Information Technology Services - Computing, Networking and Storage
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Wireless Access to the USC Network - Windows 2000

You can gain wireless access to the USC Network from most outdoor common areas, libraries, auditoriums, on campus eateries and the University Village Food Court. See a list of wireless locations.

What You'll Need before Connecting
To gain wireless access to the USC Network, you'll need the following:

  • USC username and password
  • An Enterasys Wireless PCMCIA card with its current drivers installed in your computer.
  • A computer with access to the USC Network to register for a wireless account
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0, with Service Pack 4 or later service pack

If Your Computer Doesn't Meet these Requirements
If your computer does not meet these requirements, you may still gain wireless access to the USC Network, however the instructions on this web page may not work with your computer. If you have a problem with an unsupported wireless card, contact the manufacturer or reseller of your equipment and ask for assistance in connecting your computer to a WEP IEEE 802.11 TCP/IP network using DHCP. ITS does not support configuration of any third party PCMCIA cards. See the USC Wireless Support web page for details.

Installing the Enterasys Wireless Ethernet Adapter
Installing the RoamAbout Client Utility
Determining Your MAC Address/Physical Address
Registering Your MAC Address/Physical Address
Configuring the Local Area Connection
Configuring the Client Software
VPN Download and Configuration
Getting Help

Installing the Enterasys Wireless Ethernet Adapter
To gain wireless access to the USC Network, you must first install the Enterasys Wireless Ethernet adapter:

  1. Insert the RoamAbout PC Card in to the PCMCIA slot of your computer.
    Result: The Found New Hardware window appears.
  2. Right-click the My Network Places icon located on the desktop and select Properties from the drop-down menu.
    Result: The Network and Dial-up Connections window appears.
  3. Right-click the Local Area Connection icon and select Properties from the drop-down menu.
    Result: The Local Area Connection Properties window appears.
  4. If you have more than one adapter card installed, select the Local Area Connection icon that displays the RoamAbout 802.11 when you move the mouse cursor over it.
  5. Click the Configure button.
    Result: The Cabletron RoamAbout 802.11 PC Card Properties window appears.
  6. Select the Driver tab and click on the Update Driver... button.
    Result: The Upgrade Device Driver Wizard appears.
  7. Click the Next button.
    Result: The Install Hardware Device Drivers window appears.
  8. Click Display a list of the known drivers for this device so that I can choose a specific driver then click the Next button.
  9. In the Select Network Adapter window, click the Have Disk... button.
    Result: The Install From Disk window appears.
  10. Specify the path of the RoamAbout driver. If you downloaded the driver from the vendor website, type in the path to the folder where the extracted files reside. Or, if you have the RoamAbout PC Card CD-ROM, specify the path d:\Drivers\Win2000\ (where d:\ is the letter of your computer CD-ROM drive).
  11. Click WLRBT48, click Open, then click OK to copy the files. The RoamAbout 802.11DS (Cabletron) adapter is highlighted.
  12. Click Next twice.
    Result: The Digital Signature Not Found dialog window appears.
  13. Click Yes to complete the installation. Click the Finish button to close the wizard.
  14. Click the Close button then click OK to close the Local Area Connection Properties window.
  15. During the driver installation, the system displays the RoamAbout properties Add/Edit Configuration Profile window. Enter the values from Configuring the Client Software. If the Configuration window does not appear during the driver installation, after restarting the computer, double-click the Wireless Network icon in the Control Panel.
  16. Restart your computer.

You must use the RoamAbout Windows 2000 Version 6.25 driver for the Microsoft Windows 2000 Operating System. The Microsoft Windows 2000 driver that is included on the Windows 2000 CD does not support WEP Encryption.

Installing the RoamAbout Client Utility
To access USC's wireless network, you must also install the RoamAbout Client Utility. The Client Utility can be installed through an installation wizard. To start the installation wizard:

  1. Start the installation by double-clicking the Setup executable file from the RoamAbout CD-ROM disk. The file is located via the path d:\Drivers\Win2000\Client Utility\, where "d" is the letter of your CD-ROM drive. If you downloaded the drivers from the vendor website, locate the executable file from the directory you specified.
  2. Restart your computer.

