ZyXEL NWD2105 User guide

NWD2105

Wireless N-lite USB Adapter

Version 1.0

Edition 1, 05/2010

www.zyxel.com

ZyXEL Communications Corporation

About This User's Guide

Intended Audience

This manual is intended for people who want to configure the NWD2105 using the ZyXEL utility.

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•Embedded hyperlinks are actually cross-references to related text. Click them to jump to the corresponding section of the User’s Guide PDF.

Related Documentation

•Quick Start Guide

The Quick Start Guide is designed to help you get up and running right away. It contains information on setting up your network and configuring for Internet access.

•Online Help

Embedded web help for descriptions of individual screens and supplementary information.

•Support Disc

Refer to the included CD for support documents.

Documentation Feedback

Send your comments, questions or suggestions to: techwriters@zyxel.com.tw

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About This User's Guide

Thank you!

The Technical Writing Team, ZyXEL Communications Corp.,

6 Innovation Road II, Science-Based Industrial Park, Hsinchu, 30099, Taiwan.

Need More Help?

More help is available at www.zyxel.com.

•Download Library

Search for the latest product updates and documentation from this link. Read the Tech Doc Overview to find out how to efficiently use the documentation in order to better understand how to use your product.

•Knowledge Base

If you have a specific question about your product, the answer may be here. This is a collection of answers to previously asked questions about ZyXEL products.

•Forum

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Customer Support

Should problems arise that cannot be solved by the methods listed above, you should contact your vendor. If you cannot contact your vendor, then contact a ZyXEL office for the region in which you bought the device.

See http://www.zyxel.com/web/contact_us.php for contact information. Please have the following information ready when you contact an office.

•Product model and serial number.

•Warranty Information.

•Date that you received your device.

•Brief description of the problem and the steps you took to solve it.

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Document Conventions

Warnings and Notes

These are how warnings and notes are shown in this User’s Guide.

Warnings tell you about things that could harm you or your NWD2105.

Note: Notes tell you other important information (for example, other things you may need to configure or helpful tips) or recommendations.

Syntax Conventions

•The NWD2105 may be referred to as the “NWD2105”, the “device”, the “system” or the “product” in this User’s Guide.

•Product labels, screen names, field labels and field choices are all in bold font.

•A key stroke is denoted by square brackets and uppercase text, for example, [ENTER] means the “enter” or “return” key on your keyboard.

•“Enter” means for you to type one or more characters and then press the [ENTER] key. “Select” or “choose” means for you to use one of the predefined choices.

•A right angle bracket ( > ) within a screen name denotes a mouse click. For example, Maintenance > Log > Log Setting means you first click Maintenance in the navigation panel, then the Log sub menu and finally the Log Setting tab to get to that screen.

•Units of measurement may denote the “metric” value or the “scientific” value. For example, “k” for kilo may denote “1000” or “1024”, “M” for mega may denote “1000000” or “1048576” and so on.

•“e.g.,” is a shorthand for “for instance”, and “i.e.,” means “that is” or “in other words”.

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Document Conventions

Icons Used in Figures

Figures in this User’s Guide may use the following generic icons.

Wireless Access Point	Computer	Notebook computer

Server	Modem	Telephone

Internet	Wireless Signal

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Safety Warnings

•Do NOT use this product near water, for example, in a wet basement or near a swimming pool.

•Do NOT expose your device to dampness, dust or corrosive liquids.

•Do NOT store things on the device.

•Do NOT install, use, or service this device during a thunderstorm. There is a remote risk of electric shock from lightning.

•Connect ONLY suitable accessories to the device.

•Ground yourself (by properly using an anti-static wrist strap, for example) whenever working with the device’s hardware or connections.

•ONLY qualified service personnel should service or disassemble this device.

•Antenna Warning! This device meets ETSI and FCC certification requirements when using the included antenna(s). Only use the included antenna(s).

Your product is marked with this symbol, which is known as the WEEE mark. WEEE stands for Waste Electronics and Electrical Equipment. It means that used electrical and electronic products should not be mixed with general waste. Used electrical and electronic equipment should be treated separately.

