yLez AP-830 Wireless LAN 11Mbps Access Point User Manual Version 1.0 June 2001 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual in any transmitted Copyright statement No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or form or by any means, whether electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior writing of the publisher. Printed in Singapore, June 2001. Page 2 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual 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 the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment gernates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one of the following measures:
Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that - to which the receiver is connected. Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.
FCC Caution: To assure continued compliance, (example use only shielded interface cables when connecting to computer or peripheral devices). Any changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the users authority to operate this equipment. This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not Page 3 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, that may cause undesired operation. interference including Responsible Party:
Synnex Co;LTD. 3797 Spinnaker Ct. Fremount,CA 9453 Jim Nguyen Fax No:510-668-3602 Telephone No:510-656-333 E-mail Address :jimn@synnex.com telecommunication radio equipment and R&TTE Compliance Statement This equipment complies with all the requirements of the DIRECTIVE 1999/5/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL of 9 March 1999 on 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. Safety This equipment is designed with the utmost care for the safety of those who install and use it. However, special attention must be paid Page 4 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual Ireland, to the dangers of electric shock and static electricity when working with electrical equipment. All guidelines of this manual and of the computer manufacturer must therefore be allowed at all times to ensure the safe use of the equipment. EU Countries intended for use The ETSI version of this device is intended for home and office use in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France (with Frequency channel restrictions), Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom. The ETSI version of this device is also authorized for use in EFTA member states Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. EU Countries Not intended for use None. Potential restrictive use France: Only channels 10,11,12, and 13 Page 5 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual Table of Contents Chapter 1. Introduction..........................................................................7 Chapter 2. Installation............................................................................9 Chapter 3. AP Manager Features .........................................................10 3.1 APManager Main Window ........................................................11 3.2 Quick Start to Wireless Networking...........................................13 3.3 Managing WLANs......................................................................15 3.4 Managing Access Point.................................................................17 3.4.1 Network settings Dialog .............................................................19 3.4.2 Searching for Access Points.....................................................20 3.4.3 Manually programming IP addresses......................................21 3.5 Managing Security .....................................................................22 3.5.1 Access Control ...........................................................................24 3.6 Updating Access Point Settings ..................................................25 3.7 IEEE 802.11b WEP Security......................................................26 3.8 More about Cells...........................................................................26 Chapter 4. Glossary ..............................................................................27 Chapter 5. Technical specifications of Series Access Points..................28 Page 6 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual 1. Introduction Thank you for purchasing your 11Mbps Wireless LAN Access Point. This manual will assist you with the installation procedure for PCMCIA 11Mbps PC Card models The package you have received should contain the following items:
User manual Access Point Power adapter Diskette containing APManager Software Note: if anything is missing, please contact your vendor A wireless LAN is normally used in a predefined environment. In such a network, Access Points are mounted at assigned places, each covering its own area in which wireless nodes can operate. These Access Points are connected to a wired network to communicate with each other and with servers and clients on that network. The Access Point can be connected to a 10/100 Mbps Ethernet network through a RJ45 (UTP) connector. Page 7 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual Page 8 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual 2. Installation 1. Mount the Access Point firmly to the wall on the position that is determined during the site survey. A drill model is supplied as a separate sheet with this manual. 2. Make sure the antennas are in a vertical position (if not, rotate over 90 degrees). 3. Insert the power connector. 4. Attach the UTP Ethernet cable to the Access Point. 5. Switch on the Access Point, At the front of the Access Point you will see three LEDs. If all goes well, the middle LED (power) is green and the left most (WLAN) and rightmost (wired network) LEDs flash whenever there is traffic on the respective networks which is at least ten times per second for the wireless LAN because of so-call beacons. The Access Point automatically selects the medium attached. When the cable network is detected, the network LED will turn green. You can reset the Access Points settings to factory defaults by pushing a paperclip in the little hole next to the power switch. The sequence of the ACT is on, and keep holding until the LED is being turned off. When you push a paperclip in the reset hole while the Access Point is switched on, only the lock set by APManager (Par 4.5) is deactivated. Page 9 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual 3. AP Manager Features APManager provides a consistent view of the wireless network. The systems administrator can use APManager to control a large number of Access Points from a single location. The Access Points are remotely updated via the SNMP
