Cisco Wireless Networking with WindowsXP

This document's URL is http://uhaweb.hartford.edu/www/HowTos/CiscoWirelessXP/CiscoWirelessXP.htm. Check this document from time to time for news, updates, troubleshooting, etc.

Printed copies of these instructions are available in the Computer Support Center, which is located in the Computer Center, room CC113. If you have trouble with this procedure, or need advice, call the Computer Support Center at (860) 768-5999. The on-campus Computer Store can perform this procedure for you - contact them for pricing at (860) 768-5777.

About Wireless Networks:

Wireless Networks allow your computer to connect to the University's campus-wide network so that you can access campus servers and the Internet at selected "wireless-ready" areas on the campus, without connecting your computer to the network via a cable. Usually, wireless networks are used from portable, battery-operated laptop computers. Be aware that wireless networks are not as fast as wired networks, and there are inherent security risks using a wireless network as compared to a wired network. Consider the reliability and security of the wireless network to be comparable to that of a cellular telephone.

The University of Hartford uses Cisco Systems 802.11b (11Mbs) wireless equipment, both for the access points which provide the coverage on campus, and the Cisco-branded "cards" that make a laptop computer "wireless-ready". It is our experience (and also that of various testing laboratories) that, at the time of this writing, Cisco Systems' wireless products provide the best range and reliability compared to products of most other vendors. Therefore, these instructions describe how to install and configure a Cisco-branded network card into a WindowsXP computer. Unfortunately, the installation procedures for wireless network products vary greatly from one vendor to another, and it is impossible to generate instructions for every product on every version of Windows. The University of Hartford, therefore, provides instructions for, and officially supports only Cisco branded products. You may choose to use any vendor's network card (provided it is 128-bit WEP capable), however, support from the Computer Support Center will be limited to a "best effort", and you may not be able to receive a reliable signal in all areas of a designated "wireless zone" on campus, due to transmission/reception limitations of lesser quality brands of equipment.

Setting up wireless networking:

There are several tasks you must complete to get wireless networking working:

  1. Download Cisco's latest wireless drivers and utilities
  2. Update WindowsXP's outdated Cisco driver to Cisco's latest
  3. Disable WindowsXP's control of the wireless card
  4. Install Cisco's Aironet Client Utility
  5. Create a configuration profile and insert the University's security settings
  6. Log onto the wireless network
  7. Optional: Install the Authentication Server's security certificate

Don't let the size of this document scare you! It is intended to be a step-by-step instruction manual that you can follow - even if you're not normally comfortable setting up computer software. This document contains pictures every step of the way that you can refer to as you progress through the instructions, which account for most of the document's size. There are also check boxes for each step. You should check off each box as you proceed through the installation to ensure that you don't leave any steps out. Most calls to the Computer Support Center result from a missed step along the way! Of course, if you have trouble with this procedure, or need advice, you can call the Computer Support Center at (860) 768-5999.

Note that these instructions assume that you already have another wired method of accessing the Internet (dial-up or Ethernet) to download drivers, and have a Cisco Aeronet PC-card to be installed into an available PC-card slot in your computer.

Download Cisco's latest wireless drivers and utilities

Step 1-1
   
  Establish an Ethernet or dial-up networking connection to the Internet and point your web browser to the wireless section of Cisco's Software Center. At the time of this writing, the web site URL is http://www.cisco.com/public/sw-center/sw-wireless.shtml.

As of this writing, here is how we navigated to the correct driver bundle:

  1. Click Aironet Wireless Software Selector
  2. Choose Client Adapter and click Submit
  3. Choose 350 Series (802.11b) and click Submit
  4. Choose Laptop PC/PDA Card and click Submit
  5. A license agreement will appear, click Accept at the bottom
  6. Choose Windows XP and click Submit
  7. Choose the Current Release and click Submit
  8. Click 350-Windows-XP-Bundle-#.#.exe
     
Step 1-2  
  When prompted for what you want to do with the downloaded file, click Save.
     
Step 1-3  
  When prompted for where you want to save the file, save it to the Desktop on your computer.
     
