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Introduction: Dell™ TrueMobile™ 1150 Series AP1000 User's Guide

	About TrueMobile Wireless Products
	About TrueMobile Tools
	About TrueMobile Access Points
	About This User's Guide

About TrueMobile Wireless Products

The TrueMobile product family is a comprehensive set of network equipment that enables you to build any type of network configuration, from a small independent wireless network to a large, completely wireless infrastructure. The TrueMobile product family consists of:

• The TrueMobile PC Card, for computers that support the PC Card Type II slot
  
  
• TrueMobile adapters, to install TrueMobile PC Cards into desktop computers
  
  
• TrueMobile access points, that enable you to connect wireless stations to existing Ethernet LAN infrastructures

The TrueMobile network interface is not very different from the interface for wired LANs. The operating system does not even detect the difference.

The TrueMobile network interface supports all protocols that are supported by standard Ethernet adapter cards. Like wired network interfaces, TrueMobile network interfaces are installed with a dedicated TrueMobile driver, but unlike wired network interfaces, TrueMobile network interfaces do not need a cable to connect them to the network. Only TrueMobile network interfaces allow you to relocate workstations without the need to change network cabling or connections to patch panels or hubs.

About TrueMobile Tools

The TrueMobile software suite consists of a set of management tools that enables you to:

• Display and modify the configuration of network components.
  
  
• Configure network components such as TrueMobile access points.
  
  
• Diagnose the network performance and, if necessary, identify and solve network errors.
  
  
• Manage and optimize network performance.

The TrueMobile software suite consists of the following tools:

• TrueMobile Client Manager
  
  
• TrueMobile AP Manager

The TrueMobile tools can be installed on stations that run the Microsoft® Windows® 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT® (v.4.0) operating systems. The TrueMobile Client Manager also runs on a Windows 2000 platform.

NOTE: The TrueMobile products have been designed for interoperability with all other wireless LAN products that use the direct sequence radio technology, as identified in the IEEE 802.11 standard for wireless LANs. Based on market-leading WaveLAN IEEE 802.11b technology, TrueMobile products provide mobile broadband connection to IP/ Internet for enterprises, homes, and public areas.

In addition, the TrueMobile products are be certified with the Wi-Fi logo, , designating their proven interoperability with other 802.11 products.

This means that your TrueMobile hardware will communicate with other vendors' IEEE 802.11-compliant wireless LAN products. However, you may not always be able to use the TrueMobile software suite in combination with other vendors' products, due to the following reasons:

• The IEEE 802.11 standard for wireless LANs does not identify standards for diagnostic or management tools; i.e. each vendor may have designed a customized tool to configure and/or manage the IEEE 802.11 wireless network.
  
  
• The Dell TrueMobile software suite has been designed to offer an enhanced set of tools to monitor and analyze a wide range of diagnostic tallies.

Some of these tools require additional functions in the hardware that (by default) are supported by all TrueMobile products, but may not be supported by other vendors' products.

TrueMobile Client Manager

The TrueMobile Client Manager is a diagnostic tool that monitors wireless radio communication between a wireless station and its TrueMobile access point, or that monitors the link between two wireless stations in an independent network. Furthermore, it can be used as a site monitor to show the coverage of the installed TrueMobile access point in a certain area.

TrueMobile AP Manager

The TrueMobile AP Manager is primarily a tool for LAN administrators or system supervisors. You can use the TrueMobile AP Manager program to configure TrueMobile access points and to monitor the performance of your wireless network. It can be run on any station in the network (wired or wireless).

About TrueMobile Access Points

The access points are identified by either one of the following MAC addresses:

• The universal MAC address of (one of) the wireless network interface(s) used by the access point
  
  
• The universal MAC address of the Ethernet interface

TrueMobile AP1000

The TrueMobile AP1000 is a transparent bridge device equipped with two PC Card slots (A and B). Wireless Network Interfaces A and B correspond to slots A and B of the AP1000, into which PC Cards can be inserted.

About This User's Guide

This guide describes how to use the TrueMobile tools to configure and monitor wireless LANs built with TrueMobile products.

In this manual, you can find the following:

• The "Introduction" section describes the TrueMobile tools and the sources for finding more information.
  
  
• The "Wireless Configurations" section describes TrueMobile network scenarios that are used throughout this document.
  
  
• The "Setting Up your LAN Administrator Station" section describes how to select a station to manage your TrueMobile network, and how to install the necessary software.
  
  
• The "Basic Network Configuration" section explains how to configure your particular network, using three network scenarios, from simple to sophisticated.
  
  
• The "Monitoring your TrueMobile Network" section describes how to monitor and diagnose communications quality.
  
  
• The "Optimizing Performance" section presents a number of considerations to help you sort through the complex factors that determine the performance of your wireless LAN.
  
  
• The "Security" section describes how to enhance security and minimize unauthorized use of your TrueMobile network.

This document does not describe every possible option supported by the TrueMobile software suite. It should serve as a general guideline to help you to decide which tool can help you to accomplish a specific task.

For more information about specific TrueMobile software screens or options, see the online help documentation. For instructions on accessing the online help documentation, see "Online Help Documentation" section.

About Icons Used in This Document

Throughout this document we use the following icons to represent the various networking devices:

Information about specific TrueMobile software screens or options in your TrueMobile AP Manager or TrueMobile Client Manager program, is covered in the online help of the programs.

• To access context-sensitive help on a specific screen for the TrueMobile programs, click the Help button or press the <F1> function key.
  
  
• In the online help you can either click the Contents tab to get an overview of the online information or click the Index tab to open an alphabetical list of specific topics.

Additional Files on your CD-ROM

The CD that comes with your TrueMobile products includes a file called readme.txt. This file contains information about the version of the software and/or drivers on the CD.

Dell recommends that you read this file before you install your TrueMobile products, as it may contain additional information that was not available when this document was produced. You can also download the readme.txt file from Dell's support website.

Other Sources of Information

For information on updates and other TrueMobile news, go to Dell's support website at http://support.dell.com.

For technical support, see "Technical Support."

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