Instruction/ maintenance manual of the product PCWA-C150S Sony
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Operating Instructions 2.4GHz Wireless LAN PC Card PCWA-C150S A-B6H-100- 11 (1) © 2002 Sony Corporation.
2 WARNING To prevent fire or shock hazard, do not expose the unit to rain or moisture. Owner’s Record The model and serial numbers are located on the back of the unit. Record the serial number in the space provided below. Refer to them whenever you call upon your Sony dealer regarding this product.
3 Safety Information WARNING • Opening the unit, for whatever reason, could lead to damage that is not covered by the warranty. • Do not use this equipment on hospital premises. Doing so may cause medical devices to malfunction. • If using the equipment near a pacemaker, make sure it is at least 9 inches (22 cm) away from the pacemaker.
4 Program © 2002 Sony Corporation, Copyright Documentation © 2002 Sony Corporation Sony, VAIO, the VAIO logo, Memory Stick , and the Memory Stick logo are trademarks of Sony Corporation. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States of America and other countries.
5 Overview What you can do with your Wireless LAN PC Card You can build a wireless LAN using the Wireless LAN PC Card PCWA- C150S (subsequently referred to as “Wireless LAN PC Card”).
6 Communication through Access Point (Infrastructure Mode) Direct communication between computers (Peer-to-Peer Mode) z Tip For details about peer-to-peer connections with Windows XP, see Windows XP Help.
7 About the supplied software The Wireless LAN PC Card comes with the following software. Client Manager Client Manager is utility software for displaying the communication status of the Wireless LAN PC Card.
8 System requirements s Computer Hardware Requirements CPU: MMX ® Pentium ® 233 MHz and above RAM: With Windows Me/Windows 2000: 64 MB or more With Windows XP: 128 MB or more CD-ROM drive Preinstall.
9 About this manual Note When using an Access Point, first connect and configure the Access Point as explained in its documentation. This manual explains the operation of the Wireless LAN PC Card and the installation and setup of the supplied Client Manager software.
10 Unpacking Your Wireless LAN PC Card comes with the following items. • Wireless LAN PC Card • CD-ROM (Setup disc) • Read This First • Quick Start Guide • Troubleshooting Guide • Warranty.
11 Getting started Installing the software Before installing the software: • Configure and connect the Access Point. • Quit all Windows programs. Note In Windows 2000 and Windows XP operating systems, only users with administrator privileges can install the software.
12 4 Check that the displayed folder is the one where you want to install the software, and click “Next”. The Select Program Folder dialog box appears. z Tip If you want to install the software into a different folder, click “Browse” and select the folder or directly enter the folder name.
13 Getting started Installing the driver software Note Before installing the driver software, install the supplied utility software. For details on installing the supplied utility software, see “Installing the software” on page 11.
14 Windows Me 1 Insert the supplied CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive. Note If your computer has two PC card slots and your CD-ROM drive must be connected through one of them, connect the CD-ROM drive to the bottom slot. 2 Insert the Wireless LAN PC Card into the PC card slot.
15 Getting started 7 Click “Next” to begin driver installation. Wait for installation to complete. The Add/Edit Configuration Profile dialog box appears when installation is complete. 8 Click “Cancel” on the Add/Edit Configuration Profile dialog box.
16 3 Click “Next”. 4 Confirm that “Search for a suitable driver for my device” is selected, and click “Next”. 5 Select Specify a location, and click “Next”. 6 Click “Browse”. 7 Select the folder containing the driver, and click “Open”.
17 Getting started Windows XP Note In Windows XP, only users with administrator privileges can install drivers. If you have logged on to Windows XP with a user account not defined as “computer admin.
18 5 Select the folder that contains the driver and click “OK”. • When installing from the supplied CD-ROM in a CD-ROM drive connected to the computer: Select the “3WinXP” folder on the CD-ROM.
19 Getting started 6 Double-click “Sony PCWA-C150 Wireless PC Card”. The Sony PCWA-C150 Wireless PC Card Properties dialog box appears. Note The Wireless LAN PC Card is not working properly if the following occurs: • “Sony PCWA-C150 Wireless PC Card” is represented in the Device Manager list by a yellow question mark or exclamation point.
20 8 Click “OK”. You are returned to the System Properties dialog box. 9 Click “OK”. You are returned to Control Panel. 10 Double-click the PC Card (PCMCIA) icon. The PC Card (PCMCIA) dialog box appears. 11 Confirm that “Sony PCWA-C150 Wireless PC Card” is displayed under Socket Status.
