;****************************************************************************** ;Help.txt - help file ; ;Update history: ;01/10/94 MLO: created. ;01/10/94 JLE: added 1st draft of help text ;01/23/94 JLE: updated for personal netware ;02/11/94 JLE: added help for utilities ;02/16/94 JLE: security id left blank sets to default ;02/24/94 JLE: added directed site survey info ;03/02/94 JLE: help now matches Rev A of the manual ;06/17/94 MLO: updated help to reflect v1.9 changes ;06/20/94 JLE: added snoop, master search ;07/28/94 JLE: changed button names for Power Management, reworded for roaming ;11/03/94 JLE: rev'd for 2.3 changes ;04/18/95 MLO: updated for build utility compatibility ;06/22/95 MLO: merged ISA, PCMCIA, OEM helps ;07/07/95 JLE: rev'd for 3.02 ;09/13/95 JLE: rev'd for 3.05 ;09/18/95 JLE: changed descriptions on 3 new params ;09/19/95 JLE: made marketing's changes ;10/7/96 JLE: rev'd for V3.19 ;11/22/96 JLE: rev'd for V3.20 ;Format: ;Semicolon in column 1 indicates comment ;HELPXXXX defines beginning of help section and terminates prior section ;Text should be limited to approximately 70 characters across. ;****************************************************************************** ; ;Choose a Network Operating System HELPNETW Choose the driver type you will use with RangeLAN2. This will depend on the Network OS. For example, NetWare environments usually use an ODI driver. Windows for Workgroups and LANtastic clients usually use an NDIS driver. TCP/IP packages often allow use of either an ODI or NDIS driver. You also need to indicate if the RangeLAN2 will be communicating with only other RangeLAN2/ISA or RangeLAN2/PCMCIA cards (i.e., Peer-to-Peer) or if they will be communicating through a RangeLAN2/Access Point. If you are installing a RangeLAN2/ISA card directly in a NetWare file server, select NetWare Server. Choose to either have the RangeLAN2 card auto-detected by the RL2Setup program or specify that you are using an ISA card or a PCMCIA card. The auto-detection feature looks for the presence of Card and Socket Services to determine that you are using RangeLAN2/PCMCIA. If you do not have Card and Socket Services, do not attempt to auto-detect the RangeLAN2/PCMCIA card. Instead, manually choose PCMCIA. ; ;Main menu HELPMAIN You may use either a mouse or keyboard to make selections in RL2Setup. If using a keyboard, press followed by the highlighted letter to make a selection. Additionally, pressing will invoke the currently highlighted button. Pressing the key will cycle through the buttons displayed. Pressing the key takes you back to the previous menu without saving changes. For a first time installation, you should proceed through the 5 buttons in this order: , , . After the software has been installed and configured, choose the button. After the initial installation, you may choose the button to test the hardware and run the utilities without reconfiguring any of your previous selections. allows you to select a Network Operating System and specify the network adapter type. You may skip this button if you are satisfied with the selection you already made. copies the utility files and prompts for copying the RangeLAN2 driver files. allows you to change the parameters for this computer. It will allow you to change hardware, driver, and security settings. includes a diagnostic tool to test the hardware settings you chose, a site survey tool, a search for masters utility, a snoop feature, and a tool to set more stringent security. ; ;Configuration with PCMCIA HELPCPCM RangeLAN2 requires one machine on the network be set up as the Master station. This machine will set the spread spectrum frequency hopping sequence the other machines will follow. When there is no Master station present, a station configured as an Alternate Master station will become the Master for that session. In most cases, you will use the default Station_Type setting. However, you may have reasons to change the default setting. Here are some criteria to use in determining how to set Station_Type: 1. In every wireless RangeLAN2 cell, at most one station must act as the Master Station. If you need to set up additional Master stations, they should be configured as Alternate Master stations so that there is only one true Master station on the network. 2. The Master station must be within range of the other wireless stations on the network. 3. In general, the RangeLAN2/Access Points are configured as Master stations. This configuration allows for roaming capabilities of the clients. 4. If there is no RangeLAN2/Access Point on the network, the RangeLAN2/ISA card in the server of a client-server network is usually configured as Master. In a peer-to-peer network, one Master and at least one Alternate Master should be configured. The Alternate Master will take over Master functions in the event that the Master station is unavailable. Without a RangeLAN2/Access Point, the clients will be unable to perform roaming capabilities. 