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Safety Warnings

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Contents Overview

Introduction and Configuration ............................................................................................	17
Getting Started ...........................................................................................................................	19
Wireless LANs ...........................................................................................................................	27
ZyXEL Utility ..............................................................................................................................	39
Troubleshooting and Specifications ....................................................................................	53
Troubleshooting .........................................................................................................................	55
Product Specifications ...............................................................................................................	59
Appendices and Index ...........................................................................................................	63

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Contents Overview

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Table of Contents

About This User's Guide ..........................................................................................................		3
Document Conventions............................................................................................................		5
Safety Warnings........................................................................................................................		7
Contents Overview ...................................................................................................................		9
Table of Contents....................................................................................................................		11
Chapter 1
Getting Started ........................................................................................................................		13
1.1	Overview ..............................................................................................................................	13
	1.1.1 What You Need to Know ............................................................................................	13
	1.1.2 Before You Begin .......................................................................................................	13
1.2	Features ..............................................................................................................................	14
1.3	Hardware Installation ...........................................................................................................	15
1.4	Software Installation ............................................................................................................	15
	1.4.1 Minimum System Requirements ................................................................................	15
	1.4.2 Installing the ZyXEL Utility .........................................................................................	16
1.5	Device Applications .............................................................................................................	19
Chapter 2
Wireless LANs.........................................................................................................................		21
2.1	Overview ..............................................................................................................................	21
	2.1.1 What You Can Do in This Section ..............................................................................	21
	2.1.2 What You Need to Know ............................................................................................	21
	2.1.3 Before You Begin .......................................................................................................	22
2.2	Wireless LAN Overview ......................................................................................................	22
2.3	Wireless LAN Security ........................................................................................................	23
	2.3.1 User Authentication and Encryption ...........................................................................	23
2.4	WiFi Protected Setup ...........................................................................................................	25
	2.4.1 Push Button Configuration .........................................................................................	26
	2.4.2 PIN Configuration .......................................................................................................	26
	2.4.3 How WPS Works ........................................................................................................	28
	2.4.4 Limitations of WPS .....................................................................................................	31
Chapter 3
ZyXEL Utility - Mac OS X........................................................................................................		33
3.1	Overview ..............................................................................................................................	33
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Table of Contents

	3.1.1 What You Can Do in This Chapter .............................................................................	33
	3.1.2 What You Need to Know ............................................................................................	33
	3.1.3 Before You Begin .......................................................................................................	34
3.2	ZyXEL Utility Screen Summary ...........................................................................................	34
3.3	The Profile Screen ...............................................................................................................	35
3.4	The Profile - System Configuration Screen .........................................................................	37
3.5	The Profile - Authentication and Security Screen ................................................................	38
3.6	The Link Status Screen .......................................................................................................	40
3.7	The Site Survey Screen .......................................................................................................	41
3.8	The Statistics Screen ...........................................................................................................	43
3.9	The Advanced Screen .........................................................................................................	45
3.10 The WPS Screen ...............................................................................................................		46
	3.10.1 The Information Screen ............................................................................................	48
	3.10.2 The Profile Details Screen .......................................................................................	49
3.11 The About Screen ..............................................................................................................		51
Chapter 4
Troubleshooting......................................................................................................................		53
4.1	Overview ..............................................................................................................................	53
4.2	Power, Hardware Connections, and LEDs ..........................................................................	53
4.3	Accessing the ZyXEL Utility .................................................................................................	54
4.4	Link Quality ..........................................................................................................................	54
4.5	Problems Communicating with Other Computers ...............................................................	55
Chapter 5
Product Specifications ...........................................................................................................		57
Appendix	A Wireless LANs ....................................................................................................	61
Appendix	B Legal Information ................................................................................................	77
Index.........................................................................................................................................		83

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Getting Started

1.1 Overview

The ZyXEL NWD2105 Wireless N-lite USB Adapter brings you a better Internet experience over existing IEEE 802.11 b/g/n networks. With data rates of up to 150 Mbps, you can enjoy a breathtaking high-speed connection at home or in the office. It is an excellent solution for daily activities such as file transfers, music downloading, video streaming and online gaming.

1.1.1 What You Need to Know

The following terms and concepts may help as you read through this section, and subsequently as you read through the rest of the User’s Guide.

Access Point

An Access Point (AP) is a network device that acts as a bridge between a wired and a wireless network. Outside of the home or office, APs can most often be found in coffee shops, bookstores and other businesses that offer wireless Internet connectivity to their customers.

Infrastructure

An infrastructure network is one that seamlessly combines both wireless and wired components. One or more APs often serve as the bridge between wireless and wired LANs.

Ad-Hoc

An Ad-Hoc wireless LAN is a self-contained group of computers connected wirelessly and which is independent of any other networks and Access Points.

1.1.2 Before You Begin

Read the Quick Start Guide for information on making hardware connections and using the ZyXEL utility to connect your NWD2105 to a network.

