Nokia A040 ADVANCED USER GUIDE

Getting Started Guide

Copyright notices

Copyright © Nokia Networks 2001. All rights reserved.
Nokia is a registered trademark of Nokia Corporation,

Finland.
Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000 and Windows NT

are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
MS-DOS is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
Other products may be trademarks or registered trademarks

of their respective manufacturers.
We reserve the right to make changes and improvements to

any of the products described in this guide without prior
notice. Nokia is not responsible for any loss of data, income
or any consequential damage howsoever caused.

ISSUE 1

2

A040 Getting Started

Welcome

This guide tells you how to use a Nokia A040
wireless LAN adapter to provide wireless
communications between a standalone device
(with no wireless capabilities) and an existing
LAN (managed by a Nokia wireless LAN Access
Point).

Please read the
before using your Wireless LAN Adapter.
Failure to comply with these guidelines may be
dangerous or illegal.

How to use this guide

This guide gets you up and running quickly
with your A040. It contains the following
information:

• How to connect the adapter to a standalone
computer

• How to test that the adapter can
communicate wirelessly with an existing
LAN

• What to do if the simple test fails.

Important Safety Information

3

Related documentation

If you need to be able to configure the A040,
please see the A040 Advanced User Guide ,
supplied in Acrobat PDF format on the
accompanying CD-ROM, which explains:

• How to use a desktop or laptop PC to
perform optional configuration via a direct
Ethernet connection

• How to monitor and make advanced
configuration changes remotely, using a
suitably privileged network station.

Please see the documentation that came with
your Access Point for details on managing a
wireless network.

4

A040 Getting Started

Conventions used in this guide

Your A040 can
transfer information
between a standalone
computer and an
existing LAN.

Notes

You’ll find tips or other useful facts in side
notes throughout the manual. Pay particular
attention to notes that start with Note or

WARNING .

Text conventions

We use the following conventions:

courier

•
denote text that appears on your screen

•

courier bold

you should type in

• new terms are shown in
time they appear

•

bold

button or LED on the adapter (e.g. the
LED) or a button on screen that you need to
click (e.g. “click

is used for file names, or to

is used to denote text that

italic

text the first

text denotes the name of a physical

alert

”).

Restart

5

Features

The A040 has the following features:

• Built-in wireless LAN adapter card to
communicate with an Access Point

• Automatic operation – can work as
delivered, with no reconfiguration

• Custom operation – can be reconfigured to
add security, modify your network setup or
perform upgrades

• IT environment – can be monitored and
controlled remotely in a managed
environment

• Supports IEEE802.11 Infrastructure or Peer­to-Peer (ad-hoc) modes

• Automatic connection to any Access Point
regardless of network name (optional)

• Can be configured to look for a specific
network name

• Software-configurable sound indicator.

6

A040 Getting Started

Table of contents

Copyright notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Overview 9

Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

LEDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Reset button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Getting started 15

Minimum host computer requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Connecting and testing the A040 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Contents

7

8

A040 Getting Started

1. Overview

The Nokia A040 is
often referred to
simply as an ‘adapter’
throughout this guide.

standalone

devices using

Nokia A040s

Nokia A040 Wireless Lan Adapter allows you to
connect standalone computers to an existing
wired/wireless LAN that is managed by an
IEEE802.11-compliant Access Point.

You can also use the adapter to access
Ethernet-equipped resources such as printers
and scanners:

wired Ethernet LAN

Access

Point

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wireless PCs

using radio cards

hub

Overview

9

Checklist

Connectors

After unpacking the adapter, check the
contents against the packing list. The
components listed below are included:

• This User Guide

• Nokia A040 Wireless LAN Adapter

• Ethernet cable

• Power supply

• Nokia A040 Utilities CD-ROM.

WARNING: Use of a
power adapter other
than that supplied
with the unit could be
unsafe.

10

The adapter has the following connectors:

power connector

Ethernet connector

•

Power connector

the power unit. Only use the power unit
supplied with the A040.

•

Ethernet connector

Ethernet connector.

– This is where you connect

– This is an RJ45

A040 Getting Started

LEDs

The adapter has the following LEDs:

Note: A solid red
power LED indicates a

fault.

Overview

notify

LAN

•

power

power

radio

• Normally this shows green

• Solid red indicates a fault

• Flashing red/green – memory update.

•

– This indicates activity on the

radio

wireless LAN connection:

• On – Connected, but no traffic

• Flashing intermittently – Connected, and
there is network traffic.

