NETGEAR MA 401 Reference Manual
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NETGEAR MA 401 Reference Manual

NETGEAR MA 401 Reference Manual

802.11 wireless pc card
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Summary of Contents for NETGEAR MA 401

  • Page 2 In the interest of improving internal design, operational function, and/or reliability, NETGEAR reserves the right to make changes to the products described in this document without notice. NETGEAR does not assume any liability that may occur due to the use or application of the product(s) or circuit layout(s) described herein.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION     ENEFITS   EATURES NETGEAR   ELATED PRODUCTS CHAPTER 2: WIRELESS NETWORK FUNDAMENTALS     IRELESS ETWORK ONFIGURATION (SS ID)   ERVICE DENTIFICATION WEP E   UTHENTICATION AND...

  • Page 4: Chapter 1: Introduction

    Supports multiple operating system platform including Microsoft Windows 95/B, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows Millennium. Related NETGEAR products MA301 802.11b Wireless PCI Adapter ME102 802.11b Wireless Access Point MR314 802.11b Wireless Cable/DSL Router...

  • Page 5: Chapter 2: Wireless Network Fundamentals

    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;...

  • Page 6: Service Set Identification

    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).

  • Page 7: Wireless Channel Selection

    Wireless Channel Selection IEEE 802.11 wireless nodes communicate with each other using radio frequency signals in the ISM (Industrial, Scientific, and Medical) band between 2.4Ghz and 2.5Ghz. Neighboring channels are 5Mhz apart. However, due to spread spectrum effect of the signals, a node sending signals using a particular channel will utilize frequency spectrum12.5Mhz above and below the center channel frequency.

  • Page 8: Chapter 3: Hardware Installation

    Keep the Support Information Card, along with the original packing materials. Use the packing materials to repack the Model MA401 Wireless PC Card if you need to return it for repair. To qualify for product updates and product warranty registrations, register online on the NETGEAR http://www.NETGEAR.com.

  • Page 9: Chapter 4: Driver Installation

    LAN drivers for the original versions of Windows 95 or Windows 95A are not provided. Installing Driver Software To install the NETGEAR MA401 Wireless PC Card LAN driver for the first time in Windows 95/B: Follow the procedure described in the hardware installation chapter to install the MA401 Wireless PC Card into your notebook system.

  • Page 10: Windows 98 Driver Software

    Windows 98 Driver Software Installing Driver Software To install the NETGEAR MA401 Wireless PC Card LAN driver for the first time in Windows 98: Follow the procedure described in the hardware installation chapter to install the MA401 Wireless PC Card into your system. Power up the system if the PC Card is inserted with the power off.

  • Page 11: Windows Millennium Driver Software

    Windows Millennium Driver Software Installing Driver Software To install the NETGEAR MA401 Wireless PC Card LAN driver for the first time in Windows Millennium: Follow the procedure described in the hardware installation chapter to install the MA401 Wireless PC Card into your notebook system. Power up the system if the PC Card is inserted when the power is off.

  • Page 12: Windows Nt 4.0 Driver Software

    Double-click on Control Panel. Double-click on the Devices icon. A list of devices installed in the system will be shown. Scroll down the list to locate the NETGEAR MA401 / MA301 driver entry. The PC Card entry should indicate that the PC card is started.

  • Page 13: Windows 2000 Driver Software

    Click on the Hardware folder tab. Double-click on the Device Manager button. Double-click on Network Adapter. There should be no yellow exclamation mark or red cross- sign on the NETGEAR MA401 Wireless PC Card selection. Double-click on the MA401 Wireless PC Card. The Device Status windows should indicate that the PC card is working properly.

  • Page 14: Chapter 5: Wireless Lan Configuration

    Properties selection. The Network windows opens, Click on the Adapter folder tab. Click on NETGEAR MA401 Wireless PC Card in the window. Click on Properties to modify any wireless parameters. When running Windows 2000 Configuring the network adapter properties for Windows 2000 is different from all other Windows operating systems.
  • Page 15 Device Properties Modification Table 5-1. Device Properties Parameters General Specifications Model MA401 Wireless PC Card Network Type Configurable between 802.11 ad hoc, ad hoc, and infrastructure modes. In 802.11 ad hoc mode, the wireless nodes form their own local network where the end nodes communicate peer-to-peer without an access point.

  • Page 16: Wlan Configuration Utility

    Table 5-1. Device Properties Parameters (continued) General Specifications Model MA401 Wireless PC Card Fragment Threshold This is the packet length used for fragmentation. Packets larger than the size programmed in this field will be fragmented. The Fragment Threshold value must be larger than RTS Threshold value.
  • Page 17 System Tray Applications Note: The SysTray (System Tray) resides on one end of the taskbar in the Microsoft Windows desktop. It displays interface icons for memory-resident applications that execute in the background continuously, such as the clock, speaker volume, and virus detection. The wireless LAN configuration utility installation for the MA401 Wireless PC Card adds a status reporting and configuration utility icon in the SysTray.
  • Page 18 Rescan Only used in infrastructure mode, click on this button to allow the wireless node to start scanning the wireless channels for an access point again. Throughput (Bytes/sec) Tx The current transmit data transfer rate of the wireless node. Throughput (Bytes/sec) Rx The current receive data transfer rate of the wireless node.
  • Page 19 Encryption Encryption Set the data encryption level for the wireless node. The data encryption level must be the same between all wireless nodes and access points in the same network. The possible values for the data encryption level are Disable, 64 bits and 128 bits.

  • Page 20: Appendix A: Hardware Specifications

    APPENDIX A: HARDWARE SPECIFICATIONS General Specifications Model MA401 802.11 Wireless PC Card Radio Data Rate 1, 2, 5.5, 11Mbps (Auto Rate Sensing) Frequency 2.4Ghz to 2.5Ghz Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) Range Outdoor environment Indoor environment 1Mbps - 1650 ft (503 m) 1Mbps - 500 ft (152 m) 2Mbps - 1320 ft (402 m) 2Mbps - 400 ft (122 m)

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