NETGEAR MA 301 User Manual

Trademarks

NETGEAR the Netgear Logo, the Gear Guy, and Everybody’s connecting are trademarks or registered trademark of Netgear, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Microsoft, windows, and the Windows logo are trademarks, or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation 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. Allrights reserved.

Certificate of the Manufacturer/Importer

It is hereby certified that the Model MA301 Wireless PCI Adapter has been suppressed in accordance with the conditions set out in the BMPT- AmtsblVf g 243/1991 and Vfg 46/1992. The operation of some equipment (for exampl e, test transmitte rs) in accordance with the regulations may, however, be subject to certain restrictions. Please refer to the notes in the operating instructions. Federal Office for Telecommunications Approvals has been notified of the placing of this equipment on the market and has been granted the right to test the series for compliance with the regulations.

VCCI Statemen t

This equipment is in the Class B category (informatio n equipment to be used in a residential area or an adjacent area thereto) and conforms to the standards set by the Voluntary Control Council for Interference by Data Processing Equipment and Electronic Office Machines aimed at preventing radio interference in such residential areas. When used near a radio or TV receiver, it may become the cause o f radio interference. Read instructions fo r co rrect handling.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Compliance Notice: Radio Frequency Notice

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

undesired operation.

Note: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital

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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 television reception, which 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: (1) Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna, (2) Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver, (3) Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected, (4) Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Radiation Exposure Statement

This equipment complies with FCC radiation exposure limits set forth for an uncontrolled environment. In order to avoid the possibility of exceeding the FCC radio frequency exposure limits, human proximity to the antenna shall not be less than 20 cm (8 inches) during normal operation.

EN 55 022 Statement

This is to certify that the Model MA301 Wireless PCI Adapter is shielded against the generation of radio interference in accordance with the application of Council Dire ctive 89/336/EEC, Article 4a. Conformity is declared by the application of EN 55 022 Class B (CISPR 22) . Compliance is dependent upon the use of shielded data cables.

Canadian Department of Communications Radio Interference Regulations

This digital apparatus (Model MA301 Wireless PCI Adapter) does not exceed the Class B limits for radio-noise emissions from digital apparatus as set out in the Radio Interference Regulations of the Canadian Department of Communications.

SM-MA301NA-2

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

ENEFITS

EATURES

ELATED

CHAPTER 2: WIRELESS NET WO R K FUNDAMENTALS

IRELESS NETWORK CONFIGURATION

ERVICE SET IDENTIFICATION

UTHENTICATION AND

IRELESS CHANNEL SELECTION

CHAPTER 3: HARDWARE INSTALLATION

ACKAGE CONTENTS

ARDWARE DESCRIPTION

NSTALLING WIRELESS

CHAPTER 4: DRIVER INSTALLATION

INDOWS

INDOWS ME DRIVER SOFTWARE

INDOWS

........................................................................................................................................................1

.......................................................................................................................................................1

NETGEAR

95/B D 98 D

NT 4.0 D 2000 D

PRODUCTS

WEP E

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

RIVER SOFTWARE

........................................................................................................................1

.....................................................................................................................1

............................................................................................................2

(SS ID)

NCRYPTION

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

DAPTER AND WIRELESS

PCI A

...........................................................................................................3

......................................................................................................3

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

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

PC C

.........................................................................................................6

...............................................................................................................6

...................................................................................................................7

..................................................................................................................8

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

.............................................................................................................10

CHAPTER 5: WIRELES S LAN CO NF IGURATION

.....................................................................................12

...........................................................................2

ARD

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

DAPTER PROPERTIES CONFIGURATION

APPENDIX A: HARDWARE SPECIFICATION

........................................................................................................12

...........................................................................................18

iii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

The

MA301 802.11b Wireless PCI Adapter

the hassles of traditional Ethernet wiring and helps you create a wireless network for sharing your broadband cable or DSL Internet access among multiple PCs in and around your home or off ice. It is designed for desktop computers equipped with PCI slots running Microsoft Windows. Its auto-sensing capability allows packet transfer at 11Mbps for maximum throughput, or speed reduction to the lower 1Mbps speed for distance or for operating in a noi sy environment.

Benefits

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Quickly networks your employees wi thout the time or expense of Ethernet cabling.

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Networks from any location in and around the home or office.

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Gives you constant access to corporate resources, e-mail and the intranet.

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Supports the vast majority of desktop PCs

Features

The key features of the MA301 Wireless PCI adapter are:

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Reliable IEEE 802.11b standard-based wireless technolo gy.

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11Mbps high rate speed. Wireless nodes negotiate to operate in the optimal data transfer rate. In a noisy environment or when the distance between the wireless nodes is far, the wireless nodes automatically fall back to operate at the lower transfer rate of two or one Megabit per second.