5. You will achieve better performance by configuring the fewest number of machines possible as Masters or Alternate Masters. Set the Port Address to an address you believe to be available in your computer. The default port address is 270. Other options are 100, 120, 140, 218, 280, 290, 298, 2A0, 2A8, 2E0, 300, 310, 358, 360, and 368. Set the IRQ to an interrupt level you believe to be available in your computer. The default IRQ is 5. Other options are 3, 4, 7, 10, 11, 12 and 15. To conserve battery life, the RangeLAN2 card has an inactivity doze mode. To activate it, check the Power Management box. Then you can choose the amount of time before Idle Shutdown (when the card has not sent or received data over the network) after which the doze mode is automatically engaged. Once the card is dozing, it can be awakened by a Master station attempting to send data to it. If this machine is acting as the Master station, setting the Idle Shutdown time will have no effect. The time before sleeping is calculated by adding the Idle Shutdown minutes and seconds and rounding to the nearest second. The button sets all the parameters to default settings. The button is used to change advanced features of the driver. You do not need to choose this button. ; ;Configuration with ISA HELPCISA RangeLAN2 requires one machine on the network be set up as the Master station. This machine will set the spread spectrum frequency hopping sequence the other machines will follow. When there is no Master station present, a station configured as an Alternate Master station will become the Master for that session. In most cases, you will use the default Station_Type setting. However, you may have reasons to change the default setting. Here are some criteria to use in determining how to set Station_Type: 1. In every wireless RangeLAN2 cell, at most one station must act as the Master Station. If you need to set up additional Master stations, they should be configured as Alternate Master stations so that there is only one true Master station on the network. 2. The Master station must be within range of the other wireless stations on the network. 3. The Master station should not be a station which will be moved or turned off like a user's personal machine. Since the machine containing the RangeLAN2/ISA card is likely a non-mobile machine, it may be a good candidate to be the Master. 4. In general, the RangeLAN2/Access Points are configured as Master stations. This configuration allows for roaming capabilities of the clients. 5. If there is no RangeLAN2/Access Point on the network, the RangeLAN2/ISA card in the server of a client-server network is usually configured as Master. In a peer-to-peer network, one Master and at least one Alternate Master should be configured. The Alternate Master will take over Master functions in the event that the Master station is unavailable. Without a RangeLAN2/Access Point, the clients will be unable to perform roaming capabilities. 6. You will achieve better performance by configuring the fewest number of machines possible as Masters or Alternate Masters. Set the Port Address to an address you believe to be available in your computer. You will need to set the dip switch on the card to match the selection you choose here. The default port address is 270. Other options are 100, 120, 140, 218, 280, 290, 298, 2A0, 2A8, 2E0, 300, 310, 358, 360, and 368. Set the IRQ to an interrupt level you believe to be available in your computer. The default IRQ is 15. Other options are 3, 4, 7, 10, 11, 12 and 15. The button sets all the parameters to default settings. The button is used to change advanced features of the driver. You do not need to choose this button. If you are configuring a RangeLAN2/ISA in a NetWare file server, all settings will be stored in a NET.CFG file in the root directory on the RangeLAN2/ISA diskette. You may wish to refer to these settings later when loading the RangeLAN2/ISA NetWare server driver. ; ;Configure with OEM HELPCOEM RangeLAN2 requires one machine on the network be set up as the Master station. This machine will set the spread spectrum frequency hopping sequence the other machines will follow. When there is no Master station present, a station configured as an Alternate Master station will become the Master for that session. In most cases, you will use the default Station_Type setting. However, you may have reasons to change the default setting. Here are some criteria to use in determining how to set Station_Type: 1. In every wireless RangeLAN2 cell, at most one station must act as the Master Station. If you need to set up additional Master stations, they should be configured as Alternate Master stations so that there is only one true Master station on the network. 