•

LAN

– Illuminated when there is a good

connection to the host device.

• Off – Not connected

• On – Connected, but no traffic

• Flashing intermittently – Connected, and
there is network traffic.

•

– Used with the

notify

LED to indicate

LAN

connection status to Access Point (see
page 12).

11

Special LED/sound sequences

The A040 also has an internal speaker. It emits
sounds in conjunction with special LED
sequences:

Power-on

At power-on, the following things happen:

The A040 emits a three-tone chirp.
The

LAN

LED lights (assuming there is a

LAN connection).

notify

The
the adapter beeps for up to 10 seconds while
the adapter scans for an Access Point.

If a connection is made to an Access Point,
the adapter emits a three-tone chirp, the

notify

LED goes out and the
on.
If the adapter fails to connect to an Access
Point, the beeps stop but the
LEDs continue to flash together.

Access Point connection lost

If the connection with an Access Point is lost
for any reason:

The

notify

(they keep flashing until a connection is
regained).

2

The adapter emits beeps for five seconds.

and

and

radio

radio

1

2

3

LEDs flash together and

radio

LED stays

notify

LEDs flash together

and

radio

4

1

12

Access Point connection regained

If the connection with an Access Point is
regained:

1 The
2 The adapter emits a three-tone chirp.
3 The radio LED stays on solid if there is no

notify and radio LEDs stop flashing.

activity, or flashes intermittently if there is.

A040 Getting Started

Reset button

New configuration applied

If you alter and save any configuration
settings:

1 The

power LED flashes red and green.

2 The adapter emits a three-tone chirp.

Set-up mode entered

If you put the adapter into set-up mode (see the
Advanced User Guide, supplied as an Acrobat

PDF file on the CD-ROM):

1 All the LEDs come on, then go out again.
2 The unit makes an intermittent beeping

sound.

3 Note that the

flash (as the adapter is not attempting to
connect to an Access Point).

The adapter has a reset button hidden on its
underside:

notify and radio LEDs do not

rubber

feet

Overview

reset

button

You use this to put the unit into set-up mode
(see the Advanced User Guide, supplied as an
Acrobat PDF file on the CD-ROM).

13

14

A040 Getting Started

2. Getting started

For many applications the A040 will work
straight out of the box with no configuration
changes. This chapter explains how to connect
an adapter to a host computer and check it’s
working properly.

If the operational test fails, Troubleshooting on
page 22 explains how to determine whether
you need to reconfigure the adapter from its
factory default state before it will work on your
network.

Getting started

15

Minimum host computer requirements

In order to work correctly, any computer
connected to the A040 must satisfy the
following minimum requirements:

• Ethernet network interface card (NIC) with
10BaseT connection

• Associated Ethernet drivers installed, as
specified by the manufacturer of the NIC

• Windows 95, 98, 2000 or NT.

You may also need an RJ45 adapter for use
with a PCMCIA Ethernet card

With the Nokia A040, you can also use non­Windows devices that support TCP/IP over
Ethernet.

16

A040 Advanced User Guide

Connecting and testing the A040

The simplest method of testing the adapter is to
use the configuration shown here:

computer B

hub

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Access Point

Using the adapter in a TCP/IP environment

This section explains how to connect and test
the A040 on a TCP/IP network. If you do not
use TCP/IP, please see Testing on a non-TCP/IP
network on page 21.

Computer A (the host) and computer B should
both be configured to use TCP/IP and have
fixed IP addresses.

We’ll refer to the IP address of computer A (the
host) as IP-A and the IP address of computer B
as IP-B.

1 Check and write down IP-A and IP-B.
2 Switch off computer A (the host).

Nokia

A040

computer A

(host)

Getting started

17

3 Make sure that the Access Point,

computer B and the hub are operating
normally.

4 Connect the power unit to the A040’s power

connector and to a wall outlet.

5 Connect the Ethernet cable to the adapter’s

Ethernet connector.

6 Connect the other end of the Ethernet cable

to the host computer.

7 Switch on at the wall outlet.
8 Switch on the host computer.

power connector

Ethernet connector

host computer

After the host computer has powered up,
the adapter’s
steady green, and its

power LED should glow a

LAN LED should be on,

indicating a good connection to the host
computer.

The adapter will start beeping as it searches
for an Access Point. After a short while the
beeps should stop and the adapter will emit
a chirp (three rising tones) indicating that a
connection has been made.