(Simple Network Management Protocol). Among the supported features are:
Adding and removing Access Points Restricting access to the Wireless network Managing data protection options such as IEEE 802.11b WEP Assigning radio channels for optimal cell management Grouping the wireless network into multiple WLANs with individual access control and security options Programming an Access Point with a specific IP address Setting the SNMP Write Community string Storing the Access Point configurations on disk Verifying the status of all Access Points in the network Page 10 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual 3.1 APManager Main Window The Main Window of APManager may look like this. Before going into detail it is good to have an idea of what kind of information to expect. You may wish to skip to Quick Start to Wireless Networking. The tree structure on the left of the window shows a list of WLANs (Wireless LANs) and the Access Points that are part of each WLAN. The sample image above shows a single Access Point with hardware address 00:90:4b:08:05:36 that is assigned to the WLAN named Wireless LAN. Page 11 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual The icons indicate the status of the WLANs and their associated Access Points. You can use clicking, double clicking, dragging etc. to view Access Point properties or move an Access Point to another WLAN etc. See Managing WLANs. The name (or ESSID) of the WLAN is used for identifying the WLAN. Client stations can roam freely over Access Points that have the same ESSID. Therefore the security options for all Access Points with the same ESSID are identical. Security options can be managed through the WLAN Security property sheet. See the section on Managing Security. The Access Point property sheet will mainly be used to select a radio channel for each Access Point. See managing Access Points below. Page 12 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual 3.2 Quick Start to Wireless Networking Configuring a Wireless Network for the very first time, involves the following seven steps:
1. Physically connect the Access Points to the Ethernet LAN. Make sure they are switched on. The wireless network will be up and running immediately. If you are content with the default settings of the Access Points, you can stop right here. It is more likely however, that you want to assign different radio frequencies to each Access Points, or impose some restrictions on the use of your wireless network. 2. To be able to manage the Access Points via SNMP, every Access Point needs a unique IP address. If you provide a DHCP or BOOTP service on your LAN (and have sufficient free IP addresses available) this will be taken care of automatically. If not, please read the section Manually programming IP addresses. 3. Fire up APManager and configure the Network Settings to reflect your situation (Use the Edit/Network Settings menu item). See the section Network Settings Dialog for details. 4. Create at least one WLAN (Edit/Insert Wireless LAN) and select the desired security configuration options. 5. Apply the built-in scanning function under (Edit/Search Access Points) to collect information about the Access Points. See the section Searching for Access Points for more information about the scanning function. Drag the new Access Points to the WLAN of your choice. Page 13 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual 6. Select the radio channels of the Access Points according to your cell plan. See also More about Cells. Add descriptive information about each Access Point for later reference. 7. Save the configuration information to disk, and commit the new settings to the Access Points in your network. Using this button. Note that the actual settings of the Access Points will not be affect until the Commit to Network function is executed. If you quit APMAnager, you will be asked to both save and commit. See Updating Access Point Settings. You can open the saved configuration file anytime to make changes to the network. Page 14 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual 3.3 Managing WLANs A WLAN or Wireless Local Area Network consists of a number of Access Points that together provide seamless access to any wireless stations that are in reach of any of the Access Points. Create a WLAN Select the Edit/Insert Wireless LAN menu Item to inset a new WLAN into the list. Type the name (ESSID) of the new WLAN. Destroy a WLAN Rename a WLAN Remove any empty WLAN by pressing Delete or selecting the Edit/Clear menu Item. CLICK ON THE LABEL OF THE WLAN TO CHANGE ITS NAME (ESSID). NOTE THAT CLIENT STATIONS USE THE NAME TO IDENTIFY THE WLAN. You can move an Access Point from one WLAN to another by dragging it with the mouse or by selecting Edit/Cut followed by Edit/Paste. There are two WLANs that have a special meaning in APManager. These are the Unused Access Points and Disabled Access Points special WLANs. Unused APManager does not manage the unused Access Points Access Points within the context of the current document. In other words, these Access Points are ignored. You can view some information Page 15 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual about them (e.g. radio channel). But not modify any of their properties. APManager does not change the settings od these Access Points when File/Commit to Network is selected. This is useful when different people manage different sets of Access Points Access Points that are moved to this folder will be made inaccessible for any client station as soon as they are updated. Disabled Access Points Page 16 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual 3.4 Managing Access Point Individual Access Points are identified