Lesson 4- Installing a PC Card Wireless Network Adapter
Introduction
In Lesson 4 take our notebook out back (it was a nice day) and insert the PC Card wireless network adapter into a open PC Card slot. Just like in the previous two lessons we show how to install the configuration software that came with the adapter. We will get the computer connected to the router and on the Internet in Section 4.
Recommended Networking Hardware
Installing the PC Card Wireless Adapter
Just like the USB and PCI card wireless adapter, we first have to run an application, that will install the drivers for the card, onto the computer and install the configuration utility.
This wireless adapter is made by Netgear so the install will be a little different. It's giving us a prompt to check for a newer version of the program online. We already check on Netgear's website for a newer version and the one on this CD is the latest so we'll install from the CD. It's a good idea to check for the latest version of the install program for your wireless adapters. The version on the CD that comes with the adapter might be updated so go to the makers website to check for a newer version.
It says the driver hasn't passed Windows Logo testing and it's warning us that the driver for this device might cause system instability. We're going to trust that Netgear made a good driver and click continue. If you get this prompt, when you install one of your adapters, just make a note of it. If you have problems with the adapter, you can always return it and get a different model, with better, Microsoft approved drivers.
It's telling us to insert our wireless PC card. To do this we need to first remove a place holder card in the PC card slot. There an eject button and the place holder slides out. Hold the PC card so that the logo is facing up and slide it in. You'll feel some resistance at the end and it stops. This is true whether your notebook has a slot for a PC card, Cardbus, or Express Card slot. They all go in the same way.
If the wireless PC card isn't detected by Windows, you may have the PC card slot turned off, in your power configuration, of your notebook. The power management program will usually be shown an icon down by the clock. Check your notebooks manual for instructions on enabling the PC card slot. We'll enable the slot and it sees the adapter and ask if we want to check online for a driver. We'll tell it no since there is a driver on the computer.
We get the prompt again about the driver not being Microsoft certified. The adapter is installed. The Netgear software wants to know what country were in. It wants us to choose whether we'll use the netgear configuration utility or the one built into Windows. We'll choose the Netgear one for now.
That's the end of Section 2. In Section 3 we will take a look at the routers configuration and get it ready for all of our computers to connect.
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