Step 1-4  
  Locate and double-click the new installation kit icon on the desktop. The kit is a self-extracting executable which will prompt you for a place into which it will uncompress its contents.
     
Step 1-5  
  In the "Unzip to folder" field, enter c:\CiscoTemp and then click Unzip.
     

Update WindowsXP's outdated Cisco driver to Cisco's latest

Step 2-1  
  Now insert your Cisco Aironet 350 Series PC-card into an available PC-card slot in your computer. WindowsXP should report that it has found the card and will install its own (outdated) drivers to enable the card.
     
Step 2-2  
  In order to support 128-bit WEP (which is required at UofH, the driver must be updated from the outdated one that WindowsXP installed. To do this, open the Control Panel by clicking Start and then Control Panel.
     
Step 2-3  
  When the Pick a category window appears, click Performance and Maintenance.
     
Step 2-4  
  When the Performance and Maintenance window appears, click System.
     
Step 2-5  
  When the System Properties window appears, click the Hardware tab.
     
Step 2-6  
  When the Hardware page is displayed, click the Device Manager button.
     
Step 2-7  
  When the Device Manager window appears, locate and double-click Network Adapters.
     
Step 2-8  
  Locate the Cisco Systems 350 Series Wireless LAN Adapter and right-click its icon and choose Properties from its pop-up menu.
     
Step 2-9  
  When the Cisco Systems 350 Series Wireless LAN Adapter Properties window appears, click the Driver tab at the top.
     
Step 2-10  
  When the Drivers page appears, click the Update Driver... button.
     
Step 2-11  
  When the Hardware Update Wizard appears, click Install from a list of specific location (Advanced) and click Next >.
     
Step 2-12  
  When prompted to Please choose your search and installation options, click Don't search, I will choose the driver to install and click Next >.
     
Step 2-13  
  When prompted to Select Network Adapter, click the Have Disk... button.
     
Step 2-14  
  When the Install From Disk window appears, click the Browse... button.
     
Step 2-15  
  When the Locate File window appears, set Look in to your C: drive, and then double-click the CiscoTemp folder you created in Step 1-5.
  Then double-click the 350 - Windows - XP - Bundle - 2.1 folder.
  Then double-click the Driver - Windows - XP - PCM - LMC - PCI - v8.2.3 folder.
  Then click the Open button.
     
Step 2-16  
  When the Install From Disk window re-appears, click the OK button.
     
Step 2-17  
  When the Hardware Update Wizard window re-appears, click the Next > button.
     
Step 2-18  
  If an Update Driver Warning window appears as shown here, click Yes.
  The updated drivers will be installed.
     
Step 2-19  
  When the Completing the Hardware Update Wizard window appears, click Finish.
     
Step 2-20  
  Close the Cisco Systems 350 Series PCMCIA Wireless LAN Adapter page by clicking Close.
     
Step 2-21  
  Close the System Properties window by clicking OK, and then close the Device Manager window by clicking the 'X' in the upper right-hand corner.
     

Disable WindowsXP's control of the wireless card

Step 3-1  
  In order to configure the wireless networking card from Cisco's Aironet Client Utility program, WindowsXP must be configured to not control it. To do this, open the Control Panel by clicking Start and then Control Panel.
     
Step 3-2  
  When the Pick a category window appears, click Network and Internet Connections.
     
Step 3-3  
  When the Network and Internet Connections window appears, click Network Connections.
     
Step 3-4  
  When the Network Connections window appears, right-click on the Wireless Network Connection icon and choose Properties from the pop-up menu.
     
Step 3-5  
  When the Wireless Network Connection Properties window appears, un-check Client for Microsoft Networks, and un-check File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks.

Then click the Wireless Networks tab at the top of the page.
     
Step 3-6  
  When the Wireless Networks page is displayed, un-check Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings and then click OK.
     

Install Cisco's Aironet Client Utility

Step 4-1  
  Now install Cisco's Aeronet Client Utility which will allow you to configure a 128-bit WEP key (a minimum security requirement at UofH) as well as provide other useful wireless monitoring functions.

Click the Start button and then select My Computer.
     
