Manuals

Back to Contents Page Introduction: Dell Wireless WLAN Card User Guide     Wireless Networking Overview   WLAN Card Features   Before You Begin If you did not receive your Dell Wireless WLAN Card as part of your computer, consult the Quick Start Guide that came with your Dell Wireless WLAN Card for instructions on installing the hardware and driver software. Wireless Networking Overview With a Dell Wireless WLAN Card in your mobile computer, you can connect to your network or the Internet through an access point, share your Internet connection, share files with other computers that are on the same ad hoc network, or print to a wireless printer. Because the Dell WLAN solution is designed for both home and business use, all of these features can be explored wirelessly in either your home, your office, or when you are traveling. The instructions in this user guide are for using a Dell Wireless WLAN Card that is installed in a computer running either Windows 2000 Service Pack 4, Windows XP Service Pack 1, Windows XP Service Pack 2, or Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. Windows XP users can connect to a basic network or create an ad hoc network using either the Wireless Network Wizard, the Dell Wireless WLAN Card Utility, or the native Windows Wireless Zero Configuration Service. To connect to an advanced network, Windows XP users can use either the Dell Wireless WLAN Card Utility or the native Windows Wireless Zero Configuration Service (advanced). Windows 2000 users can connect to a basic network or create an ad hoc network using the Wireless Network Wizard or the Dell Wireless WLAN Card Utility. To connect to an advanced network, Windows 2000 users can use the Dell Wireless WLAN Card Utility. Types of Wireless Networks The two types of wireless networks are infrastructure networks and ad hoc networks. An infrastructure network is also referred to as an access point (AP) network, and an ad hoc network is also referred to as a peer-to-peer network or a computer-to-computer network. Infrastructure Network An infrastructure network is a network in which there is at least one wireless AP and one wireless client. The wireless client uses the wireless AP to access the resources of a traditional wired network. The wired network can be an organization intranet or the Internet, depending on the placement of the wireless AP. This functionality allows computers on the infrastructure network to access the resources and tools of the wired LAN, including Internet access, e-mail, file sharing, and printer sharing. For the purposes of this user guide, infrastructure networks are classified as either basic networks or advanced networks. A basic infrastructure network is a network that has any of the following security settings: WPA-Personal (PSK) authentication WEP (open or shared authentication) None NOTE: WPA-Personal (PSK) uses either WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK authentication, based on the security protocols available on the AP.

An advanced infrastructure network is typically used only in corporate environments and uses some form of EAP (also called 802.1X) authentication.

Ad Hoc Network

With an ad hoc network, wireless clients communicate directly with each other without the use of a wireless AP. An ad hoc network is the easiest to deploy and is ideal for home use or in small offices. This type of network allows you to share files with other employees, print to a shared printer, and access the Internet through a shared modem. With ad hoc networking, each computer that is connected to the network is able to communicate only with other computers that are connected to the same network and are within range.

Broadcasting AP or Nonbroadcasting AP

A broadcasting AP broadcasts its network name (SSID). A nonbroadcasting AP does not. Most APs in corporate environments are nonbroadcasting, and wireless routers used today in home office/small office environments can be configured to be nonbroadcasting. It is important to know whether the network you want to connect to is broadcasting or nonbroadcasting.

WLAN Card Features

The Dell Wireless WLAN Card has the following features:

• IEEE 802.11a operation (5-GHz frequency band)
• IEEE 802.11g operation (2.4-GHz frequency band)
• Network data rate of up to 54 Mbit/s

New for this release

• Unscheduled Automatic Power Save Delivery support
• CCXv4 support
• IPv6 support
• Smart card authentication support, including authentication during single sign-on
• Dell Wireless WLAN Card Utility for managing your wireless networks, running hardware tests, and getting wireless network-related information
• Wireless Network Connection Settings tool for connecting to advanced infrastructure networks
• Wireless Network Wizard for connecting to basic infrastructure networks and ad hoc networks and creating ad hoc networks

NOTE: Not all Dell Wireless WLAN Card models support IEEE 802.11a (5-GHz) operation.

The Dell Wireless WLAN Card works with any IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ access point or wireless client network adapter.

Before You Begin

See Radio Approvals for information about the following:

• Possible country-specific use restrictions
• Settings to ensure optimal network performance and compliance with local regulatory restrictions on transmit power

Enterprise Users

Obtain the following information from your network administrator:

• Network names (SSID) of the specific wireless networks you can connect to
• Whether the AP is broadcasting or nonbroadcasting
• Network security settings
• For a network account, the domain name, user name, and password
• An IP address and subnet mask (if not using a DHCP server)
• Networks connected to an authentication server, if any

Small Office/Home Office Users

The AP that communicates with the WLAN card has a preassigned network name (SSID). Obtain the SSID and any network security settings information from the AP installer and find out if the AP is broadcasting or nonbroadcasting.

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