NETGEAR MA521 User Manual
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NETGEAR MA521 User Manual

802.11b wireless pc card 2.4 ghz
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802.11b Wireless PC Card
2.4 GHz MA521
User's Guide

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Summary of Contents for NETGEAR MA521

  • Page 1 802.11b Wireless PC Card 2.4 GHz MA521 User's Guide...

  • Page 2: System Requirements

    • Warranty card • Support information card System Requirements Before installing the MA521 802.11b Wireless PC Card, please make sure that your computer system has the following: • A computer with a 32-bit CardBus slot. • Please note that not all laptop or portable computer PC Card slots are CardBus, please check your computer’s reference guide for more details.

  • Page 3: Led Indicators

    At least 5 Mbytes disk space for installing the driver and utility programs. LED Indicators There are two LEDs on the MA521 802.11b Wireless PC Card: Pwr and Lnk. The green Pwr LED indicates the power of the card. The green Lnk LED indicates the wireless link condition of the station with another wireless node or the associated Access Point.
  • Page 4 3. The Autostart Wizard screen will appear, as shown here: 4. Click the Install Driver & Utility option. If the Autorun wizard does not automatically start, go to your Windows Start menu and choose Run, and type D:/Setup.exe (“D” represents your CD-ROM drive letter), and click OK. The InstallShield Wizard screen will appear.
  • Page 5 Click Finish to complete installing the Configuration Utility. Install the MA521 Wireless PC Card Insert the MA521 802.11b Wireless PC Card into an available CardBus slot on your computer as shown here. Windows will automatically detect the MA521 802.11b Wireless PC Card and the Found New Hardware Wizard dialog box will appear.
  • Page 6 4. Click Finish to complete the installation. Verify the Driver Installation It is a good idea to confirm that the MA521 802.11b Wireless PC Card has been properly installed. Follow the instructions that apply to your computer system: 1. From the Windows desktop, right-click My Computer.
  • Page 7 Configuration Utility program will provide information about signal quality and link conditions and let you modify various configurable wireless parameters. Now that the MA521 802.11b Wireless PC Card has been installed, you can use the NETGEAR MA521 Wireless Configuration Utility to view and customize configuration settings and features.
  • Page 8 Double-click the Wireless Adapter SysTray icon to activate the wireless Configuration Utility for the MA521 Wireless PC Card. You can click any of the folder tabs in the NETGEAR MA521 Wireless Configuration Utility dialog box to view the current status or modify operational parameters.

  • Page 9: Status Section

    MA521 features and functions, we recommend that you use the NETGEAR MA521 Wireless Configuration Utility program. After installing the MA521 Wireless PC Card on the Windows XP, it will display a Disable Windows XP Configuration Manager message, similar to the one shown here:...

  • Page 10: Configuration Section

    Indicates the SSID and MAC address of the associated Access Point Connected to when the MA521 802.11b Wireless PC Card is configured in Infrastructure mode. Indicates the network mode of the MA521 802.11b Wireless PC Card Network mode (Infrastructure or 802.11 Ad-Hoc). Indicates the wireless channel currently in use.

  • Page 11: Configuration Description

    This table describes the options available from the Configuration section: Configuration Description Network mode Network Name (SSID) Channel Specifies a channel only when using an Ad-hoc network mode. Security To prevent unauthorized wireless stations from accessing data transmitted over the network, the Security section of the Configuration Utility offers secure data encryption, known as WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy), to better protect your data transmissions.
  • Page 12 To activate the WEP Encryption, make sure the Enable Encryption box displays a checkmark (as shown on previous page). WEP Encryption options will be displayed, as shown on the previous page. You may make changes, as detailed here: 1. Select one of the two options: Create with Passphrase or Manual Entry. A Passphrase makes you easier to enable WEP because it automatically generates the WEP hexadecimal numbers for the key.