21 Getting started Windows 2000: 1 From the “Start” menu, point to “Settings”, then click “Control Panel”. Control Panel appears. 2 Double-click the System icon. The System Properties dialog box appears. 3 Click the “Hardware” tab, then click “Device Manager”.
22 Note The Wireless LAN PC Card is not working properly if the following occurs: • “Sony PCWA-C150 Wireless PC Card” is represented in the Device Manager list by a yellow question mark or exclamation point. c Right-click “Sony PCWA-C150 Wireless PC Card”, and click “Remove” to uninstall the Wireless LAN PC Card driver.
23 Getting started Windows XP: 1 From the “start” menu, click “Control Panel”. Control Panel appears. 2 Double-click “System”. The System Properties dialog box appears. z Hint If the System icon is not displayed, click “Switch to Classic View”.
24 Note The Wireless LAN PC Card is not working properly if the following occurs: • “Sony PCWA-C150 Wireless PC Card” is represented in the Device Manager list by a yellow question mark or exclamation point. c Right-click “Sony PCWA-C150 Wireless PC Card”, and click “Uninstall” to delete the Wireless LAN PC Card driver.
25 Getting started Inserting the Wireless LAN PC Card This section explains how to insert the Wireless LAN PC Card into your computer and how to remove it. You do not need to turn off your computer when inserting the Wireless LAN PC Card. Insert the Wireless LAN PC card into the PC card slot of the computer.
26 Notes • If your computer has two PC card slots, insert the Wireless LAN PC Card into the top slot. If the card is inserted into the bottom slot, the antenna of the Wireless LAN PC Card will block the top slot. • In some computer models, the Memory Stick slot may be blocked while the Wireless LAN PC Card is inserted.
27 Getting started To remove the Wireless LAN PC Card 1 Close any running software that uses the wireless LAN for example, Client Manager. 2 Stop the Wireless LAN PC Card according to the manuals provided with your computer. 3 Remove the Wireless LAN PC Card according to the documentation of your computer.
28 Uninstalling the software and driver Uninstalling the software Windows Me 1 From the “Start” menu, point to “Settings”, and click “Control Panel”. Control Panel appears. 2 Double-click the “Add/Remove Programs” icon. The Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box appears.
29 Getting started Windows 2000 In Windows 2000 operating system, only users with administrator privileges can uninstall software. If you have logged on to Windows 2000 with a user account not listed .
30 Windows XP Note In Windows XP operating system, only users with administrator privileges can uninstall software. If you have logged on to Windows XP with a user account not defined as “computer a.
31 Getting started Windows Me: 1 From the “Start” menu, point to “Settings”, and click “Control Panel”. Control Panel appears. 2 Double-click the “System” icon. The System Properties dialog box appears. z Hint If System is not displayed, click “view all Control Panel options”.
32 Windows 2000: Note Log on to Windows 2000 as Administrator. 1 From the “Start” menu, point to “Settings”, and click “Control Panel”. Control Panel appears. 2 Double-click the “System” icon. The System Properties dialog box appears. 3 Click the “Hardware” tab, and click “Device Manager”.
33 Getting started Windows XP: Note Log on to Windows XP using an account with computer administrator privileges. 1 From the “Start” menu, click “Control Panel”. Control Panel appears. 2 Double-click “System”. The System Properties dialog box appears.
34 Setting up the connection environment Windows Me or Windows 2000 Establishing communication with the Access Point This section describes how to configure settings for communication with an Access Point. When not using an Access Point, see “Configuring communication settings for Peer-to-Peer Mode” on page 40.
35 Software setup 2 From the “Actions” menu, select “Add/Edit Configuration Profile”. The Add/Edit Configuration Profile dialog box appears. 3 Click “Add”. The Edit Configuration dialog box appears. z Tip To edit an existing profile, click “Edit”.
36 4 Enter an alphanumeric name for the profile in the “Profile Name” field (letters, numbers, and symbols are allowed). Verify that Access Point is selected in the “Network Type” list, and click “Next”. The Identify Your Network window shown below appears.
37 Software setup 7 Click “Next”. The Set Security window shown below appears. 8 If Data Security (also called WEP or Encryption) is enabled at the Access Point, enter matching setting values for the Wireless LAN PC Card, as described below. Notes • Input is case sensitive.