2. The Master station must be within range of the other wireless stations on the network. 3. In general, the RangeLAN2/Access Points are configured as Master stations. This configuration allows for roaming capabilities of the clients. 4. If there is no RangeLAN2/Access Point on the network, the RangeLAN2/ISA card in the server of a client-server network is usually configured as Master. In a peer-to-peer network, one Master and at least one Alternate Master should be configured. The Alternate Master will take over Master functions in the event that the Master station is unavailable. Without a RangeLAN2/Access Point, the clients will be unable to perform roaming capabilities. 5. You will achieve better performance by configuring the fewest number of machines possible as Masters or Alternate Masters. Set the Port Address to an address you believe to be available in your computer. The default port address is 270. Other options are 100, 120, 140, 218, 280, 290, 298, 2A0, 2A8, 2E0, 300, 310, 358, 360, and 368. Set the IRQ to an interrupt level you believe to be available in your computer. The default IRQ is 15. Other options are 3, 4, 7, 10, 11, 12 and 15. The button sets all the parameters to default settings. The button is used to change advanced features of the driver. You do not need to choose this button. ; ;Advanced configuration with PCMCIA HELPAPCM Master_Name is an optional parameter of up to 11 characters which specifies an alphanumeric name to simplify the identification of each acting Master in your network. You may not have spaces in the name. Master_Name only applies to machines configured as Master or Alternate Master. Each Master can select one of 15 Channels to establish communications with Stations. Each Channel number sets a unique frequency hopping sequence allowing for multiple subnetworks with higher data rate transmission capability in the same air space. You may think of the Channel as a pipe. In order to communicate, radios must be on the same Channel and there must be one (and only one) Master that provides the timing for that Channel. There are 15 independent Channels designated 1 through 15 with 1 being the default setting. This means that there are 15 different sequences of frequency hops. Each Channel is at a different frequency at a different time. For networks with multiple Masters (like in a roaming environment), set each Master to a different channel for optimum performance. All Stations will use the same channel as the Master they are synchronized to. The Subchannel is a software code that is appended to each radio packet. It does not affect the frequency hopping sequence like a Channel does. Use a Subchannel if you need more than 15 Masters in the same coverage area and, therefore, all the Channels are used. For example, you can use Channel 1, Subchannel 1 for Network A and Channel 1, Subchannel 2 for Network B. The two networks will not communicate with one another. They are, however, still sharing the 1.6 Mbps pipe since they are both using Channel 1. The Subchannels are designated 1 through 15 with 1 being the default setting. In order to establish communications, all Station_types require the same Domain number. Radios on different Domains cannot communicate with each other. The Domain is a software filter which does not affect the actual radio frequency or the frequency hop sequence. You may want to set everyone on your network to the same Domain. For larger wireless networks, use the Domain to establish roaming subnetworks throughout your building. For example, the Engineering Department may use Domain 2 and the Sales Department may use Domain 5. Then engineers can only roam within the geographical area mapped out by RangeLAN2/Access Points with a Domain setting of 2. The Domain is a number between 0 and 15 with 0 being the default setting. The MAC_Optimize parameter helps improve throughput for small networks. If you have 8 or fewer wireless nodes communicating with a RangeLAN2/Access Point at the same time, set this parameter to Light. (You can have more than 8 nodes synchronized to a RangeLAN2/Access Point but only 8 or fewer communicating at the same time for the Light parameter setting.) In networks with more than 8 concurrent wireless users, set the parameter to Normal. The MAC_Optimize parameter is only set on Masters or Alternate Masters when they are the acting Master. The Roam_Config parameter allows you to determine how quickly stations will roam from one RangeLAN2/Access Point to another. In areas with many RangeLAN2/Access Points that provide heavy overlapping coverage, set this paramter to Fast to maintain high throughput for each of the wireless nodes. In most