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Highest level of data encryption using128-bit Shared Key data encryption method. Lower level of data encryption or no data encryption is available to simplify your network setup or to improve data transfer rate.

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Supports multiple operating system platform including Microsoft Windows 95/B, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows Millennium.

enables you to effortlessly network any desktop PC avoiding

Related NETGEAR products

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MA401 802.11b Wireless PC Card

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ME102 802.11b Wireless Access Point

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MR314 802.11b Wireless Cable/DSL Router

CHAPTER 2: WIRELESS NETWORK FUNDAMENTALS

Wireless Network Configuration

Ad-hoc Mode (Peer-to-Peer Workgroup)

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard for wireless LANs (WLANs),

802.11, offers two methods for configuring a wireless network — ad hoc and infrastructure. In an ad hoc

network, computers are brought together as needed; thus, there is no structure or fixed points to the network — each node can generally communicate with any other node. There is no access point involved in this configuration. It enables you to quickly set up a small wireless workgroup and allows workgroup members to exchange data or share printers as supported by Microsoft Networking i n the various Windows operating s ystems. Some vendors also refer to ad hoc networking as Peer-to-Peer group networking.

In this configuration, network packets are directly sent and received by the intended transmitting and receiving stations. As long as the stations are within range of one another, this is the easiest and least expansive way to set up a wireless network.

To set up an ad hoc workgroup operating with standard protocols, do the following:

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Set all stations to connect in Ad-hoc mode (or Peer-to-Peer workgroup mode).

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Set all stations to use the same network name (or SS ID).

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Set all stations to use no WEP encryption key or an identical WEP encryption key.

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Set all stations to use the same wireless channel for communication.

Infrastructure Mode

With a wireless access point, you can put the wireless LAN into the infras tructure mode. It provides wireless connectivity to multiple wireless network devices within a fixed range or area of coverage, interacting with a wireless nodes via an antenna.

In the infrastructure mode, the wireless access po int converts airwave data into wired Ethernet data, acting as a bridge between the wired LAN and wireless clients. 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 seamless network connection.

To set up an infrastructure network operating with standard protocols, do the following:

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Set all wireless stations to connect in infrastructure mode

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Set all stations to use the same network name (or SS ID).

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Set all wireless access point to use the same network name ( or ESS ID).

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Set all stations to use no WEP encryption key or an identical WEP encryption key.

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Set up wireless channels used by individual access point. (It is not necessary to set channels on the stations as the stations will automatically scan through all channels for the nearest access point.)

Service Set Identification (SS ID)

The Service Set Identification (SS ID) is a thirty-two alphanumeric character (maximum) string identifying the wireless local area network. Some vendors refer to the SS ID as network name. For stations to communicate with each other, all stations must be configured with the same SS ID.

A wireless LAN consisting of nodes operating in ad hoc configuration without an access point is called a Basic Service Set (BSS). All nodes in a BSS must use the same Basic Service Set ID (BSS ID).

In an infrastructure co nfiguration with access points, multiple BSS can be configured to form an Extended Service Set (ESS). In this confi guration, the access points are configured with the same Extended Service Set ID (ESS ID). Wireless clients configured with the same ESS ID can freely roam from one Access Point domain to another and still maintain seamless connection to the network

Authentication and WEP Encryption

The absence of a physical connection between nodes makes the wireless links vulnerable to information theft. To provide certain level of security, IEEE 802.11 standard has defined two types of authentication methods, Open System and Shared Key. Open System authentication is a null algorithm. Shared Key authentication is an algorithm where both the transmitting node and the receiving node share an authentication key to perform a checksum on the original message. By default, IEEE 802.11 wireless devices operate in an open system network.

Wired Equivalent Privacy (W EP) data encryption is utilized when the wireless nodes or access points are configured to operate in Shared Key authentication mode. There are two shared key methods implemented in most commercially available products, forty-bit WEP data encryption and 128-bit WEP data encryption.

The forty-bit WEP data encryption method, allows for a five-character (forty-bit) input. Additionally, 24 factory-set bits are added to the forty-bit input to generate a 64-bit encryption key. (The 24 factory-set bits are not user configurable.) This encryption key will be used to encrypt/decrypt all data transmitted via the wireless interf ace. Some vendors may refer to the forty-bit WEP data encryption as 64-bit WEP data encryption since the actual encryption key used in the encryption process is 64 bits wide.

The 128-bit WEP data encryption method consists of 104 configurable bits. Similar to the forty-bit WEP data encryption method, the remaining 24 bits are factory set and not user configurable. Some vendors allow passphrases to be entered instead of the cryptic hexadecimal characters to ease encryption key entry.

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NETGEAR MA 301 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual