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Ralink 150N wireless adapter User Manual

150n wireless lan usb adapter
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150N Wireless LAN USB Adapter

User Manual

Version: 1.0
(June, 2009)

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  • Page 1: User Manual

    150N Wireless LAN USB Adapter User Manual Version: 1.0 (June, 2009)
  • Page 2 COPYRIGHT Copyright ©2009/2010 by this company. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language or computer language, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, optical, chemical, manual or otherwise, without the prior written permission of this company.

  • Page 3: Federal Communication Commission

    Federal Communication Commission Interference Statement This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation.
  • Page 4 Federal Communication Commission (FCC) Radiation Exposure Statement This EUT is compliance with SAR for general population/uncontrolled exposure limits in ANSI/IEEE C95.1-1999 and had been tested in accordance with the measurement methods and procedures specified in OET Bulletin 65 Supplement C. The equipment version marketed in US is restricted to usage of the channels 1-11 only.
  • Page 5 R&TTE Compliance Statement This equipment complies with all the requirements of DIRECTIVE 1999/5/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL of March 9, 1999 on radio equipment and telecommunication terminal Equipment and the mutual recognition of their conformity (R&TTE) The R&TTE Directive repeals and replaces in the directive 98/13/EEC (Telecommunications Terminal Equipment and Satellite Earth Station Equipment) As of April 8, 2000.

  • Page 6: Table Of Contents

    CHAPTER II: Driver Installation and Configuration ....... 5 2-1 Network Card Installation ................6 2-2 Connect to Wireless Access Point ..............13 2-2-1 Using Ralink Utility ................14 2-2-1-1 Scan for Other Wireless Devices ..........16 2-2-1-2 Connect to an Access Point ............. 21 2-2-1-3 Add an Access Point to Profile ..........
  • Page 7 CHAPTER IV: Appendix ................72 4-1 Specification ....................72 4-2 Troubleshooting ..................... 73 4-3 Glossary ......................75...

  • Page 8: Chapter I: Product Information

    CHAPTER I: Product Information 1-1 Introduction and safety information Thank you for purchasing this high-speed wireless network card! Excepting common wireless standards 802.11b/g, this wireless network card is also able to access 802.11n wireless networks - data transfer rate is 150Mbps, and that’s three times faster than 802.11g wireless network! With easy-to-install USB 2.0 interface - a very common expansion port of computers - plug this wireless network card into any empty USB port of...

  • Page 9: Safety Information

    1-2 Safety Information In order to keep the safety of users and your properties, please follow the following safety instructions: 1. This USB wireless network card is designed for indoor use only. DO NOT expose this network card to direct sun light, rain, or snow. 2.

  • Page 10: System Requirements

    1-3 System Requirements An empty USB 2.0 port (May not be able work with USB 1.1 port, and performance will be greatly reduced) Windows 2000, XP, or Vista operating system CD-ROM drive At least 100MB of available disk space...

  • Page 11: Package Contents

    1-4 Package Contents Before you starting to use this wireless network card, please check if there’s anything missing in the package, and contact your dealer of purchase to claim for missing items: USB Wireless Network Card (1 pcs) …………………………… 1 □...

  • Page 12: Familiar With Your New Wireless Network Card

    1-5 Familiar with your new wireless network card 1. USB Connector 2. Connector Cap (To protect USB connector when not in use) 3. Link/Activity LED 4. WPS Button LED Name Light Status Description Radio Off Wireless LAN function is disabled. No link to wireless AP or Router Radio On (No Link)

  • Page 13: Chapter Ii: Driver Installation And Configuration

    CHAPTER II: Driver Installation and Configuration 2-1 Network Card Installation Please follow the following instructions to install your new wireless network card: 1. Insert the USB wireless network card into an empty USB 2.0 port of your computer when computer is switched on. Never use force to insert the card, if you feel it’s stuck, flip the card over and try again.
  • Page 14 2. The following message will appear on your computer, click ‘cancel’. 3. Insert device driver CDROM into the CD/DVD ROM drive of your computer, and execute ‘Setup.exe’ program. Please read the end user license agreement and click ‘I accept the terms of the license agreement’...
  • Page 15 ’Install driver only’. Click ‘Next’ to continue. 5. You can choose the configuration tool used to configure the wireless network card here. It’s recommended to select ‘Ralink Configuration Tool’, which provides fully access to all functions of this wireless network card.
  • Page 16 6. Now you’ll see the following message, please click ‘Install’ to start utility installation. If you see ‘Found New Hardware’ message again, please ignore it and wait.
  • Page 17 7. Please wait while the install procedure is running. When you see this message, please click ‘Finish’ to complete the driver installation process.
  • Page 18 In this case, you can start config utility again by clicking ‘Ralink Wireless Utility’ icon from ‘Start’ -> ‘All Programs’ -> ‘Ralink Wireless’, as shown below.