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Chapter 1 Getting Started

1.2 Features

Your NWD2105 is an IEEE 802.11n draft 2.0 compliant wireless LAN adapter. It can also connect to IEEE 802.11b/g wireless networks. The NWD2105 is WPS (WiFi Protected Setup) compliant. WPS allows you to easily set up a secure connection with another WPS-enabled device.

The NWD2105 is a USB adapter which connects to an empty USB port on your computer.

Figure 1 The NWD2105

The following table describes the NWD2105.

Table 1 NWD2105 External View

LABEL	DESCRIPTION
A	LED and also a WPS button

B	USB connector

The following table describes the operation of the NWD2105’s LEDs.

Table 2	NWD2105 LEDs
LED	COLOR	STATUS	DESCRIPTION
	Orange	Slow	The NWD2105 is turned on, connected to an AP, and is
		Blinking	not transmitting or receiving data.

		Rapid	The NWD2105 is turned on, connected to an AP, and is
		Blinking	transmitting or receiving data. It also blinks when the
			WPS feature is being used or a WPS connection is being
			initiated.

		Off	The NWD2105 is either not connected or the device to
			which it is connected is turned off.

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Chapter 1 Getting Started

1.3 Hardware Installation

This sections shows you how to install your NWD2105.

1Locate an available USB port on the computer.

2Remove the protective cap to expose the USB connector. Insert the NWD2105 into an available USB port on the computer.

The NWD2105’s LED (light) turns on if it is properly inserted.

Note: Never bend, twist or force the NWD2105 into the port. If there is not enough space to attach the NWD2105, use the included USB cable.

1.4 Software Installation

This section shows you how to install the Mac OS X version of the ZyXEL Utility. For detailed information on using it, see Chapter 3 on page 33.

1.4.1 Minimum System Requirements

In order to install the ZyXEL Utility for Mac OS X, your computer must meet the following minimum system requirements:

•20 MB of free hard drive space

•128 MB RAM

•Mac OS X 10.3 and higher

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Chapter 1 Getting Started

1.4.2 Installing the ZyXEL Utility

To install the ZyXEL Utility:

1Make sure the NWD2105 is disconnected from your computer before you begin the installation process.

2Open the ZyXEL_USB.dmg file on the included disc.

3Inside the ZyXEL_USB.dmg, open the folder for your version of Mac OS X. For example, if you are using 10.5 then open the USBWireless-10.5 folder.

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Chapter 1 Getting Started

4Double-click the USBWireless-Leopard.pkg to run the installation program. When it opens, follow the on-screen instructions.

5After installing the ZyXEL Utility and device driver, you must restart your computer.

6Once your computer restarts, you can find the ZyXEL Utility in your Applications folder under the name USBWirelessUtility.

Note: A second application called the AwakeZyXELUI.app is placed in your Applications folder and a link to it is created in your System Preferences > Accounts > [Admin Account] > Login Items. This is a monitoring application that detects the NWD2105 whenever you connect it to your computer and which then automatically opens the ZyXEL Utility.

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Chapter 1 Getting Started

1.4.2.1 Uninstalling the ZyXEL Utility

While you can drag the ZyXEL Utility from your Applications folder directly to the Trash and remove it that way, the best and safest course of action is to run the uninstallation program bundled on the included disc. This ensures that all components of the application are properly removed, especially the device driver.

To uninstall the ZyXEL Utility:

1Open the ZyXEL_USB.dmg file on the included disc.

2Open the folder that corresponds to your version of Mac OS X. For example, if you are using 10.5, then you want to open the USBWireless-10.5 folder.

3Double-click the USBWireless-Leopard-Uninstall.pkg to run the installation program and follow the on-screen instructions.

4After uninstalling the ZyXEL Utility and device driver, you must restart your computer.

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Chapter 1 Getting Started

1.5 Device Applications

This section describes some network applications for the NWD2105. You can either set the network type to Infrastructure and connect to an AP or use Ad-Hoc mode and connect to a peer computer (another wireless device in Ad-Hoc mode).

Infrastructure

To connect to a network via an access point (AP), set the NWD2105 network type to Infrastructure. Through the AP, you can access the Internet or the wired network behind it.

Figure 2 Application: Infrastructure

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Chapter 1 Getting Started

Ad-Hoc

To set up a small independent wireless workgroup without an AP, use Ad-Hoc.

Ad-Hoc does not require an AP or a wired network. Two or more wireless clients communicate directly with each other.

