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The 102 supports both USB "console" and SNMP over Ethernet
administration methods. Both require the use of different
Windows based programs, so if you're using any other OS, you're
out of luck. The NETGEAR spec sheets say that USB is
supported on Win98, 2000 and Me, and that the SNMP utility
is supported only on Win98 and Me. I did my testing
on good old Win98 and took a shot at the SNMP/Ethernet method
first.
The good news is that the 102 seems to come with a default
"real" IP of 192.168.0.5, so if your network runs
on the 192.168.0.X subnet and you don't have any conflicting clients,
your setup should go relatively smoothly. Note that the
102 does not act as a DHCP client. Maybe NETGEAR
has seen the problems that other AP's have with feature and decided
to take a different approach. At any rate, I didn't find
that the lack of this capability hindered my setup.
Since my lab network uses a 192.168.3.X subnet, I had to use
the arp -s method outlined, no...not in the Installation
Guide poster, but in the Reference Guide supplied both in PDF
and Word form on the Reference CD.
Tip:
The arp -s instructions can be a little confusing
if you haven't done an arp before. Don't use quotes around
the IP and MAC addresses and make sure you put a dash (-) between
each pair of characters in the MAC address, i.e. 00AB23334544
must be entered as 00-AB-23-33-45-44.
Tip:
If your PC is not on the 192.168.0.X subnet and you click on
the Configure button, you'll get a confusing message about moving
to the same domain. The program's trying to tell you to
match up your computer and the 102's subnets.
The AP's default settings are Channel 6, ESSID of
"Wireless" and Encryption off. The screenshots below
(click on 'em for a closer look) show a few of the basic controls.
You should leave most of the settings in Operational
Setting tab alone, except possibly the Preamble Type. See
this page for more info.
If you choose to go the USB route for your setup,
you get the one window shown below, and no network statistics
monitoring.
My experience with the USB application was a little
funky. Windows never recognized the device or asked for
the drivers no matter how many times or how I plugged the 102
in. But when I installed and ran the program, it looked
like it talked to the 102 just fine. Smarter than I am,
I guess!
By the way, the Reference Manual is clearly written and
clearly defines each of the wireless settings and in most cases gives
further explanation and tells you how to use it. I would have
liked to see the printed Installation Guide include info on setting
up using the SNMP/Ethernet method, though. Heck, why not just
supply the Reference Manual in printed form?
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