networks, set the Roam_Config parameter to Normal. Wireless node throughput will not change noticeably, and an overabundance of RangeLAN2/Access Points is not required. If the wireless coverage area provided by RangeLAN2/Access Points is sparse, set the Roam_Config parameter to Slow. Wireless node will not roam under they are nearly out of range of the RangeLAN2/Access Point to which they are synchronized, and throughput will change as units' range changes. If the Peer_to_Peer parameter box is checked, wireless clients can communicate with one another. If unchecked, the wireless nodes will only communicate with the Master unit. This results in a shorter synchronization time between the wireless clients and the Master unit. There are programs whose timings are inappropriate for wireless networking, resulting in the wireless nodes losing the network connection unless this parameter box is unchecked. RangeLAN2/PCMCIA supports computers with either Card and Socket Services V2.1 or an Intel 82365SL PCMCIA controller chip. By default, the driver is set to work with Card and Socket Services. However, if this software is not detected, the driver will next look for an Intel 82365SL chip. If you want the driver to initialize this chip before looking for Card and Socket Services, select this check box. Memory Address selects the PCMCIA CIS memory space. The Socket refers to the PCMCIA socket in which you have the RangeLAN2 card. You may choose sockets A, B, C, or D. The button sets all the parameters to default settings. ; ;Advanced configuration with ISA HELPAISA Master_Name is an optional parameter of up to 11 characters which specifies an alphanumeric name to simplify the identification of each acting Master in your network. You may not have spaces in the name. Master_Name only applies to machines configured as Master or Alternate Master. Each Master can select one of 15 Channels to establish communications with Stations. Each Channel number sets a unique frequency hopping sequence allowing for multiple subnetworks with higher data rate transmission capability in the same air space. You may think of the Channel as a pipe. In order to communicate, radios must be on the same Channel and there must be one (and only one) Master that provides the timing for that Channel. There are 15 independent Channels designated 1 through 15 with 1 being the default setting. This means that there are 15 different sequences of frequency hops. Each Channel is at a different frequency at a different time. For networks with multiple Masters (like in a roaming environment), set each Master to a different channel for optimum performance. All Stations will use the same channel as the Master they are synchronized to. The Subchannel is a software code that is appended to each radio packet. It does not affect the frequency hopping sequence like a Channel does. Use a Subchannel if you need more than 15 Masters in the same coverage area and, therefore, all the Channels are used. For example, you can use Channel 1, Subchannel 1 for Network A and Channel 1, Subchannel 2 for Network B. The two networks will not communicate with one another. They are, however, still sharing the 1.6 Mbps pipe since they are both using Channel 1. The Subchannels are designated 1 through 15 with 1 being the default setting. In order to establish communications, all Station_types require the same Domain number. Radios on different Domains cannot communicate with each other. The Domain is a software filter which does not affect the actual radio frequency or the frequency hop sequence. You may want to set everyone on your network to the same Domain. For larger wireless networks, use the Domain to establish roaming subnetworks throughout your building. For example, the Engineering Department may use Domain 2 and the Sales Department may use Domain 5. Then engineers can only roam within the geographical area mapped out by RangeLAN2/Access Points with a Domain setting of 2. The Domain is a number between 0 and 15 with 0 being the default setting. The MAC_Optimize parameter helps improve throughput for small networks. If you have 8 or fewer wireless nodes communicating with a RangeLAN2/Access Point at the same time, set this parameter to Light. (You can have more than 8 nodes synchronized to a RangeLAN2/Access Point but only 8 or fewer communicating at the same time for the Light parameter setting.) In networks with more than 8 concurrent wireless users, set the parameter to Normal. The MAC_Optimize parameter is only set on Masters or Alternate Masters when they are the acting Master. The Roam_Config parameter allows you to determine how quickly stations will roam from one RangeLAN2/Access Point to another. In areas with many RangeLAN2/Access Points that provide heavy overlapping coverage, set this paramter