by their hardware address (or MAC address). To insert a new Access Point into the APManager document by hand, Its hardware address must be known. You can search for Access Points in your network automatically; see Searching for Access Points. Insert an Access Point Disable an Access Point Select the Edit/Insert Access Point menu item to insert a new Access Point into the selected WLAN. APManager will ask for the hardware address of the Access Point. Move and Access Point to the Disabled special WLAN by pressing Delete or selecting the Edit/Clear menu item. Access Points in this special WLAN will not be accessible for any client station. See Managing WLANs. The Access Points are shown with one of the following icons. On-line Off-line Locked The Access Point is accessible on-line. The Access Point is currently not accessible, or the IP address is not known or incorrect. The Access Point is permanently locked. Its properties cannot be cha nged. Page 17 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual Select the Access Point property sheet to view or modify the settings of the selected Access Point. The main function is to be able to program the Access Points radio channel to match the cell plan. See the section More about Cells for details. Read-only features shown include hardware address, brand and version, and the regulatory domain. Hardware address (MAC address) Brand, type, and version Information. The regulatory domain for which the Access Point has been configured
(factory setting). Note that its is illegal to use Access Point outside the designated domain. See Regulatory Domains for details. The IP address and the hostname of the Access Point. The radio channel number. The permissible channels depends on the Regulatory Domain. Page 18 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual An optional description field for easy reference. 3.4.1 Network settings Dialog Selecting the Edit/Network Settings menu item (or clicking the corresponding toolbar button) pops up the Network Settings dialog. Use this dialog to inform APManager about your network configuration. APManager needs this information to be able to scan for Access Points. Add your network addresses (subnets) by entering the correct information in the Network address, mask and default gateway fields in the dialog, and clicking the Set button for each network/subnet. To view the details of a particular network, click on the Address field in the list. Click the Remove button to delete a network from the list. If your computer on which APManager is running is connected to all your networks directly, you can try Auto Add Local Networks to insert them in the list. Note: If subnetting is used, the network addresses and masks generated by this function may not be correct and should be adjusted manually. Page 19 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual 3.4.2 Searching for Access Points APManager has an easy-to-use Access Point discovery function that simplifies the administration of the Access Points in your network. You normally apply the Search function in one of the following situations:
New Access Points have been added to the network The IP address of one or more Access Points is no longer valid or known, possibly because the DHCP or BOOTP server has assigned it a different IP address. You may be informed of this fact because APManager will report the Access Points off-line. Invoke the Search function by selecting the menu command Edit/Search Access Points, or pressing the associated toolbar button. While APManager is scanning the network, you may continue work on the document. If necessary you can abort a scan by clicking on the Abort Search button. A progress indicator will be shown in the status bar. Page 20 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual 3.4.3 Manually programming IP addresses The preferred method of providing IP addresses for your Access Points is applying a DHCP or BOOTP server in your network. If you do, the Access Points will acquire an IP address automatically from this server. If you do not have a DHCP server it is possible to set the IP address of your Access Points from APMAnager. 1. Physically connect the Access Points and the computer on which you run APManager to be the same Ethernet segment. 2. Make sure there is no DHCP or BOOTP server running. 3. Switch the Access Points on. The network LED should light up in red. 4. Configure the network you want your Access Points to be part of. See Network Settings Dialog for details. 5. Enter the hardware addresses of the Access Points by hand using the Edit/Insert Access Point menu command or clicking the appropriate toolbar button. 6. For each Access Point select Edit/Set IP Address menu command and enter the required IP address manually. As soon as you press apply, the Access Point should acquire the designated IP address. Within a few seconds the network LED on the Access Point should light up green. Note that you may or may not be able to communicate with the Access Point, depending on the validity of the IP address in the current Ethernet segment. Page 21 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual 3.5 Managing Security Maintaining security in a wireless LAN environment is somewhat different from a wired network, because the radio waves do not stop at your office walls. Eavesdropping or unauthorized access from outside your building can be a serious threat. There are three types of actions involved:
Protecting your data while it is transferred from one station to another. Encryption techniques will be necessary in most environments (Data Privacy). Control who can make use of the wireless network (Access Control). Protecting your network configuration against tampering from both inside and outside your organization (Secure Management). Data privacy An Access Point supports two different privacy algorithms:
