Summary of the content on the page No. 1
Summary of the content on the page No. 2
Copyright © 1998 Proxim, Inc., Mountain View, CA. All rights reserved. This manual and the software described in it are copyrighted with all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system or translated into any language in any form by any means without the written permission of Proxim, Incorporated. Trademarks RangeLAN, the RangeLAN logo, RangeLAN2, and Proxim are trademarks of Proxim, Inc. All other trademarks are the prop
Summary of the content on the page No. 3
Warranty Return Policy If you have a problem with your RangeLAN2 product, please call Proxim Technical Support at 650-526-3640. Proxim Technical Support will assist with resolving any technical difficulties you may have with your Proxim product. If your product is found to be defective, you may return the product to Proxim after obtaining an RMA (Return Materials Authorization) number from Proxim Technical Support. The product must be returned in its original packaging. The RMA number should be
Summary of the content on the page No. 4
Contents 1. Introduction .................................................................1 The RangeLAN2 Family ......................................................................... 2 System Requirements .............................................................................. 3 The Product Package ............................................................................... 3 2. Quick Installation ........................................................5 3. Wireless Topologies .....
Summary of the content on the page No. 5
10. Performance Hints ..................................................47 Microwave Ovens .................................................................................. 47 Range...................................................................................................... 47 11. Troubleshooting......................................................49 How to Obtain Help with Your Product Installation ............................ 49 Fixed Node Filtering on RangeLAN2 Access Points ......
Summary of the content on the page No. 6
v
Summary of the content on the page No. 7
1. Introduction Congratulations on your purchase of the RangeLAN2 792x Ethernet Adapter, a member of the RangeLAN2 family. As with all members of the RangeLAN2 family, the Ethernet Adapter is a long range, high performance LAN product that allows Ethernet- ready devices to communicate wirelessly with networked com- puters. The RangeLAN2 792x Ethernet Adapter was designed to be a “plug and play” product. External rotary switches allow you to configure your Ethernet Adapter manually. In many ca
Summary of the content on the page No. 8
The RangeLAN2 Family RangeLAN2 792x Ethernet Adapter is part of a family of high- performance products that provides a complete wireless net- working solution. ❑ RangeLAN2 7100 is a wireless LAN adapter that fits into a standard PC/AT ISA bus slot. ❑ RangeLAN2 7400 is a wireless LAN adapter which fits into a PCMCIA Type II slot on a portable notebook, laptop, or pen-based computer. ❑ RangeLAN2 7510/752x Access Points allow RangeLAN2 products to seamlessly connect to a wired Ethernet network. ❑ R
Summary of the content on the page No. 9
System Requirements To begin using your RangeLAN2 792x Ethernet Adapter, you need the following minimum system requirements: ❑ An Ethernet-ready device such as a computer or Ethernet hub. ❑ At least one other RangeLAN2 product installed on the network. The Product Package Each RangeLAN2 792x Ethernet Adapter comes with: ❑ One (1) RangeLAN2 Ethernet Adapter. ❑ One (1) 1 dBi omnidirectional antenna. ❑ One (1) 12 Volt, 1 Amp power adapter. ❑ One (1) RS-232 serial cable. ❑ One (1) switch setting to
Summary of the content on the page No. 10
Figure 1 RangeLAN2 792x Ethernet Adapter Components 4
Summary of the content on the page No. 11
2. Quick Installation You may follow the quick installation and configuration steps, listed below, if all of the following conditions are true: ❑ You will use all of the software default values. ❑ You intend to use the Ethernet Adapter to connect an Ethernet-ready device to an existing RangeLAN2 network. ❑ The existing network uses a Domain number between 0 and 9. ❑ You do not intend to set Security IDs on your network. ❑ You do not intend to configure the Ethernet Adapter with an IP address. Fo