  • Page 20: Connect To Wireless Access Point

    NOTE: In Vista, the network card will not connect to any unencrypted wireless access point automatically. The current status of wireless connection will be displayed by Ralink configuration utility icon: Wireless connection is established, good signal reception.

  • Page 21: Using Ralink Utility

    1. Right-click the Ralink configuration utility icon located at lower-right corner of computer desktop and then clicks ‘Launch Config Utility’. 2. Ralink setup utility (RaUI) will launch, and begin to scan for all wireless access points automatically. Menu...
  • Page 22 You can click ‘More / Less’ button again, and setup utility window will resume to its original size. Tip: If a setup item requires more information to complete the setup procedure, the setup utility window will expand automatically.

  • Page 23: Scan For Other Wireless Devices

    SSID before you can establish connection with it. b. If the wireless device you wish to connect uses encryption, you must know its encryption key. Please launch Ralink setup utility and it will scan for wireless access points near by:...
  • Page 24 Scan results will be displayed here, please check if the wireless device (access point or another computer) with the SSID you wish to connect is shown here. Scan result includes 6 types of information, they are: The SSID (Service Set Identifier) of wireless device. If nothing is displayed here, it means the SSID of this wireless device is hidden.
  • Page 25 The wireless standard supported by this access point is displayed here. ‘n’ for 802.11n , ‘g; for 802.11g , and ‘b’ for 802.11b WPS icon will appear when the access point supports WPS. If the access point uses encryption, a key icon will appear.
  • Page 26 There are 4 types of technical information: General: Displays basic information about this access point, such as SSID, MAC Address, authentication / encryption type, channel etc. WPS: If this access point supports WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup), related information will be displayed here. CCX: If this access point supports CCX (Cisco Compatible eXtension), related information will be displayed here.
  • Page 27 And here are descriptions of every setup item in setup area: Item Name Description Sorted by >> You can decide how to sort all listed access point by ‘SSID’, ‘Channel’, or ‘Signal’ (signal strength). Show dBm Check this box to show the signal strength of access point, instead of percentage.

  • Page 28: Connect To An Access Point

    2-2-1-2 Connect to an Access Point If the wireless access point you wish to connect is found, you can establish connection with it by clicking ‘Connect’ button. Instructions will be given as follow: 1. Click the wireless access point or network device you wish to connect, it will be highlighted, then click ‘Connect’.
  • Page 29 3. If the wireless access point uses encryption, you will be prompted to input its WEP key or WPA preshared key.
  • Page 30 5. If the wireless access point is successfully connected, you’ll see a symbol appears in front of the name of wireless device. You can put the mouse cursor over the Ralink configuration utility icon, and the brief information about link status and signal strength of...
  • Page 31 You can also click More / Less button ( ) to see detailed information of connected access point:...

  • Page 32: Add An Access Point To Profile

    2-2-1-3 Add an Access Point to Profile If you will connect to some specific wireless access point frequently, you can add their information to the profile. Just like the telephone directory, the profile saves all information of access points, and you can recall them anytime you wish to establish connection.
  • Page 33 The setup utility will expand: Here are descriptions of every setup item: Item Name Description Profile Name You can give this profile a name. Every profile needs a unique name. SSID Please input the SSID of this access point. If you selected an access point from the list, and its SSID is not hidden, the SSID will be filled automatically;...
  • Page 34 decide the best output power for you. Preamble Select the preamble for Ad hoc mode here. Available options are ‘Auto’ and ‘Long’. It’s suggested to select ‘Auto’ to let setup utility decide the preamble for you. Channel You can select the radio channel number for AdHoc mode here.
  • Page 35 To set authentication / encryption information for the access point. Please click ‘Auth. \ Encry.’ tab: Here are descriptions of every setup item: Item Name Description Authentication Select the authentication type of the wireless access point or wireless device you wish to connect. When you’re adding a profile from an existing access point or wireless device, authentication type will be selected automatically, and please do not change it.
  • Page 36 profile from an existing access point or wireless device, the encryption type will be selected automatically, and please do not modify it. Input WPA preshared key here. If encryption is not enabled, Preshared Key or you select ‘WEP’ as encryption type, this field will be disabled and grayed out.
  • Page 37 To set 802.1x authentication for the access point. Please click ‘802.1X’ tab: Here are descriptions of every setup item: Item Name Description EAP Method Select 802.1x EAP method from dropdown menu. Please ask the administrator of the access point you wish to connect to select a correct EAP method.
  • Page 38 If you need to use protected authentication credential, check ‘Use protected authentication credential’ box, and click ‘Import’ to load .pac credential file; to remove a loaded credential file, click ‘Remove’. Session You can enable or disable session resumption here. If you Resumption don’t know if you should enable session resumption or not, please ask your 802.1x authentication administrator.
  • Page 39 After you complete all information related to the access point, click ‘OK’ to save the profile, or click ‘cancel’ to cancel adding a new profile. If the profile is created, you will see the information in the Profile List.