Note: Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) is not available in ad-hoc mode.

Figure 3 Application: Ad-Hoc

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Wireless LANs

2.1 Overview

This section provides background information on wireless Local Area Networks.

2.1.1What You Can Do in This Section

•Connect securely to an AP using many of the strongest and most common encryption protocols. See Section 2.3 on page 23 for details.

•Connect securely either to an AP or computer-to-computer using WPS. See Section 2.4 on page 25 for details.

2.1.2What You Need to Know

The following terms and concepts may help as you read through this section.

Server

When two or more devices are connected digitally to form a network, the one that distributes data to the other devices is known as the “server”. A RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service) is a kind of server that manages logins and logout, among other things, for the network to which it is connected.

Client

When two or more devices are connected digitally to form a network, the one that contacts and obtains data from a server is known as the “client”. Each client is designed to work with one or more specific kinds of servers, and each server requires a specific kind of client. Wireless adapters are clients that connect to a network server through an AP.

Authentication

Authentication is the process of confirming a client’s or user’s digital identity when they connect to a network. Turning off authentication means disabling all security protocols and opening your network to anyone with the means to connect to it.

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Chapter 2 Wireless LANs

Encryption

The process of taking data and encoding it, usually using a mathematical formula, so that it becomes unreadable unless decrypted with the proper code or pass phrase.

2.1.3Before You Begin

•You should have valid login information for an existing network Access Point, otherwise you may not be able to make a network connection right away.

2.2 Wireless LAN Overview

The following figure provides an example of a wireless network with an AP. See Figure 3 on page 20 for an Ad Hoc network example.

Figure 4 Example of a Wireless Network

The wireless network is the part in the blue circle. In this wireless network, devices A and B are called wireless clients. The wireless clients use the access point (AP) to interact with other devices (such as the printer) or with the Internet

Every wireless network must follow these basic guidelines.

•Every device in the same wireless network must use the same SSID.

The SSID is the name of the wireless network. It stands for Service Set IDentity.

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Chapter 2 Wireless LANs

•If two wireless networks overlap, they should use a different channel.

Like radio stations or television channels, each wireless network uses a specific channel, or frequency, to send and receive information.

•Every device in the same wireless network must use security compatible with the AP or peer computer.

Security stops unauthorized devices from using the wireless network. It can also protect the information that is sent in the wireless network.

2.3Wireless LAN Security

Wireless LAN security is vital to your network to protect wireless communications.

If you do not enable any wireless security on your NWD2105, the NWD2105’s wireless communications are accessible to any wireless networking device that is in the coverage area.

Note: You can use only WEP encryption if you set the NWD2105 to Ad-hoc mode.

See the appendices for more detailed information about wireless security.

2.3.1 User Authentication and Encryption

You can make every user log in to the wireless network before they can use it. This is called user authentication. However, every wireless client in the wireless network has to support IEEE 802.1x to do this.

Wireless networks can use encryption to protect the information that is sent in the wireless network. Encryption is like a secret code. If you do not know the secret code, you cannot understand the message.

2.3.1.1 WEP

2.3.1.1.1 Data Encryption

WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) encryption scrambles all data packets transmitted between the NWD2105 and the AP or other wireless stations to keep network communications private. Both the wireless stations and the access points must use the same WEP key for data encryption and decryption.

There are two ways to create WEP keys in your NWD2105.

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Chapter 2 Wireless LANs

•Automatic WEP key generation based on a “password phrase” called a passphrase. The passphrase is case sensitive. You must use the same passphrase for all WLAN adapters with this feature in the same WLAN.

For WLAN adapters without the passphrase feature, you can still take advantage of this feature by writing down the four automatically generated WEP keys from the Security Settings screen of the ZyXEL utility and entering them manually as the WEP keys in the other WLAN adapter(s).

•Enter the WEP keys manually.

Your NWD2105 allows you to configure up to four 64-bit or 128-bit WEP keys. Only one key is used as the default key at any one time.

2.3.1.1.2Authentication Type

The IEEE 802.11b/g standard describes a simple authentication method between the wireless stations and AP. Three authentication types are defined: Auto, Open and Shared.

•Open mode is implemented for ease-of-use and when security is not an issue. The wireless station and the AP or peer computer do not share a secret key. Thus the wireless stations can associate with any AP or peer computer and listen to any transmitted data that is not encrypted.

•Shared mode involves a shared secret key to authenticate the wireless station to the AP or peer computer. This requires you to enable the wireless LAN security and use same settings on both the wireless station and the AP or peer computer.