Summary of the content on the page No. 12
Figure 2 Attachment of the RangeLAN2 Ethernet Adapter Antenna 2. Each RangeLAN2 792x Ethernet Adapter is preconfigured to use Domain 0. If the existing wireless network is not using Domain 0, use the Domain rotary switch on the underside of the RangeLAN2 Ethernet Adapter to set the Domain number to a value between 0 and 9. If the existing network is using a Domain number between 10 and 15, you must set the Domain number within the software configuration menu. See Chapter 5 for information on
Summary of the content on the page No. 13
3. Plug the power supply into the RangeLAN2 Ethernet Adapter DC power jack, located on the rear panel, and plug the power supply into an AC outlet. Upon com- pleting this step, the LED indicator on the top panel of the unit will glow yellow and then turn green, indicating that the unit is ready for operation. 4. Connect one end of a standard 10BASE-T cable to an Ethernet-ready device and the other end to the Ethernet Adapter. If you are connecting the Ethernet Adapter to a cabling hub, you
Summary of the content on the page No. 14
Note: The RangeLAN2 Access Point is shipped with Filter Fixed Nodes set to “Filtering” by default. Unless you are using an Ethernet Access Point (model 7510, 7520, or 7521) with revision 1.4 or greater of the Access Point flash code image installed, this param- eter must be set to “Not Filtering” in order for the Ethernet-ready device attached to the Ethernet Adapter to communicate with the wired network. For more information on this requirement, please refer to Chap- ter 11. 7. Your RangeLA
Summary of the content on the page No. 15
3. Wireless Topologies RangeLAN2 products look and operate similar to Ethernet products. The only difference is that a radio replaces the wire between various nodes. This means that all of your existing applications that operate over Ethernet will work with RangeLAN2 without any special wireless networking software. Wireless products are typically used in several network topolo- gies described in this chapter. Ad Hoc With wireless LANs, one or more computers easily establish an ad hoc network
Summary of the content on the page No. 16
Infrastructure Many companies have an existing Ethernet or Token Ring LAN infrastructure and want to be able to extend that capability to wireless nodes. This is accomplished by attaching an Access Point to the wired LAN. This allows the wireless clients to access the network resources. Figure 4 Single Ethernet AP For larger environments, RangeLAN2 products support the ability to roam from one wireless cell to another while maintain- ing the same network connection. The Access Points establis
Summary of the content on the page No. 17
Figure 5 Roaming on Ethernet LAN - Light Overlap With RangeLAN2’s multi-channel architecture, Access Points can be placed within the same cell area to increase the aggregate throughput supported by the network. In addition, the overlap- ping cells offer redundancy of coverage required in networks where downtime is not tolerable. 11
Summary of the content on the page No. 18
Figure 6 Roaming on Ethernet LAN- Heavy Overlap Each RangeLAN2 Access Point within a roaming network must be configured as a Master on a unique Channel/Subchannel pair, but all Access Points must have the same Domain number and Security ID. In addition, mobile clients, such as the Ethernet 12
Summary of the content on the page No. 19
Adapters or laptops with 7400 PC cards, are set to the same Domain and Security ID as the Access Points. As the RangeLAN2 mobile clients seamlessly switch from cell to cell, the network connectivity is preserved. The user can move freely between the RangeLAN2 Access Points in the network. When the roaming unit leaves the trans- mission range of one RangeLAN2 Access Point, the software automatically polls the other RangeLAN2 Access Point in the same Domain to continue the network connection. No
Summary of the content on the page No. 20
Workgroup Concentrator In small networks, the RangeLAN2 Ethernet Adapter may be used as a workgroup concentrator to connect up to 8 Ethernet devices to a RangeLAN2 wireless network. However, the Ethernet Adapter can NOT support more than 8 devices on its Ethernet port, as shown in Figure 7. The Ethernet Adapter filters at a rate less than full Ethernet speed. This will not pose a problem for a small network with a minimal amount of Ethernet traffic; however, if your network has a significant