to Fast to maintain high throughput for each of the wireless nodes. In most networks, set the Roam_Config parameter to Normal. Wireless node throughput will not change noticeably, and an overabundance of RangeLAN2/Access Points is not required. If the wireless coverage area provided by RangeLAN2/Access Points is sparse, set the Roam_Config parameter to Slow. Wireless node will not roam under they are nearly out of range of the RangeLAN2/Access Point to which they are synchronized, and throughput will change as units' range changes. If the Peer_to_Peer parameter box is checked, wireless clients can communicate with one another. If unchecked, the wireless nodes will only communicate with the Master unit. This results in a shorter synchronization time between the wireless clients and the Master unit. There are programs whose timings are inappropriate for wireless networking, resulting in the wireless nodes losing the network connection unless this parameter box is unchecked. The button sets all the parameters to default settings. ; ;Advanced configuration with OEM HELPAOEM Master_Name is an optional parameter of up to 11 characters which specifies an alphanumeric name to simplify the identification of each acting Master in your network. You may not have spaces in the name. Master_Name only applies to machines configured as Master or Alternate Master. Each Master can select one of 15 Channels to establish communications with Stations. Each Channel number sets a unique frequency hopping sequence allowing for multiple subnetworks with higher data rate transmission capability in the same air space. You may think of the Channel as a pipe. In order to communicate, radios must be on the same Channel and there must be one (and only one) Master that provides the timing for that Channel. There are 15 independent Channels designated 1 through 15 with 1 being the default setting. This means that there are 15 different sequences of frequency hops. Each Channel is at a different frequency at a different time. For networks with multiple Masters (like in a roaming environment), set each Master to a different channel for optimum performance. All Stations will use the same channel as the Master they are synchronized to. The Subchannel is a software code that is appended to each radio packet. It does not affect the frequency hopping sequence like a Channel does. Use a Subchannel if you need more than 15 Masters in the same coverage area and, therefore, all the Channels are used. For example, you can use Channel 1, Subchannel 1 for Network A and Channel 1, Subchannel 2 for Network B. The two networks will not communicate with one another. They are, however, still sharing the 1.6 Mbps pipe since they are both using Channel 1. The Subchannels are designated 1 through 15 with 1 being the default setting. In order to establish communications, all Station_types require the same Domain number. Radios on different Domains cannot communicate with each other. The Domain is a software filter which does not affect the actual radio frequency or the frequency hop sequence. You may want to set everyone on your network to the same Domain. For larger wireless networks, use the Domain to establish roaming subnetworks throughout your building. For example, the Engineering Department may use Domain 2 and the Sales Department may use Domain 5. Then engineers can only roam within the geographical area mapped out by RangeLAN2/Access Points with a Domain setting of 2. The Domain is a number between 0 and 15 with 0 being the default setting. The MAC_Optimize parameter helps improve throughput for small networks. If you have 8 or fewer wireless nodes communicating with a RangeLAN2/Access Point at the same time, set this parameter to Light. (You can have more than 8 nodes synchronized to a RangeLAN2/Access Point but only 8 or fewer communicating at the same time for the Light parameter setting.) In networks with more than 8 concurrent wireless users, set the parameter to Normal. The MAC_Optimize parameter is only set on Masters or Alternate Masters when they are the acting Master. The Roam_Config parameter allows you to determine how quickly stations will roam from one RangeLAN2/Access Point to another. In areas with many RangeLAN2/Access Points that provide heavy overlapping coverage, set this paramter to Fast to maintain high throughput for each of the wireless nodes. In most networks, set the Roam_Config parameter to Normal. Wireless node throughput will not change noticeably, and an overabundance of RangeLAN2/Access Points is not required. If the wireless coverage area provided by RangeLAN2/Access Points is sparse, set the Roam_Config parameter to Slow. Wireless node will not roam under they are nearly out of range of the RangeLAN2/Access Point to which they are synchronized, and