an obvious
one, such as your office phone number). The table below shows you some
examples of encryption settings.
Shared Key (1 of 4): _____________________
Key Size (64, 128, or 152 bits): ___________________
Key Value (Hex 0-9 A-F): _____________________________________________________
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What is the SSID for your wireless network?
The Service Set Identification (SSID) is an alphanumeric character string identifying the
wireless local area network. The HA501 Wireless Adapter can only communicate with wireless
NICs or access points configured with the same SSID. For the access point and wireless nodes
to communicate with each other, all must be configured with the same SSID. Either the SSID
for your wireless network was assigned in a preexisting wireless network or, if there was no
preexisting wireless network, you must create the SSID just as you would create a network
name, using from 1 to 32 characters and not including any spaces or hyphens between characters.
SSID: _________________________________________
Which wireless channel to use?
When the HA501 Wireless Adapter is configured to operate in Infrastructure mode, it automatically scans through all eight available channels (three when in turbo mode) for the closest
access point to associate with. When the HA501 Wireless Adapter is configured to operate in
ad-hoc mode, one of the HA501 Wireless Adapters will automatically operate as a virtual access
point. There is no need to set up the wireless channel for the wireless adapter.
What is the WEP Encryption key?
The absence of a physical connection between nodes makes the wireless links vulnerable to
information theft. To provide a certain level of security from eavesdroppers and hackers, you
can (1) enable WEP encryption and (2) create your shared key in the security table of the
configuration utility. The HA501 Wireless Adapter supports “shared key” encryption with key
sizes from the industry standard 64-bit, 128-bit and 152-bit.
The Shared Key, as well as the key content used by the HA501 Wireless Adapter and the wireless access point or other wireless nodes in the same network, must be the same.
Encryption # of Example of Hexadecimal
Key Size Hexadecimal Digits Key Content
64-bit (24+40) 10 4C72F08AE1
128-bit (24+104) 26 4C72F08AE19D57A3FF6B260037
152-bit (24+1280) 32 4C72F08AE19D57A3FF6B26003715DAC2
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