Instruction/ maintenance manual of the product 802.11a Harmony House
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Har m o ny Harmony 80 2.11a Network Adapt e r User's Guide.
2 Co p y r i g h t © 2002 Proxim Corporation, Sunny vale, CA. Covered by one or more of t he following U.S. pat ents: 5,231,634; 5,875,179; 6,00 6,090. Th is user’ s gu ide an d the s oft ware describe d in i t are co pyrighted w ith all ri ghts r es e r v e d .
3 Declar ation of C onformity Décl arat ion de C onf orm ité Konformitätserklärung The Man ufactur er: Pr oxi m Europe B. V . Le C onstructeur: Der Hersteller: Addres s: Prins Bernhar dplein 200 Addres se: 1097 JB, P .
4 For Indoor Us e Only These product s are for indoor use o nly. Uniquemen t pour usage d'intérieur . Somente para uso inte rno. Solamente para e l uso interior. Per uso al co perto solam ente. Für In nen V erwendung nur . Nemlig indendørs hjælp bare.
5 Ta b l e o f C o n t e n t s Chapter 1 - Introduction .................................................................................. 7 The Harmo ny Fa mily . ...... .... ....... .......... .......... ........... .......... ........... ..........
6 Chapter 5 - Harmony Utility ............................................................................ 36 Status Monit or Ico n ... ...... ...... ........... .......... ..... ...... .... ...... ..... ...... .... ...... .... ... 36 Conf igurat ion Ut ility .
7 Ch apter 1 Introduction Co ngratulations on your purch ase of a Harmo ny 802.11a netwo rk adapter. These products are hig h perfor mance wireles s LAN adapter cards that comply with th e IEEE 802.11a standard. This means that they are inter operable with IEEE 802.
Introduction 8 The Harm ony F amily The Harmony networ k adapters are members of a product family that provides a complete wireless networking soluti on. •T h e Harmony Ac cess P oint C ontroll er Model 7560 c entralizes the management, security, and filtering capabilities of a wireless LAN.
Introduction 9 The Product P ackage The items included with each Harmony 8 02.11a network adapter are listed below. If any of these i tems are missing or damaged, plea se contact your reseller or P rox im T ech ni cal Su ppo r t . Harmony 8450 802.11a CardBus Card Each Harmony 802.
Introduction 10 System Requirem ents T o begi n using a H armony 802.1 1a n etwork adapter, yo u must have the following minimum requirements: • A c omputer that meets the following specifications: .
Introduction 11 Overview of Co untr y-Specifi c F eatu res This user’s g uide provides information on how to install and use the Harmony 802.11a CardBus C ard and the Harmo ny 802.11a PCI Card. Product features var y by region/country. The following table summarizes the product di fferences bas ed on region: U.
12 Ch apter 2 Installation This ch apter describes how to install a Harmony 802 .11a network adapter and software i n a computer running Windows X P , Windows 2000, Windows Millenni um Edition (ME), Windows 98 S econd Edition (SE), or Windows NT 4 .0 (SP 6 or later).
Installation 13 High power radars are allocate d as primary u sers of t he 5.25 to 5. 35 GHz an d 5.65 to 5.85 GHz band. These radar stations can cause inter ference with and/or damage the Harmony 802 .11a CardBu s Card and/or Harmony 802 .11a PCI Card.
Installation 14 W in dows N T L apto ps Requi re a Pl ug-an d-Pl ay Ut ilit y A Win dow s NT lapt op must have a thi rd -pa r ty Plu g-an d- Pl ay u til it y in sta lle d in or de r to use the 802.11a CardBus C ard. One popular Plug-and-Play utility for Windows NT 4.
Installation 15 Inst allati on I nstru ctio ns Refer to the set of instructions that correspond to your computer’s operating s ystem. W indows 98SE/ME/2000/XP The instructions below describe how to inst all a Harmony 802.11a network adapter by running the Ha rmony Installation prog ram before inser ting the adapter into the computer .
Installation 16 6. Enter a name for the utility ’s Program Manager group and cli ck Nex t. 7. C l i c k Next to install the utilit y. 8. C lick Finish to view additional information about the utilit y . Note: T o avoid viewing the additional information, unchec k the Read Harm ony con figuratio n in stru ction s box before clicking Finish .