  • Page 13: Advanced Settings

    64-bit and 128-bit. The 64-bit data encryption is also called 40-bit data encryption by some vendors. The MA521 device uses a selected WEP key to encrypt and decrypt Key1 information. When set to 64-bit (also called 40-bit), or 128-bit data...
  • Page 14 PC. When the setting is Normal, the driver turns off power to Power Saving the MA521 Wireless PC Card for brief periods over briefly-spaced time intervals. When the setting is Maximum, the driver turns off power to the MA521 Wireless PC Card for longer periods over more widely- spaced time intervals.
  • Page 15 Profile Section The Profile area allows you to set values for all parameters by selecting a previously defined profile. To create a profile, in the Profile Name field, type a Profile Name; for example: Home, Office. When you are done, click the Save button in the Profile area, and click Apply. If one of the profiles is no longer used, display the name in the Profile Name field, then choose Delete.

  • Page 16: Statistics Section

    To display Access Points around the working environment, select the Re-Scan button. In addition to showing the MAC Address of each Access Point, you can also view the Channel, Signal, Security, and Network Modes. Click OK to continue, or select another tab. Statistics Section The Statistics section of the Configuration Utility dialog box indicates the real-time Transmit and Receive packets performance in graph form and also displays the performance statistics in figures.

  • Page 17: About Section

    The About section of the Configuration Utility dialog box shows the regulatory domain: FCC for US, ETSI for Europe, MKK for Japan; the MAC address and the release information of both the device driver for the Wireless Adapter and the Wireless Configuration Utility software. Click OK to continue, or select another tab.

  • Page 18: Infrastructure Mode

    MA521 Wireless PC Card in a Notebook Computer In this configuration, network packets are directly sent and received by the intended transmitting and receiving stations. As long as the stations are within range of one another, this is the easiest and least expensive way to set up a wireless network.

  • Page 19: Service Set Identification (Ssid)

    Cable/DSL Modem Desktop PC with Notebook PC with MA321 802.11b MA521 802.11b Wireless PCI Adapter Wireless PC Card To set up an Infrastructure network operating with standard protocols, do the following: • Set all wireless stations to connect in Infrastructure mode.

  • Page 20: Authentication And Wep Encryption

    Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) data encryption is utilized when the wireless nodes or access points are configured to operate in Shared Key authentication mode. There are three shared key methods implemented in NETGEAR 802.11b solutions: the standard based 64-bit WEP data encryption and 128-bit WEP data encryption.

  • Page 21: Wireless Channel Selection

    Wireless Channel Selection 802.11b IEEE 802.11b wireless nodes communicate with each other using radio frequency signals in the ISM (Industrial, Scientific, and Medical) band between 2.4 GHz and 2.5 GHz. Neighboring channels are 5 MHz apart. However, due to spread spectrum effect of the signals, a node sending signals using a particular channel will utilize frequency spectrum 12.5 MHz above and below the center channel frequency.

  • Page 22: Troubleshooting

    Windows operating system. Reload the driver if necessary. • Try to install the MA521 Wireless PC Card in different CardBus slot if it’s available. • The Access Point may not be powered on.

  • Page 23: Vcci Statement

    Certificate of the Manufacturer/Importer It is hereby certified that the Model MA521 Wireless PC Card has been suppressed in accordance with the conditions set out in the BMPT- AmtsblVfg 243/1991 and Vfg 46/1992. The operation of some equipment (for example, test transmitters) in accordance with the regulations may, however, be subject to certain restrictions.
  • Page 24 Canadian Department of Communications Radio Interference Regulations This digital apparatus (Model MA521 Wireless PC Card) does not exceed the Class B limits for radio-noise emissions from digital apparatus as set out in the Radio Interference Regulations of the Canadian Department of Communications.

  • Page 25: Technical Support

    E-mail: support@NETGEAR.com (24x7 online support) www.NETGEAR.com ©2003 NETGEAR, Inc. NETGEAR, the Netgear logo, The Gear Guy, Auto Uplink and Everybody's Connecting are trademarks or registered trademarks of Netgear, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

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