unencrypted data: standardized IEEE 802.11b WEP (based on a 40 bit shared key). Access Control Secure Management The IEEE 802.11b standard allows for Access Control Rules based on the client stations hardware address, and is fully implemented by the AP. The primary protection against tampering for any SNMP agent is the White Community String (WCS), which functions as a password for network management commands. The WCS is sent over your network in plain text, making it vulnerable to eavesdropping from within your organization. The WCS is never sent over the radio, however. Page 22 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual If you want you can lock your Access Points. After being locked they can no longer be managed via SNMP. Press the pinhole Reset switch on the back-panel of the Access Point to unlock the Access Point. Select the required security options in the WLAN Security property sheet. Edit the Community String Field to modify the SNMP Write Community String for All Access Points in the Selected WLAN. Select the data privacy Algorithm(s) you want to Support in the Access Points. See the section Access Control for details. Use this button to lock the settings of the Access Points (almost) permanently. Page 23 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual 3.5.1 Access Control Within the IEEE 802.11b framework, Access Control is based on the hardware address of the client stations. Per client you can select whether or not it will be allowed access to your wireless network infrastructures. On the WLAN Security tab, check the Use Access Control box to enable Access Control. If this box is not checked, any client station can associate with your network. Click the Access Control Settings button on the WLAN Security tab to pop up the Access Control Dialog. Press Add to enter the client stations you want to grant access. A default rule determines whether unregistered stations can join. You can move clients between Access Granted and Access Denied lists by clicking the >> and
<< buttons or pressing the left and right arrow keys. Press Apply to confirm your changes and close the dialog. Page 24 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual 3.6 Updating Access Point Settings After modifying the open APManager document you should update the Access Points in your network with the new settings. This is done for all Access Points simultaneously by selecting the File/Commit to Network menu command. Or clicking the associated toolbar button. During the update the following Dialog is displayed:
Access Point that is currently being processed. Progress indicator Update result Counters. The Skipped count refers to Access Points in the Unused special WLAN. Specific error messages. Within 10 seconds after the Access Point has been successfully updated it will disconnect all client stations that are joined with it, and restart with the new settings. While restarting it will show red LEDs for a short period of time. Page 25 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual IEEE 802.11b WEP Security Data encryption using a 40 bit shared key Simple authentication of clients based on hardware address. No key distribution mechanism. The shared key (password) must be 3.7 The IEEE 802.11b standard includes a Shared Key data privacy mechanism, called Wired Equivalent Privacy. Features of WEP are:
distributed manually to all personnel and either be remembered or stored somewhere on the hard disk 3.8 More about Cells Each Access Point in the network forms the center of a cell, or BSS. The Cells should overlap slightly to guarantee seamless wireless connectivity everywhere. Nearby Access Points should preferably send and receive on different channels for maximum throughput. Creating a cell plan for your site can be complicated, and is usually done by experts employing special measuring equipment. Furthermore, the radio channels you may use depends on both the capabilities of the PC-Cards you are deploying, as well as the regulations in your area. The following table may be of help:
Page 26 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual 4. Glossary BSS Cell ESS Shared Key Algorithm SNMP WLAN Write Community String WEP Basic Service Set. De facto an alias for Access Point. Area in which the radio signal of an Access Point is sufficiently good to join with it. Extended Service Set. A group of Access Points with identical settings among which a client system can roam. An ESS forms the heart of a WLAN. Encryption scheme for which both sender and receiver need to know the (same) encryption key. Simple Network Management Protocol Wireless LAN The set of Access Points and Wireless Clients that form a local area network. SNMP password Wired Equivalent Protection Data privacy mechanism based on a 40 bit Shared key algorithm, as described in IEEE 802.11b standard. Page 27 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual 5. Technical specifications of Series Access Points Standards supported IEEE 802.11b standard for Wireless LAN
- All major networking standards (including IP, IPX) Environmental
-10 ~ 55 C Operating temperature (ambient):
Humidity:
- Max. 95% Non-condensing Power Specifications DC power supply Input : DC 100-240 50-60 Hz 1A
- Output: 5V DC 1A converter incl. Radio specifications Range:
- per cell indoors approx. 35-100 meters
- per cell outdoors up to 100-300 meters Transmit power:
- Nominal Temp Range: 14 dBm, 12 min.
- Extend Temp Range: 14 dB, 11 dBm min.
- Transmit Power, 2.7 v to 3 v : 14 dBm max, 11 dBm min. Frequency range:
- 2.4-2.4835 GHz, direct sequence spread spectrum Number of Channels:
- Most European countries: 13 Page 28 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual
- US and Canada: 11 (3 non-overlapping)
- France: 4 (1 non-overlapping)
- Japan: 14 Antenna system:
- Dual antenna diversity system; 2dB gain with swivel neck Specific features Supported bit rates:
- 11 Mbps : CCK
- 5.5 Mbps : CCK
- 1 Mbps : DBSK
- 2 Mbps : DQPSK Data encryption :
- 40-bit WEP Encryption Utility Software:
- AP Manager to manage wireless LAN, network connection and client access control Physical Dimensions 136 x 126 x 40 mm, 227 x 126 x 40 mm with antennas extended Page 29 of 30 yLez AP-830 Wireless 11 Mbps Access Point User Manual FCC RF Radiation Exposure Statement This equipment complies with FCC RF radiation exposure limits set forth for an uncontrolled environment. This equipment should be installed and operated with a minimum distance of 20 centimeters between the radiator and your body. Page 30 of 30