Installation 17 • Secure the card’s metal brac ket to the computer following the directions pro- vided in your PC ’s manual and replace the computer cover. • Plug t he computer ’s power cord back into t he wall outlet . • Attach the cabled antenna to the antenna base and place it on top of your desk, computer, or monitor.
Installation 18 Wi nd o w s NT Follow these steps to install a Ha rmony 802.11a network adapter in a computer running Windows NT 4.0 (Ser vice Pac k 6 or later). 1. T urn on the computer and l ogon to Windows, if appli cabl e. 2. Insert the Harmo ny Instal lati on CD into the c omputer’s CD-ROM drive.
Installation 19 10. C lic k Install when prompted by the Harmony Device Setup screen, shown below. Note: Proxim recommends that you let th e installation wizard inst all the card for you. However, if you want to install the adapter manually , click Co n t r o l Pan el to open t he Network screen’s Adapter window.
Installation 20 12. C lic k OK to save t he TCP/IP set tings. 13. Cli ck No wh en prompted to restart the computer. 14. Clic k OK to close the Harmon y Device Setup scr een. 15. Shu t down the computer. 16. Install the Harmony 802 .11a network adapter in the computer.
Installation 21 R elated T o pics • Se e Ch a p t e r 4 be g in n i n g on pa g e 27 fo r a dis c u ss i o n of th e 80 2. 1 1 a co n f ig u r a t i o n parameters . • R efer to Chapter 5 beginning o n page 36 for information on how to use the Harmony Util ity.
Installation 22 Upgrading to V ersion 1.4 If you already have an earlier version of the Harmony 802. 11a software installed, follow these steps to up grade to version 1 .4: 1. Insert the Harmo ny Ins tallation CD into the CD-ROM drive. If you do not h ave a CD that contains software version 1.
23 Ch apter 3 Wir eless T opologies Harmony wireless product s look and o perate similar to Eth ernet products. The only d if f e r e nc e is th a t a ra d i o rep l a ce s th e w ir e be t w ee n va r i o us no d e s .
Wireless T opolog ies 24 Infrastruct ure Many compa nies have an e xisting Ethernet or wired LAN infra structure and want to be able to extend that capability to wireless nodes . This is accomplished by instal ling one or more Harmo ny 802.11a Access Points on the Ethe rnet networ k.
Wireless T opolog ies 25 Roaming Between Mult iple APs For larger environments , Harmony 802.11a client devices may roam from o ne Harmony 802.11a A ccess Poi nt to a noth er while maintaining the same network connect ion. The 802.11a Access Points establish coverage areas or cells similar in conc ept to those of a cellular phone network.
Wireless T opolog ies 26 As the mobile cl ient seamlessly switches from cell to cell, its network connectivity is preserv ed. The user can move freely between the Har mony 802.1 1a Acces s Points on the network. When the roaming client leaves the transmiss ion range of one 8 02.
27 Ch apter 4 C onfiguration P aramet ers This c hapter provides information on the 802.11a w i reless s tandard and describes the Harmony 8 02.11a config uration para meters. The IEEE 802.11a Specifi catio n In 1997 , the Institute of Electrical and Elec tronics Engineers ( IEEE) adopted t he 802.
C onfiguration Parameters 28 802.11a Software P arameters The following configuration parameters are available f or a Harmony 802.11a network adapter. Refer to Chapter 5 for instructio ns on how to change these configuration settings using the H armony Utili ty.
C onfiguration Parameters 29 P ower Saving Mode The Harmony 802.11a networ k adapters support optional power management to conserve battery l ife. Power Saving Mode is only available if the adapter is operat ing in Infrastructure mode. When Power Saving Mode is set to Normal o r Maximum, a Harmony 802.
C onfiguration Parameters 30 Channel 802.11a devi ce s spread a radio signal over a range of freq uencies. The IEEE 802.11a specification allocates the available frequencies in the 5 GHz band into a series o f operating Channels that are identified by a Channel number and a c enter carrier frequency .
C onfiguration Parameters 31 For Si ngapor e: An 802.11a netwo rk adapter can use one of fou r Channels: Channel 36 ( 5.18 GHz), Channel 40 (5.2 0 GHz), Channel 44 ( 5.