9 If the beeps stop but there is no chirp, and

the

radio and notify LEDs continue to flash

18

A040 Advanced User Guide

Note: You only need

C:\> ping 192.168.5.21

Pinging 192.168.5.21 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.5.21: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=32

Reply from 192.168.5.21: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=32

Reply from 192.168.5.21: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=32

Reply from 192.168.5.21: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=32

C:\>

to perform this step if
your network uses
automatic IP address
assignment (DHCP).

together, it means that the A040 is unable
to find an eligible Access Point, or that the
Access Point will not allow a connection.
See Troubleshooting on page 22.

10 (DHCP only) When the A040 has stopped

beeping you should use the IPConfig utility
under Windows to renew the IP address
information in Computer A and Computer B
(see page 20). Make a note of the IP
addresses assigned for use later in the
testing.

11 On Computer B, open an MS-DOS console

window.

12 At the prompt, issue a ‘ping’ command to

the IP address of Computer A. For example,
if IP-A is 192.168.5.21, you would enter:

ping 192.168.5.21

Successful ping

If the ‘ping’ is successful, you should see an
output of the following form:

Your A040 is operating correctly, and you
don’t need to perform any special configuration
to make it work.

Getting started

19

Unsuccessful ping

If there is a problem, you’ll see the following
output:

C:\> ping 192.168.5.21

Pinging 192.168.5.21 with 32 bytes of data:

Request timed out.

Request timed out.

Request timed out.

Request timed out.

C:\>

See Troubleshooting on page 22 for possible
problems and solutions.

Renewing IP address information

If you’re using DHCP and you need to renew
the IP address information on a computer,
follow the instructions in this section.

Under Windows 95/98

Under Windows 95/98, you do this using
WinIPcfg:

1 Choose
2 Enter
3 Select the correct adapter card in the pull-

4 Click
5 Click

Run from the Start menu.

WinIPcfg and press Return.

down menu.

Release.
Renew.

20

A040 Advanced User Guide

Under Windows 2000/NT

1 Open a DOS prompt.
2 Enter

3 Enter

You should now be able to access the Access
Point from your client machine.

ipconfig /release

This will release the old address.

ipconfig /renew to renew the

address.

Testing on a non-TCP/IP network

If you do not use TCP/IP you can still follow
the instructions in Using the adapter in a TCP/
IP environment. When the A040 stops beeping,
indicating a connection has been made to the
Access Point, you can try transferring a file
between Computer A and Computer B in order
to verify that the system is operating.

Getting started

21

Troubleshooting

If the ‘ping’ test fails and your host computer
cannot communicate with a known station on
the wired LAN, check the table below, which
lists some possible problems and solutions:

If… …do this

You entered the IP address incorrectly in
the ping test

The A040 is beeping continuously Check that the Access Point is within

You have multiple Access Points, using
different Network Names

Your Access Point is using WEP
encryption

Your host computer has incorrect
Ethernet drivers installed

Some solutions involve reconfiguring the
adapter – you’ll need to follow the instructions
in Preparing to configure an adapter and

Configuration parameters in the Advanced User
Guide

Try the ping test again.

range and functioning correctly.

Decide which network name you want to
connect to and configure the A040 with
that name.

You’ll need to configure the A040 with
the correct WEP mode and encryption
keys to allow access.

Install the Ethernet NIC as if you were
intending to connect to a regular LAN
hub.

22

A040 Advanced User Guide

Index

A

Access Point

connection lost 12
connection regained 12

B

beeps 12, 18

C

checklist 10
chirp 12, 18
connection 12
connectors 10
conventions 5

D

DHCP 19

F

features 6

H

host

minimum requirements 16

I

IP address information

renewing 20
ipconfig 21
IPConfig utility 19

L

LAN LED 11, 18
LED

special sequences 12
LEDs 11

M

MS-DOS console window 19

N

NIC 16
non-TCP/IP network 21
notify LED 11

23

P

ping 19
possible problems 22
power connector 10, 18
power LED 11, 18
power-on

LED and sound sequences 12

R

radio LED 11
release 20
renew 20

IP address information 20
reset button 13
RJ45 16
RJ45 Ethernet connector 10

S

set-up mode

accessing 13
LED sequence 13

special LED sequences 12

T

TCP/IP

host requirements 16

testing adapter 17
testing 17
troubleshooting 22

W

WinIPcfg 20

24

A040 Getting Started