Wireless Adapter User Guide | Status | | |
Status
The AirConnect Status application displays status information about the current signal strength and provides access to 3Com WLAN application tools, including Settings, Connection, and Adapter Information utilities.
Start the Status application by clicking the 3Com icon in the tool tray in the lower right-hand corner of the Windows desktop.
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Settings launches the 3Com AirConnect Settings application in another window.
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Connection launches the 3Com AirConnect Connection application in another window. The signal status display is constantly updated to show the status of the wireless signal. The signal is rated as follows: no adapter installed, no connection, no signal, poor signal, fair signal, average signal, good signal, and excellent signal.
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Adapter Information launches the 3Com AirConnect Adapter Information application in another window.
Settings
The Settings application displays information about the current card settings. It also lets you change the configuration of the card without rebooting your system. The application lets you set parameters such as Wireless Service Area and Power Mode settings.
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Wireless LAN Service Area displays the name of the access point with which the wireless PC Card is associated. You can enter a new name in this field or select a name from the drop-down list.
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Power Mode lets you select the power mode to use and specify when power-save options are in effect.
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Continuous access does not use power save polling and disables it.
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Power save polling uses Power Save Polling at all times.
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Switch based upon active power source causes the system to switch the power mode based upon whether the system is using AC or battery power. In this mode, the system use continuous polling mode with an AC power source and power save polling with battery power.
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The Power Save Polling slider lets you balance network performance against power consumption. When the slider is set to lowest power, the adapter checks network traffic less frequently, reducing power consumption used. When the slider is set to highest performance, the adapter tries to maintain constant contact with the network, increasing network performance but consuming correspondingly more power. If you check Let the adapter manage power usage, the card will use the best setting available at any given time. The polling interval is based on whether the system has received data recently. If no data is being received, the polling interval becomes less frequent over time, gradually decreasing power consumption.
Connection
The Connection application allows more detailed checks of card performance than is possible with the AirConnect Status application. Signal strength is displayed over time, which lets you check the performance of the wireless link.
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Signal Strength tracks the signal strength in real time and displays a graph showing the historical trend.
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Link Performance lets you run a ping test between the wireless client and another IP device on the network. When the ping test is run to another wireless device, the round trip ping time can give an idea of what the upper limit is for connection speed.
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Start Test starts a ping test using the information provided in the Test Count and Host Address fields.
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Test Count lets you select the number of pings to perform in testing link performance.
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Host Address lets you enter the IP address or host name of the system to perform the ping test.
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Link Performance displays the results of the ping test specified on this tab. A graph indicating the round trip ping time of each ping and timing statistics are shown.
Adapter Information
The Adapter Information application lets you perform a wide range of adapter configuration and monitoring tasks from a single user interface. The application lets you configure the adapter, monitor performance, diagnose problems, and set up system logging. Each screen has a category list that lets you select which information is to be displayed in the window.
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Adapter provides basic information about the adapter and the current hardware settings
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Signal Quality updates in real time to indicate the current signal strength.
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Adapter Information displays basic adapter information.
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Hardware Properties indicate the hardware resources being used by the PC, and hardware characteristics of the WLAN adapter (Hardware Revision, MAC Address, and Adapter Type).
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Known Access Points shows which access points your adapter can sense and displays basic statistics for each. The display shows the access point addresses, channel, a type/status indicator, noise, and signal. The access point is indicated by a graphic of an access point transmitting on the left hand side of the list.
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Association displays statistics on the performance of the adapter related to adapter to access point associations and roaming.
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Association Statistics include the current number of associations, access point counts, number of fill scans, number of partial scans, and the current access point that the adapter is associated with.
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Roaming Reasons list the reason that the adapter roamed from access point to access point.
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Miscellaneous Statistics lets you see if the adapter is experiencing transmission problems.
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Reset Statistics clears and restarts all statistics counters.
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Transmit and Receive Statistics are concerned with the quality of the wireless connection between the PC Card and the access point.
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Transmit Statistics include the total host packets transmitted, information on non-directed packets, information on directed packets, and the total number of bytes transmitted.
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Receive Statistics include the total host packets received, information on non-directed packets, information on directed packets, and the total number of bytes received.
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The transmit and receive graph displays a histogram of the directed and non-directed traffic at varying data rates.
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Diagnostics panel lets you perform low level tests to determine if the WLAN hardware is functioning.
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Select Function lets you choose a self-test or reset the adapter.
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Execute Function perfors the selection.
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Results shows the results of the diagnostics.
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Options lets you save adapter performance information in a file.
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Enable Logging starts or stops logging to a group of HTML files on the system.
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Log File Path is the current path to store the log files. The field is disabled when logging is not turned on. Use Browse to select a Log File Path.
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View Log Files selects the log file to view in the default browser.