C onfiguration Parameters 32 RTS/CTS The 802.11a standard supports opt ional RTS/CTS c ommunication based on packet size. By default, RTS/CTS communicat ion is d isabled. Without RTS /CTS, a sending radio listen s to see if another radio is alrea dy using the medium before transmitting a dat a packet.
C onfiguration Parameters 33 WEP Keys An 802.11a devi ce with WEP enabled uses a WEP Key to encrypt and decrypt information. A user must manually enter the network ’s WEP Keys on eac h 802.11a devic e. If the WEP Keys do not matc h on two radios, no data communication will t ake place between these devices.
C onfiguration Parameters 34 Harmony Security P rotoc ol Guidelines • If yo u want to us e the Har mony Secu rity P rotocol on your network, you must enable the protocol on all of y our network’s Harmony 802.11a Acc ess P oints and Harmony 802.11 a clie nts.
C onfiguration Parameters 35 The Harmony Utili ty does not i nclude configuration setti ngs for 802.1x. T o enable 80 2 . 1 x su p po r t an d con f i g u r e 8 0 2. 1 x se t t i n g s ( l i ke EA P au t h e n ti ca t i o n ty p e ) , yo u ne e d to use a client utility provided by a R ADIUS ser ver manufacturer , lik e Microsoft or Funk Software.
36 Ch apter 5 Harmony Ut ility Proxim provide s a so ftware utility that simplifies the management and configuration of a Ha rmo ny 802 .1 1a net wo rk adap te r. Ch apt er 2 des cri b es h ow t o ins tal l th e ut il it y. This ch apter descri bes how to use t he Harmo ny Utilit y after it has been installed.
Harmony Util ity 37 Right-click the icon to view configuration options for the Status Monitor: •S e l e c t Run 8 02.1 1a Config urat ion Uti lit y from the drop-down menu to lau nch the 802.11a Configuration Utility. Double-clicking the ic on also launc h es the utility.
Harmony Util ity 38 • Send Sign al Str ength: The Sig nal bar displays the signal strengt h for the last ac knowledgme nt (ACK) received by the adapter.
Harmony Util ity 39 • Rec eive Signal St ren gth: The Signal bar displays the signal streng th for the last pack et received by the adapter. Signal strength is reported in decibels (dB).
Harmony Util ity 40 Edi t t he con fi gu rat io n p ara met e rs as n ecessa r y a nd cl ick A pply to sa v e yo ur chan ge s. T o change the operating Channel, Send Rate, RTS/CT S, and Frag mentation settings, click the button lab eled Advan ced Configu ratio n to display these par ameters.
Harmony Util ity 41 Note to Windows XP Users Windows XP provides built-in support for wireless networks. Windows X P’s wireless network management features are used i n lieu of th e Harmony Utili ty . For PCI Card us e r s , su pp o r t fo r th e Ha rm on y Ut i l i t y i s di sa b le d by de fa u l t ( i .
Harmony Util ity 42 Security Click the Security tab to configure the adapter’s securit y settings. From withi n this screen, you can enable WEP for Authenticatio n and Encryp tion, enable the Harmo ny Security Protocol, and configure the adap ter’s WEP Key s.
Harmony Util ity 43 4. Enter one to four WEP Keys in the fields provided, as shown in the following exampl e. 5. Use only hexadecimal digit s (i.e., 0- 9 and A-F). For 64-bit encr yption, enter 10 digits for eac h Key; for 128-bit encryption, enter 26 digits for eac h Key; for 152-bit encr yption, ente r 32 digi ts for each Key .
Harmony Util ity 44 In the following example, Key 3 is the Default Key . A Harmony 802.11a network adapter can decrypt information that was encrypted with any of its four WEP Keys but it will only use the Default Key to encr ypt outgoing infor mation.
Harmony Util ity 45 T o create the text file, use a text program such as M icrosoft N otepad or W ordPad. The text file should have a “.txt” extensio n.
Harmony Util ity 46 3. Click Apply or OK to save the new security settings. 4. Log off Wi ndows or restart the computer . 5. Log on to Windows w hen prompted (if the Log on to Harmon y Security befor e Win dow s Log on option is disab led). 6. The Harmony logon prompt will appear .