  • Page 40: Using Windows Zero Configuration

    ‘Windows Zero Configuration’ (WZC). You can also use WZC to configure your wireless network parameter: 1. Right-click Ralink configuration utility icon and select ‘Use Zero Configuration as Configuration utility’. 2. Right click Windows Zero Configuration icon and select ‘View Available Wireless Networks’.
  • Page 41 3. Click ‘Start’ button (should be located at the bottom-left corner of windows desktop), click ‘Control Panel’, then click ‘Network and Internet Connections’ in Control Panel. 4. Click ‘Network Connections’.
  • Page 42 5. Right-click ‘Wireless Network Connection’ (it may have a number as suffix if you have more than one wireless network card, please make sure you right-click the ‘Ralink 802.11n Wireless LAN Card), then select ‘View Available Wireless Networks’. 6. All wireless access points in proximity will be displayed here. If the access point you want to use is not displayed here, please try to move your computer closer to the access point, or you can click ‘Refresh...
  • Page 43 7. If the access point is protected by encryption, you have to input its security key or passphrase here. It must match the encryption setting on the access point. If the access point you selected does not use encryption, you’ll not be prompted for security key or passphrase.

  • Page 44: Profile Management

    To manage profiles, right-click the Ralink configuration utility icon located at lower-right corner of computer desktop, then click ‘Launch Config Utility’.

  • Page 45: Add A Profile

    2-3-1 Add a profile If you want to click new profile, click ‘Profile’ menu, then click ‘Add’ button. You’ll be prompted to input detailed information of access point, as described in Section 2-2-1-3.

  • Page 46: Edit An Existing Profile

    2-3-2 Edit an existing profile If you have added a profile before, and you wish to change the content of the profile, you can use this function. Please select a profile from the list first, then click ‘Edit’ button. You’ll be provided with the contents of selected profile, and you can edit them.

  • Page 47: Delete An Existing Profile

    2-3-3 Delete an existing profile If you no longer need a profile, you can delete it. Select the profile you wish to delete from the list, and click ‘Delete’ button to delete it.

  • Page 48: Activate A Profile

    2-3-4 Activate a profile When you want to connect to a specific wireless device in the profile list, you can select it and click ‘Activate’ button, to establish connection with When you selected a profile and click ‘Activate’ button to activate the profile, a icon will be displayed in front of the profile to show that the connection is failed;...

  • Page 49: Advanced Settings

    Please follow the following instructions to set advanced wireless settings: 1. Right-click the Ralink configuration utility icon located at lower-right corner of computer desktop and then click ‘Launch Config Utility’. 2. Click ‘Advanced’ menu, and the following settings will appear:...
  • Page 50 Here are descriptions of every setup item: Item Name Description Wireless mode Display the wireless operation mode of the network card. Enable Tx Burst Check this box to accelerate the data transmit rate. It may not work with all wireless access point and wireless devices.
  • Page 51 Enable Radio Measurements: When you’re connecting to CCX-compatible access point, check this box to enable radio measurement function to improve wireless connectivity. Non-Serving Channel Measurements Limit: When you’re connecting to CCX-compatible access point, check this box to enable measurement on unused radio channels to improve wireless connectivity.

  • Page 52: View Network Statistics

    Please follow the following instructions to check network statistics: 1. Right-click the Ralink configuration utility icon located at lower-right corner of computer desktop and then click ‘Launch Config Utility’. 2. Click ‘Statistics’ menu and the statistics of wireless connection will be displayed: All connection-related statistics is displayed here.

  • Page 53: Wmm Setting

    Please follow the following instructions to set advanced wireless settings: 1. Right-click the Ralink configuration utility icon located at lower-right corner of computer desktop and then click ‘Launch Config Utility’. 2. Click ‘WMM’ menu, and the following settings will appear:...
  • Page 54 In ‘WMM Setup Status’ block, current WMM settings will be displayed. And here are descriptions of every setup item: Item Name Description WMM Enable Check this box to enable WMM function. Please click ‘Apply’ button on the right of this check box after you check or uncheck this box, so corresponding settings in this window will be activated or deactivated respectively.