•Auto authentication mode allows the NWD2105 to switch between the open system and shared key modes automatically. Use the auto mode if you do not know the authentication mode of the other wireless stations.

2.3.1.2IEEE 802.1x

The IEEE 802.1x standard outlines enhanced security methods for both the authentication of wireless stations and encryption key management. Authentication can be done using an external RADIUS server.

2.3.1.2.1 EAP Authentication

EAP (Extensible Authentication Protocol) is an authentication protocol that runs on top of the IEEE 802.1x transport mechanism in order to support multiple types of user authentication. By using EAP to interact with an EAP-compatible RADIUS server, an access point helps a wireless station and a RADIUS server perform authentication.

The type of authentication you use depends on the RADIUS server and an intermediary AP(s) that supports IEEE 802.1x. The NWD2105 supports EAP-TLS, EAP-TTLS (at the time of writing, TTLS is not available in Windows Vista) and EAPPEAP. Refer to Appendix A on page 61 for descriptions.

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Chapter 2 Wireless LANs

For EAP-TLS authentication type, you must first have a wired connection to the network and obtain the certificate(s) from a certificate authority (CA). Certificates (also called digital IDs) can be used to authenticate users and a CA issues certificates and guarantees the identity of each certificate owner.

2.3.1.3 WPA and WPA2

Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) is a subset of the IEEE 802.11i standard. WPA2 (IEEE 802.11i) is a wireless security standard that defines stronger encryption, authentication and key management than WPA.

Key differences between WPA(2) and WEP are improved data encryption and user authentication.

Both WPA and WPA2 improve data encryption by using Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP), Message Integrity Check (MIC) and IEEE 802.1x. WPA and WPA2 use Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) in the Counter mode with Cipher block chaining Message authentication code Protocol (CCMP) to offer stronger encryption than TKIP.

If both an AP and the wireless clients support WPA2 and you have an external RADIUS server, use WPA2 for stronger data encryption. If you don't have an external RADIUS server, you should use WPA2-PSK (WPA2-Pre-Shared Key) that only requires a single (identical) password entered into each access point, wireless gateway and wireless client. As long as the passwords match, a wireless client will be granted access to a WLAN.

If the AP or the wireless clients do not support WPA2, just use WPA or WPA-PSK depending on whether you have an external RADIUS server or not.

Select WEP only when the AP and/or wireless clients do not support WPA or WPA2. WEP is less secure than WPA or WPA2.

2.4 WiFi Protected Setup

Your NWD2105 supports WiFi Protected Setup (WPS), which is an easy way to set up a secure wireless network. WPS is an industry standard specification, defined by the WiFi Alliance.

WPS allows you to quickly set up a wireless network with strong security, without having to configure security settings manually. Each WPS connection works between two devices. Both devices must support WPS (check each device’s documentation to make sure).

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Chapter 2 Wireless LANs

Depending on the devices you have, you can either press a button (on the device itself, or in its configuration utility) or enter a PIN (a unique Personal Identification Number that allows one device to authenticate the other) in each of the two devices. When WPS is activated on a device, it has two minutes to find another device that also has WPS activated. Then, the two devices connect and set up a secure network by themselves.

2.4.1 Push Button Configuration

WPS Push Button Configuration (PBC) is initiated by pressing a button on each WPS-enabled device, and allowing them to connect automatically. You do not need to enter any information.

Not every WPS-enabled device has a physical WPS button. Some may have a WPS PBC button in their configuration utilities instead of or in addition to the physical button.

Take the following steps to set up WPS using the button.

1Ensure that the two devices you want to set up are within wireless range of one another.

2Look for a WPS button on each device. If the device does not have one, log into its configuration utility and locate the button.

3Press the button on one of the devices (it doesn’t matter which).

4Within two minutes, press the button on the other device. The registrar sends the network name (SSID) and security key through an secure connection to the enrollee.

If you need to make sure that WPS worked, check the list of associated wireless clients in the AP’s configuration utility. If you see the wireless client in the list, WPS was successful.

2.4.2PIN Configuration

Each WPS-enabled device has its own PIN (Personal Identification Number). This may either be static (it cannot be changed) or dynamic (in some devices you can generate a new PIN by clicking on a button in the configuration interface).

Use the PIN method instead of the push-button configuration (PBC) method if you want to ensure that the connection is established between the devices you specify, not just the first two devices to activate WPS in range of each other. However, you need to log into the configuration interfaces of both devices to use the PIN method.

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