Determining Your MAC Address/Physical Address
You must register the Media Access Control (MAC) address/physical address of your Ethernet card before you will be able to gain wireless access to the USC Network. Every Ethernet card has a unique number assigned when it is manufactured. To determine your MAC address/physical address:

  1. From the Start menu, select Programs followed by Accessories then Command Prompt.
    Result: The Command Prompt window appears.
  2. At the prompt, type ipconfig /all.
  3. Click Enter.
    Result: A list of information will appear on the screen. Your MAC address is on the line labeled physical address. For example:
    Physical address: 00-C0-4F-AD-13-EB
  4. Write this number down. You will need it to register.

Some computers may have more than one Ethernet card/adapter, usually a wireless as well as a wired Ethernet card. If this is the case, use the MAC address/physical address listed under the Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection.

Registering Your MAC Address/Physical Address
You can register your MAC address/physical address online using the Registering for Wireless Access to the USC Network form. You may access the registration form from any public computing center on campus or any computer already connected to the USC Network.

Configuring the Local Area Connection
Follow the steps below to complete the set up:

  1. Right-click the My Network Places icon located on the desktop. From the drop-down menu, select Properties.
    Result: The Network and Dial-up Connections window appears.
  2. Double-click the Local Area Connection for the RoamAbout wireless card.
    Result: The Local Area Connection Properties window appears (see Figure 1). If you have more than one adapter card installed, open the Local Area Connection icon that displays the RoamAbout 802.11 when you move the mouse cursor over it.

    2000_lac_properties.jpg
    Figure 1: Local Area Connection Properties Window

  3. Highlight Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).
  4. Click the Properties button.
    Result: The Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties window appears.
  5. Click the Advanced button.
    Result: The Advanced TCP/IP Settings window appears.
  6. Click the DNS tab. (see Figure 2)


    win2k-config0.jpg
    Figure 2: DNS Tab View

  7. Make sure that Register this connection's addresses in DNS and Use this connection's DNS suffix in DNS registration are both checked.
  8. Click the WINS tab.
  9. Verify that Enable LMHOSTS lookup is checked.
  10. Make sure that Disable NetBIOS over TCP/IP is selected.
  11. Click the OK button to close the Advanced TCP/IP Settings window.
  12. Click the OK button to close the TCP/IP Properties window.
  13. Click the OK button to close the Local Area Connection Properties window.

Configuring the Client Software

  1. Use the instructions above to install the RoamAbout Windows 2000 driver.
    Result: the RoamAbout properties Add/Edit Configuration Profile window appears (see Figure 3).

    2000_config_profile.jpg
    Figure 3: Add/Edit Configuration Profile Window

  2. Under Select Profile, click USC. Select Access Point from the drop-down menu.
  3. Click on Edit Profile.
    Result: The Edit Configuration [USC] window appears (see Figure 4).

    2000_basic.jpg
    Figure 4: Edit Configuration [USC] Window

  4. In the Network Name box, type USC. Click the Encryption tab.
    Result: The Encryption tab view appears (see Figure 5).

    2000_encryption.jpg
    Figure 5: Encryption Tab View

  5. Check Enable Data Security.
    In the Key 1 field, type GOUSC. Click the Advanced tab.
    Result: The Advanced tab view (see Figure 6).

    2000_advanced.jpg
    Figure 6: Advanced Tab View

  6. The next step is to enable the options for Interference Robustness and RTS/CTS Medium Reservation as shown below. Click on the Advanced tab to proceed.
  7. Under Interference Robustness, select On.
  8. Under RTS/CTS Medium Reservation, select On.
  9. Click the Admin tab.
    Result: The Admin tab view appears (see Figure 7).

    2000_admin.jpg
    Figure 7: Admin Tab View

  10. Under Distance between Access Points, select Small.
  11. Under MAC Address, make sure that Default is selected.
  12. Click OK to exit the client configuration.

VPN Download and Configuration
You are now ready to continue to the next step, VPN Download and Configuration. In this step, you will download, configure and connect with the Cisco VPN client. This will give you access to USC web resources and internet content.

Getting Help
To get help with wireless access to the USC Network, contact the Customer Support Center at (213) 740-5555 or consult@usc.edu.

win2k-config0.jpg

Last updated: Wednesday, June 29, 2005, 08:01AM PDT