MikroTik RouterOS V2.7 Arlan 655 2.4GHz 2Mbps Wireless Interface

Document revision 1.4 (25-Apr-2003)
This document applies to the MikroTik RouterOS V2.7

Table of Contents
Summary
Specifications
Related Documents
Installation
- Example
Wireless Interface Configuration
Troubleshooting
Additional Resources

Summary

The MikroTik RouterOS supports Arlan 655 Wireless Interface client cards. This card fits in the ISA expansion slot and provides transparent wireless communications to other network nodes.

Specifications

Packages required : arlan
License required : 2.4/5GHz Wireless Client
Home menu level : /interface arlan
Standards and Technologies : Proprietary
Hardware usage : not significant

Installation

Assuming you have all necessary packages and licences installed, you need to load the device driver by issuing /driver add command.

Example

To add the driver for Arlan 655 adapter, do the following:

[admin@MikroTik]> driver add name=arlan io=0xD000
[admin@MikroTik]> driver print
Flags: I - invalid, D - dynamic
  #   DRIVER                                IRQ IO       MEMORY   ISDN-PROTOCOL
  0 D RealTek 8139
  1   Arlan 655                                 0xD000

[admin@MikroTik] driver>

Wireless Interface Configuration

Submenu level : /interface arlan

Description

The wireless card status can be obtained from the two LEDs: the Status LED and theActivity LED.

Status            Activity            Description
Amber             Amber               ARLAN 655 is functional but
                                      nonvolatile memory is
                                      not configured
Blinking Green    Don't Care          ARLAN 655 not registered to an AP
                                      (ARLAN mode only)
Green             Off                 Normal idle state
Green             Green Flash         Normal active state
Red               Amber               Hardware failure
Red               Red                 Radio failure

name (name; default: arlanN) - assigned interface name
mtu (integer, default: 1500) - Maximum Transmission Unit
mac-address (MAC address) - Media Access Control address
frequency (2412 | 2427 | 2442 | 2457 | 2465, default: 2412) - channel frequency in MHz
bitrate (1000 | 2000 | 354 | 500, default: 2000) - data rate in Kbit/s
sid (integer, default: 0x13816788) - System Identifier. Should be the same for all nodes on the radio network. Must be an even number with maximum length 31 character
add-name (text: 15 byte, default: "test") - card name (optional)
arp (disabled | enabled | proxy-arp | reply-only, default: enabled) - Address Resolution Protocol setting
tma-mode (yes | no, default: no) - Network Registration Mode:

yes

- ARLAN

- NON ARLAN

Example

[admin@MikroTik] > interface print
Flags: X - disabled, D - dynamic, R - running
  #    NAME                                              TYPE             MTU
  0  R outer                                             ether            1500
  1  X arlan1                                            arlan            1500
[admin@MikroTik] interface> enable 1
[admin@MikroTik] > interface print
Flags: X - disabled, D - dynamic, R - running
  #    NAME                                              TYPE             MTU
  0  R outer                                             ether            1500
  1  R arlan1                                            arlan            1500

More configuration and statistics parameters can be found under the /interface arlan menu:

[admin@MikroTik] interface arlan> print
Flags: X - disabled, R - running
  0  R name="arlan1" mtu=1500 mac-address=00:40:96:22:90:C8 arp=enabled
       frequency=2412 bitrate=2000 tma-mode=no card-name="test"
       sid=0x13816788

[admin@MikroTik] interface arlan>

You can monitor the status of the wireless interface:

[admin@MikroTik] interface arlan> monitor 0
      registered: no
    access-point: 00:00:00:00:00:00
        backbone: 00:00:00:00:00:00

[admin@MikroTik] interface arlan>

Suppose we want to configure the wireless interface to accomplish registration on the AP with a sid 0x03816788. To do this, it is enough to change the argument value of sid to 0x03816788 and tma-mode to yes:

[admin@MikroTik] interface arlan> set 0 sid=0x03816788 tma-mode=yes
[admin@MikroTik] interface arlan> monitor 0
         registered: yes
    access-point: 00:40:88:23:91:F8
        backbone: 00:40:88:23:91:F9

[admin@MikroTik] interface arlan>

Troubleshooting

Keep in mind, that not all combinations of I/O base addresses and IRQ's may work on particular motherboard. It is recommended that you choose an IRQ not used in your system, and then try to find an acceptable I/O base address setting. As it has been observed, the IRQ 5 and I/O 0x300 or 0x180 will work in most cases.

The driver cannot be loaded because other device uses the requested IRQ.
Try to set different IRQ using the DIP switches.
The requested I/O base address cannot be used on your motherboard.
Try to change the I/O base address using the DIP switches.
The pc interface does not show up under the interfaces list
Obtain the required license for 2.4/5GHz Wireless Client feature.
The wireless card does not register to the AP
Check the cabling and antenna alignment.

Additional Resources

www.aironet.com
http://www.comptek.ru:8100/wireless/files/filearlan.html