  • Page 55: Wps Configuration

    2-7 WPS Configuration Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) is the latest wireless network technology which makes wireless network setup become very simple. If you have WPS-enabled wireless access point, and you want to establish a secure connection to it, you don’t have to configure the wireless access point and setup data encryption by yourself.

  • Page 56: Wps Setup - Pbc (Push-Button Configuration)

    2-7-1 WPS Setup - PBC (Push-Button Configuration) 1. Right-click the Ralink configuration utility icon located at lower-right corner of computer desktop and then click ‘Launch Config Utility’. 2. Click ‘WPS’ menu, and the following settings will appear. 3. Set ‘Config Mode’ to ‘Enrollee’, and then push the ‘WPS’ button on...
  • Page 57 4. Before you start to establish the wireless connection by using WPS, you can click ‘Rescan’ button to search for WPS-enabled access points near you again, to make sure the WPS function of your access point is activated. All access points with WPS function enabled will be displayed here. Please make sure the access point you wish to connect is displayed.
  • Page 58 6. You can click ‘Detail’ button to see detailed information of connected access point. If you wish to save this connection as a profile, you can click ‘Export Profile’ button, and this connection will be saved. You can find this connection in ‘Profile’ tab in a later time. 7.

  • Page 59: Wps Setup - Pin

    If the wireless access point you wish to connect supports PIN, please follow the following instructions to establish connection to it: 1. Right-click the Ralink configuration utility icon located at lower-right corner of computer desktop and then click ‘Launch Config Utility’.
  • Page 60 4. Click ‘PIN’ button now, and wait for few seconds to one minute. If a wireless access point with correct PIN code is found, you’ll be connected to that access point. 5. You may have to click ‘PIN’ for few more times to try again. If you still can not connect to access point by this way, please make sure the PIN code you provided to access point is correct.

  • Page 61: Radio On/Off

    1. Right-click the Ralink configuration utility icon located at lower-right corner of computer desktop and then click ‘Launch Config Utility’. 2. To switch wireless radio on/off, please click ‘Radio On/Off’ button.

  • Page 62: About

    Please follow the following instructions to see these information: 1. Right-click the Ralink configuration utility icon located at lower-right corner of computer desktop and then click ‘Launch Config Utility’. 2. Click ‘About’ tab, and the following information will appear.

  • Page 63: On-Line Help

    2-10 On-line Help If you need to know the directions of how to use specific function in the utility, please click ‘Help’ button. On-line help documents will be presented in Windows help format. Click this button to view on-line help documents.

  • Page 64: Chapter Iii: Soft-Ap Function

    AP mode, please right-click Ralink utility icon, and select ‘Switch to AP Mode’. After you select ‘Switch to AP Mode’, the Ralink utility icon will be changed to: Which indicated the wireless card is operating in AP mode now. If you want to switch the wireless card back to station mode (become a client of other wireless access points), click ‘Switch to Station Mode’.
  • Page 65 A configuration window will appear after you switch the operation mode to ‘AP’, which asks you to assign an existing network card with internet connection. If your computer has another network card which is connected to Internet, please select it from ‘Name’ dropdown menu, and click ‘Enable ICS’; if your computer does not have another network card with Internet connection, please click ‘Not enable ICS’.
  • Page 66 Here are descriptions of every setup item: Item Name Description SSID Please input the SSID (the name used to identify this wireless access point) here. Up to 32 numerical characters can be accepted here, excepting space. Channel Please select the wireless channel you wish to use. The number of channels available here will vary depends on the setting of ‘Country Region Code’.
  • Page 67 wireless card as SSID. A prefix ‘AP’ will be added automatically. Security Setting Set the security options (wireless data encryption). Please refer to chapter 3-2 ‘Security Settings’ for details. Country Region Please select the country code of the country or Code region you live.
  • Page 68 Beacon(ms) You can define the time interval that a beacon signal should be send. Default value is 100. Do not modify this value unless you know what will be affected. TX Power You can select the wireless output power here. Please select a proper output power setting according to your actual needs.