throughput will change as units' range changes. If the Peer_to_Peer parameter box is checked, wireless clients can communicate with one another. If unchecked, the wireless nodes will only communicate with the Master unit. This results in a shorter synchronization time between the wireless clients and the Master unit. There are programs whose timings are inappropriate for wireless networking, resulting in the wireless nodes losing the network connection unless this parameter box is unchecked. The button sets all the parameters to default settings. ; ;Utility Help HELPUTIL When you choose the button, the software searches for the RangeLAN2 hardware. If the card is found, you will be able to continue to use the , , , and buttons. If the card is not found, you will see an error message. Performing a site survey may help you decide where to place your Master station. Choose the button to read the Link Quality and Signal Strengths of the other RangeLAN2 products on the network. If you use the Roaming feature of the RangeLAN2 family, you may be interested in knowing which Master stations are within range. Master stations within range are displayed along with their Domain, Channel, Subchannel, and Master_name. You will only be able to roam to RangeLAN2/Access Points set as Master stations that are on the same domain as the RangeLAN2 card. If you want to see the activity in the frequency band in which RangeLAN2 operates, you may want to "snoop" this band. As an added security measure, RangeLAN2 allows you to set a security ID for each RangeLAN2 card installed on a network. ALL CARDS MUST HAVE MATCHING SECURITY IDS IN ORDER TO COMMUNICATE. To change the Security ID back to default settings, leave the Security ID field blank and choose . A Technical Support Representative may ask for information from the button. Choose to leave this screen. ; ;Site Survey Help HELPSITE There are four columns of data: Node address lists the RangeLAN2 card's node address/serial number. The Master station is always listed first with its node address and Master_name unless this unit is the acting Master. The higher the Link Quality number from a particular node, the greater the link. A Link Quality number of 0 indicates that the node is no longer responding at all. This is the most important parameter to watch to verify that you will be able to maintain a reliable wireless connection. An asterisk in the Activity colum indicates that the last packet sent was answered. The lack of an asterisk means the receiving unit did not respond to the packet. Received signal strength indicates how strong a signal was received from a particular node. If you check the Roaming Enabled box, you can roam about your environment and as you leave the range of one Master, the site survey will continue as you seamlessly re-synchronize to another Master. You can sort the listed units by node address or by order of arrival of the packets. Additionally, the bottom of the screen shows how many units responded to this site survey, meaning how many are within range and on the same Domain and Security ID as this unit. You may check the link between this machine and other displayed nodes by a click of the mouse on the node address, or by tabbing until the node address is highlighted and press the . If you choose to check the link with another unit, it may decrease the performance of that unit. ;Directed Site Survey Help HELPSDIR For this node, you may vary the size of the packets that are being transmitted, and then watch the changes in packets per second, bytes per second, and received signal strength. The Transmit Packet Latency shows how long it took before a packet was actually transmitted from the RangeLAN2. The Elapsed Time indicates how long the Directed Link has been running. The Average values represent the average of Packets per Second, Bytes per Second, and Latency in milliseconds during the time listed in Elapsed Seconds. ;Site Survey Masters List Help HELPMSTR All Master stations within range of the surveying machine are displayed. Choose to search all Domains or only one specific Domain. To synchronize to a Master, select it by a click of the mouse or tab until the Master is highlighted. Then press the button to reconfigure this unit to synchronize to that Master. The configuration file will be also updated. Press the button to check the quality of the link to that Master. ;Site Survey Snoop Help HELPSNOP Both the peak and average activity levels on the different frequencies are displayed. In addition, a mark is left indicating the highest level of activity on a given frequency. If there are no other RangeLAN2 products running in an area, bars indicate potential sources of interference. If there are other RangeLAN2 products running in the area, you will see the frequency hops.