Harmony Util ity 47 The Windows 98/ME logon prompt is shown below. Note: The Har mony logon prompt will not appear if your Windows User Name and Password matc h your Harmony User Name and Password, you are withi n range of a properly configu red Acc ess Point, and the Log on to Harmony Security befor e Windows Log on optio n is disabled.
Harmony Util ity 48 8. If desired, click Change Pa ssword (Windows XP/2000 Professional) or Option s... (Windows 98/ME) to modif y your Harmony user account. The Windows 98/M E logon prom pt is shown below. • Enter a new password twice in the fields provided to change your Harmony Password.
Harmony Util ity 49 802.1x The Harmony Utili ty does not i nclude configuration setti ngs for 802.1x. T o enable 802.1x suppor t, you need to use a client u tility provided by a RADIUS serv er manufacturer, suc h as Microsoft or Funk Software.
Harmony Util ity 50 7 . Click the Authe nticati on tab. 8. C onfigure the 802.1x settings. Cont a ct your netwo rk administrator or refer to Windows XP’s on-line Help if you need assi stanc e configuring th ese settings.
Harmony Util ity 51 Network T raffic St atistics Click the Stati stics tab to view information about the number of pack e ts sent and received by the adapter, as shown below.
Harmony Util ity 52 The advanced Statistics screen displays the following additional statistics: Send • Send Rat e: This fi eld report s the adapter’ s current transmit rate. • Unica st Byte s Sent: This statistic repor ts the total number of bytes contained in the unicast pac kets transmitted by the adapter.
Harmony Util ity 53 • Last ACK RS SI: This statistic repor ts th e RSSI (Received Signal Str ength) for the last ackn owl e dg me nt (AC K) rece ive d by th e ad ap ter. RSSI is r ep or te d i n de ci bel s (d B ) an d ty p i ca l l y ra n g es fr o m 0 to 75.
Harmony Util ity 54 802.11a Networks Click the 802 .11a Netw orks t ab to view th e list of Acces s Points or Ad Hoc stations within range of the adapter. In the example below, the utili ty detected o ne Ac cess Point and one Ad Hoc node. Note: T o display only Ac cess Points, unch eck the Display Ad Hoc station s box.
Harmony Util ity 55 If you want the adapter to associate with one of the d etected Acces s Points o r join t he same Ad Hoc network as one of the detected Ad Hoc nodes, highlight the node within the de vice list and cli ck Associ at e .
Harmony Util ity 56 Clic k one of th e Channels in the Channel RS SI Map to d ete rmine if an y 802. 11a device s are transmitting at that frequency . A selected Channel h as a b lue outline.
Harmony Util ity 57 In addition, the utility displays the current success rate in the Ins tant aneou s Su cc ess field and the average succ ess rate (since the beginning of t he test) in the Aver age Success field .
58 Ch apter 6 T roub leshooting The Harmony 802.11a network adapters are designed to b e very easy to i nstall and operate. However, if you ex perience any difficulties, use the informatio n in this c hapter to help diagnose and solve the problem.
T roubleshooting 59 W indows 98/ME/2000/XP T roubleshooting Adapter In serted Before Running the Inst allation Pr ogram If y ou inserted the Ha rmony 802.
T roubleshooting 60 7 . Attac h the cabled antenna to the antenna base and place the antenna on top of your desk, computer, or monitor. 8. T urn on th e computer and logon to Windows, i f applicable. 9. C ard Bus Card users: Insert the 802.11a adapter into an available CardBu s slot.
T roubleshooting 61 If a yellow excl amation point (“ !”) appears next to the Har mony 802.1 1a adapter’ s Device M anager entry, then the adapter is not wo rking properly. Follow these steps: 1. Uninstall the adapter as described in “Uninstal ling a Harmo ny 802.
T roubleshooting 62 Win do ws N T Follow these steps to configu re a Harmo ny 802.11a adapt er’s networ king protocols in a Windo ws NT compute r: 1. Open the C ontrol Panel’s Network icon. 2. Click the Prot ocol s tab . 3. Se lect a proto col from the list of instal led components and click Pr operties to configure its settings.
T roubleshooting 63 Window s 98/ME comput ers: • C:WINDOWSINFN ETPR11A. INF • C:WINDOWSINFOTHERPROXIM,INC.NETPR1 1A.INF • C:WINDOWSSYSTEM32DRIVE RSP ROX11A. SYS • C:WINDOWSSYSTEMPROX11A.SYS Win do ws N T com pu te rs: • C:WINDOWSSYSTEM32PROX11AN4.