  • Page 69: Security Setting

    3-2 Security Setting This wireless card supports wireless encryption in AP mode, which will encrypt the data being transferred over the air to enhance data security level. It’s recommended to enable data encryption unless you wish to open your computer (and its internet connection) to the public. When you click ‘Security Setting’...
  • Page 70 Here are descriptions of every setup item: Item Name Description Authentication Please select a wireless authentication type you Type wish to use. Available options are ‘Open’, ‘Shared’, WPA-PSK’, ‘WPA2-PSK’, and ‘WPA-PSK / WPA2-PSK’. If you want to disable wireless data encryption, you must select ‘Open’. Encryption Type Please select an encryption mode.
  • Page 71 characters if you select ASCII. 128 bits encryption is safer then 64 bits, but the data transfer speed will be slightly reduced. Show Password Check this box and the WPA pre-shared key or WEP key you inputted will be shown, but not replaced by asterisk (*).

  • Page 72: Access Control

    3-3 Access Control If you’re not going to open your computer and wireless resources to the public, you can use MAC address filtering function to enforce your access control policy, so only wireless clients with MAC address you defined by this function can be connected to your software access point.
  • Page 73 Here are descriptions of every setup item: Item Name Description Access Policy Select the policy type of your access rule. Disable: Allow any wireless client with proper authentication settings to connect to this access point. Allow All: Only allow wireless clients with MAC address listed here to connect to this access point.

  • Page 74: Connection Table

    3-4 Connection Table If you want to see the list of all wireless clients connected to this access point, please select ‘Mac Table’ tab from the utility.
  • Page 75 Here are descriptions of every field: Item Name Description MAC Address Displays the MAC address of this wireless client. The serial number of this wireless connection. Power Saving Displays the capability of power-saving function Mode of this wireless client. Status Displays additional information of this wireless Connection, like current wireless operating mode and data transfer rate.

  • Page 76: Event Log

    3-5 Event Log This software access point will log all wireless-related activities as a log. Click ‘Event Log’ tab, and the event log will be displayed. You can click ‘Clear’ to remove all entries in the log.

  • Page 77: Statistics

    3-6 Statistics If you want to know detailed information about how your software access point works, click ‘Statistics’ tab, and the event log will be displayed. You can click ‘RESET COUNTERS’ button to reset all counters to zero.

  • Page 78: About

    3-7 About The ‘About’ tab provides you the information about version number of the configuration utility, driver, and other important information about your wireless access point.

  • Page 79: Chapter Iv: Appendix

    CHAPTER IV: Appendix 4-1 Specification Standards: IEEE 802.11b/g/n (1T1R) Interface: USB 2.0 (USB 1.1 Compatible) Frequency Band: 2.4000 ~ 2.4835GHz (Industrial Scientific Medical Band) Data Rate: 11b: 1/2/5.5/11Mbps 11g: 6/9/12/24/36/48/54Mbps 11n (20MHz): MCS0-7 (up to 72Mbps) 11n (40MHz): MCS0-7 (up to 150Mbps) Securities: WEP 64/128, WPA, WPA2 Cisco CCX Support...

  • Page 80: Troubleshooting

    1. Please make sure the wireless network click ‘Launch Config card is inserted into your computer’s Utility’ USB port. If the Ralink configuration utility’s icon is black, the network card is not detected by your computer. 2. Reboot the computer and try again.
  • Page 81 wireless access point connect is hidden (nothing displayed in ‘SSID’ field in ‘Site Survey’ function), you have to input correct SSID of the access point you wish to connect. Please contact the owner of access point to ask for correct SSID. 3.

  • Page 82: Glossary

    4-3 Glossary 1. What is the IEEE 802.11g standard? 802.11g is the new IEEE standard for high-speed wireless LAN communications that provides for up to 54 Mbps data rate in the 2.4 GHz band. 802.11g is quickly becoming the next mainstream wireless LAN technology for the home, office and public networks.
  • Page 83 5. What is Infrastructure? An integrated wireless and wireless and wired LAN is called an Infrastructure configuration. Infrastructure is applicable to enterprise scale for wireless access to central database, or wireless application for mobile workers. 6. What is BSS ID? A specific Ad hoc LAN is called a Basic Service Set (BSS).
  • Page 84 12. What is DSSS? What is FHSS? And what are their differences? Frequency-hopping spread-spectrum (FHSS) uses a narrowband carrier that changes frequency in a pattern that is known to both transmitter and receiver. Properly synchronized, the net effect is to maintain a single logical channel.
  • Page 85 15. What is WMM Power Save? WMM Power Save is a set of features for Wi-Fi networks that increase the efficiency and flexibility of data transmission in order to conserve power. WMM Power Save has been optimized for mobile devices running latency-sensitive applications such as voice, audio, or video, but can benefit any Wi-Fi device.

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