Message-Id: <200303290316.h2T3Gm4X054609@mail.cruzio.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2003 22:16:15 est5edt
Sender: os2-wireless_users-owner <os2-wireless_users-owner@2rosenthals.com>
Reply-To: os2-wireless_users@2rosenthals.com
From:  "Neil Waldhauer" <os2-wireless_users@2rosenthals.com>
To:  os2-wireless_users@2rosenthals.com
Subject: OS/2 Wireless Users List: Beginner's questions

I need some advice.

I went to the store, and tried out a new wireless card, the AmbiCom WL1100
B-CF, a PCCard 802.11B NIC. Card services recoginizes the card, but the device
driver fails to find the device.

But had it found the device, I found I was still kind of lost on configuration.
There are a bunch of parameters from the NIF file, and they sound important.
How do I know what values to use to set them?


Station Name
Network Name (SSID)
Operating Mode of the Card
Create a Network if none found
Channel Number
RTS/CTS Threshold
Fragmentation Threshold
Access Point density
Encryption
Athentication Type (sic)
TX Key Number
Key  1
Key  2
Key  3
Key  4
Activate Radio on system bootup
Debug verbosity level

The whole NIF file is below:

[AMBPLX]
Type = NDIS
Title =  AmbiCom WL1100B-PCI Card
Version = 1.0
DriverName = AMBPLX$
Xports = NETBEUI, LANDD
CopyFile = wl1100B.msg

[FILE]
Name = wl1100b.os2
Path = IBMCOM\MACS

[NETADDRESS]
Display = "MAC Address"
Type = HexString
StrLength = 12
;Default =
Range = 000000000000-FFFFFFFFFFFF
Optional = YES
Editable = YES
Help = "You can set the MAC Address for the WLAN module with this parameter.
This can be useful if your Access Point employs Access Control Lists through
MAC Addresses."

[NODE_ID]
Display = "Station Name"
Type = String
StrLength = 16
Optional = YES
Editable = YES
Help = "You can set a station name with this parameter."

[DESIRED_SSID]
Display = "Network Name (SSID)"
Type = String
StrLength = 32
Default = "MIB"
Optional = YES
Editable = YES
Help= "You need to provide the Service Set ID of your Wireless LAN. If you want
to log on any available WLAN, set this parameter to ANY."

[STA_MODE]
Display = "Operating Mode of the Card"
Type = String
StrLength = 6
Set = "BSS","ADHOC"
Default = "BSS"
Optional = YES
Editable = YES
Help = "Set this parameter to 'ADHOC' if you are using a Wireless LAN without a
base station. For Operation with a base station set the parameter to 'BSS'."

[CREATE_IBSS]
Display = "Create a Network if none found"
Type = String
StrLength = 4
Set = "yes","no"
Default = "NO"
Optional = YES
Editable = YES
Help= "Set this parameter to 'YES' if you are using a Wireless LAN without a
base station and want to create the network cell with this card, if it doesn't
exist. This parameter has no effect if you are using a network with a base
station."

[CHANNELNUMBER]
Display = "Channel Number"
Type = Decimal
Range = 0-13
step = 1
Optional = YES
Editable = YES
Help="This parameter defines the channel which will be used for an ADHOC
network."

[RTS_THRH]
Display = "RTS/CTS Threshold"
Type = Decimal
Range = 0-2347
step = 1
Optional = YES
Editable = YES
Help="This is the threshold for RTS/CTS Medium reservation. Packets with
lengths higher than RTS_THRH will use this protocol. Set this value if you
experience slow performance or in environments with many WLAN devices."

[FRAG_THRH]
Display = "Fragmentation Threshold"
Type = Decimal
Range = 256-2346
step = 2
Optional = YES
Editable = YES
Help="Packets with lengths above this value will be transmitted in fragments."

[SYSTEM_SCALE]
Display = "Access Point density"
Type = String
StrLength = 8
Set = "WIDE","MEDIUM","NARROW"
Optional = YES
Editable = YES
Help="Enter the density of Access Points here."

[WEP]
Display = "Encryption"
Type = String
StrLength = 4
Set = "DISABLED","WEP64","WEP128"
Default = "DISABLED"
Optional = YES
Editable = YES
Help="Set this value to 'YES' if you are using encryption. TX_KEY and at least
one key must be specified, too."

[AUTH_TYPE]
Display = "Athentication Type"
Type = String
StrLength = 12
Set = "OPEN_SYSTEM","SHARED_KEY"
Default ="OPEN_SYSTEM"
Optional = YES
Editable = YES
Help = "This parameter specifies the authentication method for encrypted
communication. It must be set to the same type that is used by the Access
Point."

[TX_KEY]
Display = "TX Key Number"
Type = Decimal
Range = 1-4
Optional = YES
Editable = YES
Help="Number of the encryption key which will be used for transmissions."

[KEY_1]
Display = "Key  1"
Type = String
StrLength = 28
Optional = YES
Editable = YES
Help = "The key must be 5 printable characters for WEP or 13 printable
characters for 128 Bit RC4. You may also specify the key in 10 or 26 hex digits
with a '0x' as prefix."

[KEY_2]
Display = "Key 2"
Type = String
StrLength = 28
Optional = YES
Editable = YES
Help = "The key must be 5 printable characters for WEP or 13 printable
characters for 128 Bit RC4. You may also specify the key in 10 or 26 hex digits
with a '0x' as prefix."

[KEY_3]
Display = "Key 3"
Type = String
StrLength = 28
Optional = YES
Editable = YES
Help = "The key must be 5 printable characters for WEP or 13 printable
characters for 128 Bit RC4. You may also specify the key in 10 or 26 hex digits
with a '0x' as prefix."

[KEY_4]
Display = "Key 4"
Type = String
StrLength = 28
Optional = YES
Editable = YES
Help = "The key must be 5 printable characters for WEP or 13 printable
characters for 128 Bit RC4. You may also specify the key in 10 or 26 hex digits
with a '0x' as prefix."

[RADIO_ON]
Display = "Activate Radio on system bootup"
Type = String
StrLength = 4
Set = "yes","no"
Default = "YES"
Optional = YES
Editable = YES
Help = "If you don't want to enable the radio on bootup, set the parameter to
'no'. The radio can be enabled using the WifiStat tool."

[DEBUG_LEVEL]
Display = "Debug verbosity level"
Type = Hexadecimal
Range = 0-FFFF
step = 1
Default = FFDF
Optional = YES
Editable = YES
Thanks for looking,
Neil
-- 
Neil Waldhauer, neil@blondeguy.com

There are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't.
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