T roubleshooting 64 The Harmony 802.11a C a rdBus Ca rd includes two integral omnidirectional antenna s. Note that the c overage f ootprint of the CardBus C ard’s antennas will v ary depending on the laptop’s design and the location of the CardBus slot in the computer.
T roubleshooting 65 Common T echnical Support Q uestions This section discusses some of the most common problems using a Harmony 802.11a network adapter a nd offers possible solutio ns. Symptom/Question Possible Solution/Answer I installed the adapter card in the computer before running SETUP .
T roubleshooting 66 How do I deter mine where to install 802.11a Acc ess Points to ensure that users can acc ess the wireless network from anywhere in my faci li ty ? Proxim recommends that you perfor.
T roubleshooting 67 My Harmony User Name and Password are synchronized with my Windows User Name and Password so the Harmony logon prompt does not appear after I logon to W indows.
68 Ap p endi x A T ec hnical S pecific ations The following technic al specification is for reference purposes only. Actual product’s performance and compliance with local telecommunic ations regulations may vary from country to countr y . Proxim Corporation will only ship product s that are type ap pro ve d in th e desti natio n co untry .
69 Roami ng ....... .... ....... ...... .......... ..... .... Seam le ss a mong 80 2.11 a com plia nt ac ces s points, includi ng across subnets via Harmony AP Controller Radio Radio Data Rate ........ .... ...... .... ....... .. 54 Mbp s, 4 8 M bps, 36 Mbp s, 2 4 Mbp s, 18 Mbp s, 12 Mbp s, 9 Mbps , 6 Mbp s in 802.
70 Pa r a m e t e r s Parame ter Ran ge Default Networ k Mo de Ad H oc*, Infr astructu re Infr astructu re Power S avin g (Infrastr ucture only ) Off, Normal , Ma ximu m Off 2X Mo de* Enabled, Disabled Disabled SSI D Up to 32 cha r ac t e rs a ny Channel (C onfigurable in Ad Hoc mode; assigned by AP in In f r as t r u c t u re mode) U.
71 Ap p end ix B T ec hnical Suppor t and T raining If you are having a problem using a Harmo ny 802.11a network adapter and cannot resolve it wit h th e information in Chap ter 6, gath er the followi.
72 Ind e x A ACK Erro rs .................................................................................... 53 Ad Hoc ............................................................... 17 , 20 , 23 , 28 , 40 , 70 Add New Hardwa re Wizar d .............
73 Domain C ontroll er .......................................................................... 45 Duplic ate Frames ............................................................................ 53 E 802.11a Networks .................................
74 K Key Size ................................................................................. 42 , 70 L Last ACK RSSI ................................................................................ 53 Last Frame’s RSSI ...........................
75 Protocol Config uration ................................. ................................... 61 – 62 PROX11A.SYS ............................................................................ 17 , 63 PROX11AN4.SYS .................................
76 Throughput .................................................................................. 65 Topologies .............................................................................. 23 – 26 Transmit Rate. See Send Rate Troublesh ooting S uggestion s .
An important point after buying a device Harmony House 802.11a (or even before the purchase) is to read its user manual. We should do this for several simple reasons:
If you have not bought Harmony House 802.11a yet, this is a good time to familiarize yourself with the basic data on the product. First of all view first pages of the manual, you can find above. You should find there the most important technical data Harmony House 802.11a - thus you can check whether the hardware meets your expectations. When delving into next pages of the user manual, Harmony House 802.11a you will learn all the available features of the product, as well as information on its operation. The information that you get Harmony House 802.11a will certainly help you make a decision on the purchase.
If you already are a holder of Harmony House 802.11a, but have not read the manual yet, you should do it for the reasons described above. You will learn then if you properly used the available features, and whether you have not made any mistakes, which can shorten the lifetime Harmony House 802.11a.
However, one of the most important roles played by the user manual is to help in solving problems with Harmony House 802.11a. Almost always you will find there Troubleshooting, which are the most frequently occurring failures and malfunctions of the device Harmony House 802.11a along with tips on how to solve them. Even if you fail to solve the problem, the manual will show you a further procedure – contact to the customer service center or the nearest service center