38 3. In the field “Key 1”, “Key 2”, “Key 3”, or “Key 4”, type the encryption key set at the Access Point. Notes • Type the number of characters or digits as indicated below.
39 Software setup 10 Set Power Management to “Off (default power consumption and high performance)” or “On (lower power consumption and performance)”, and click “Next”.
40 Configuring communication settings for Peer-to-Peer Mode 1 Click the Client Manager icon on the taskbar. The Client Manager window appears. 2 From the “Actions” menu, select “Add/Edit Configuration Profile”. The Add/Edit Configuration Profile dialog box appears.
41 Software setup 3 Click “Add”. The Edit Configuration dialog box appears. z Tip To edit an existing profile, click “Edit”. 4 Enter a desired alphanumeric name into the “Profile Name” field (letters, numbers, and symbols are allowed). 5 In the “Network Type” drop-down list, select “Peer-to-Peer Group”, and click “Next”.
42 7 Select the channel number from the “Channel Number” drop-down list. Note When creating a new network, you can select any channel number. z Tip When connecting to an existing network, the channel number is selected automatically. 8 Click “Next”.
43 Software setup 3. Type the encryption key in the “Key” field. Notes • Type the number of characters or digits indicated below. Alphanumeric Characters Hexadecimal With a 128-bit WEP 13 characters 26 digits With a 64-bit WEP 5 characters 10 digits • Alphanumeric characters are case sensitive.
44 14 With Windows Me, follow the procedure below to renew the IP address allocated to your Wireless LAN PC Card. (With Windows 2000 this procedure is not necessary. Proceed to step 15.) 1. From the “Start menu”, click “Run”. 2. Type “winipcfg” (without quotation marks), and click “OK”.
45 Software setup • Check the Network Name (also called SSID) and the Data Security (also called WEP or Encryption) settings of the Access Point. For details about these settings, consult your network administrator. The factory-default configuration settings for the Access Point are listed in the Access Point documentation.
46 3 If Data Security (also called WEP or Encryption) is enabled at the Access Point, type the encryption key in the “Network key field”. Notes • Input is case sensitive. Be sure to use the same uppercase/lowercase spelling as at the Access Point.
47 Software setup Checking the communication status Checking the wireless signal strength The communication status is shown by the Client Manager icon in the system tray (notification area in Windows XP).
48 Client Manager menus File menu Enable Radio/Disable Radio Enables or disables wireless communication. Close Window Closes the Client Manager window.
49 Software setup Help menu Contents Opens the Client Manager Help. Version Info Displays the versions of Client Manager, Wireless LAN PC Card driver, Wireless LAN PC Card hardware, and Wireless LAN PC Card firmware.
50 Precautions Safety Do not drop or cause a mechanical shock to the 2.4 GHz Wireless LAN PC Card PCWA-C150S, as this may damage the unit. Installation Do not expose the Wireless LAN PC Card to the fo.
51 Software setup Specifications Protocol support TCP/IP compliant Standard IEEE 802.11b/IEEE 802.11 Radio frequency 2.4 GHz Modulation method DS-SS (IEEE 802.
52 ❒ The Sony e-mail support service answers your questions by electronic mail. Just send your question in an e- mail message and a customer service representative will reply. To send a question to Sony e-mail support, fill out the e-mail form at http://www.
53 Additional information Glossary Channel number The frequency used for wireless communications. Wireless communications are possible only among client computers and Access Points that use the same channel. Data Security IEEE 802.11 compliant security system (also called WEP or Encryption).
54 Troubleshooting If you have difficulfy with your Wireless LAN PC Card, try the suggestions listed below. If you still cannot resolve the problem, contact Sony Customer Information Services. Symptom Cause/Remedy The computer does not detect the Wireless LAN PC Card.
55 Additional information Symptom Cause/Remedy Forgot the encryption key. Transfer rate is 11 Mbps, but MPEG2 data does not transfer without interruption. Communication fails although the computer is located within 100 m (330 feet) of the Access Point.
56 Symptom Cause/Remedy Cannot connect to the network. An error message indicating a conflict between network components is displayed. The Access Point and the computer are too far apart. c Move the computer closer to the Access Point. Communication settings are incorrect.
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❒ The Sony e-mail support service answers your questions by electronic mail. Just send your question in an e-mail message and a customer service representative will reply. To send a question to Sony e-mail support, fill out the e-mail form at http://www.
An important point after buying a device Sony PCWA-C150S (or even before the purchase) is to read its user manual. We should do this for several simple reasons:
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