Step 4-2  
  Navigate to the Aironet Client Utility installation folder created in Step 1-5 by double-clicking the C: drive.
  Then double-click the CiscoTemp folder.
  Then double-click the 350-Windows-XP-Bundle-2.1 folder.
  Then double-click the Utility-ACU-v5.05.001 folder.
     
Step 4-3  
  Start the Aironet Client Utility setup program by double-clicking the InstallShield Setup Launcher icon.
     
Step 4-4  
  When the installation program's Welcome screen appears, click the Next > button to continue.
     
Step 4-5  
  When the installation program's Select Options window appears, un-check LEAP, and click Next >.
     
Step 4-6  
  When the installation program's Choose Destination Location window appears, leave Destination Folder at its default, and click Next >.
     
Step 4-7  
  When the installation program's Select Program Folder window appears, leave Program Folders at its default, and click Next >.
  The installation program will display a status bar as it works.
     
Step 4-8  
  When the installation completes, the Setup Complete window will appear. Check Launch the Aironet Client Utility and then click Finish.
     

Create a configuration profile and insert the University's security settings

Step 5-1  
  When the Aeronet Client Utility starts, click the Profile Mana... button.
     
Step 5-2  
  When the Profile Manager window appears, click Add and then type UH-WEP into the profile name box, and then click OK.
     
Step 5-3  
  When the 350 Series Properties - [UH-WEP] window appears, enter your UofH e-mail name (without the @hartford.edu part) followed by the word "wireless" in the Client Name field. For example, if your e-mail address is jdoe@hartford.edu, you'd enter "jdoewireless".

In the SSID1 field, enter uhart exactly as shown here, in lowercase letters.

Click the Network Security tab.
     
Step 5-4  
  On the Network Security page, click Use Static WEP Keys.

On the WEP Key 1 line, click the 128 selection under the WEP Key Size column.

Enter 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 a b c d e f 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 exactly as shown here.

Click OK.
     
Step 5-5  
  When the Profile Manager window re-appears, click OK.
     
Step 5-6  
  When the Aeronet Client Utility window re-appears, click Select Profile.
     
Step 5-7  
  When the Select Profile window appears, click Use Selected Profile, and select UH-WEP from the drop-down list box.

Click OK.
     
Step 5-8  
  To make the settings take effect, reboot the computer.
     

Log onto the wireless network

Step 6-1  
  To utilize the wireless network:
  1. Disconnect any wired (Ethernet or dial-up) connections on your computer
  2. Move the computer to a wireless zone on campus.
  3. Start Microsoft Internet Explorer.

When the web browser starts, your computer's wireless card will establish a connection to the nearest access point in your area, and connect your browser to the University's wireless authentication server.

When the Security Alert window appears as shown here, click Yes.

(You can stop this alert from occurring by installing the authentication system's security certificate as described in Step 7 below.)
     
Step 6-2  
  The authentication system's login screen will appear as shown here.

Under Registered Users, enter your UofH e-mail name (without the @hartford.edu part), and your UofH e-mail password, and click Log in >.

Your web browser will automatically proceed to your default home page, and your computer will now be able to access all of the University's resources, and the Internet.
     

Optional: Install the Authentication Server's security certificate

Step 7-1  
  If you would not like to receive the warning shown in Step 6-1 above, you can install the authentication server's security certificate into your web browser's certificate store.

Click > Install CA Certificate from the login screen shown in Step 6-2 above.

When the File Download window appears, click Open.
     
Step 7-2  
  When the Certificate window appears, click Install Certificate...
     
Step 7-3  
  When the Certificate Import Wizard appears, click Next >.
     
Step 7-4  
  When the Certificate Store window appears, leave Automatically select the certificate store based on the type of certificate selected and click Next >.
     
Step 7-5  
  When the Certificate Import Wizard completes, click Finish.
     
Step 7-6  
  When the Root Certificate Store window appears, click Yes.
     
Step 7-7  
  When the Create Import Wizard's completion box appears (hopefully indicating success), click OK.
     

If you have trouble connecting to web sites, re-check all of the steps in this document. If you still have trouble, contact the Computer Support Center at x5999, or visit them in the Computer Center in Room CC113.

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