Nuts About Nets

Wireless Diagnostics & Troubleshooting

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AirSleuth Quick Installation Guide

This Quick Installation Guide provides basic instructions for installing the AirSleuth-Pro analyzer product — including the application software, hardware drivers and wireless device.

System Requirements

  • PC running Windows XP Professional (SP2), Windows Vista Ultimate, or Windows 7
  • Microsoft .NET Framework version 2.0 (or later)
  • a minimum of 300 MB available hard disk space
  • an available USB port for the USB wireless device or 16-bit PCMCIA Type II (or compatible) slot for the PC Card adapter
  • built-in 802.11 b/g capability or an external WiFi adapter that will be used for 802.11 network with installed with NDIS 5.x drivers (or later)

Analyzer Components

  • Wireless USB device or PCMCIA card supplied by Nuts About Nets

Preliminaries

  • Before beginning the installation it will be necessary to download the latest version of the software from our web site: http://www.NutsAboutNets.com/wireless-diagnostic-tools/downloads/. Along the menu bar near the top of the page select 'Downloads' and then press the green Download button corresponding to the product you purchased. If you are not sure which product you purchased, this is listed on the packing slip and also on a sticker attached on the front page of this Quick Installation Guide.
  • You will need administrative privileges in order to install application and driver software on your computer. Please login to an account on your computer that includes "Administrator" rights before proceeding with the installation.
  • Do not attempt to replace the original drivers supplied with the product with replacements downloaded from the Internet – they will not work. Furthermore, Windows registers and caches drivers and associates them with a particular device. So, once the wrong driver has been associated with the wireless device this must be uninstalled before re-installation will succeed.
  • USB ports are known to go bad. Also, since USB wireless devices draw power from the USB port then a defective port may not supply sufficient power. If you are experiencing problems installing a USB wireless device then try a different USB port. Also, if you have another machine available, then it would be informative to learn whether the product can be successfully installed on a different machine.
  • Device Manager is a Computer Management tool that manages devices and their drivers. To launch Device Manager, from the Start menu right-click on 'Computer' and select 'Manage' – which launches the 'Computer Management Console'. On the left panel, under 'System Tools', select 'Device Manager'. After Device Manager opens then select 'Network adapters' in the middle panel. When this expands it will list all network adapters (both wired and wireless) currently attached to the machine.

Step 1. Run Setup Program

*** IMPORTANT *** The Setup program must be run before the wireless device is attached to your machine. This is necessary to ensure the correct drivers for the wireless device are installed and will then later be loaded by the operating system when the wireless device is first attached.

After downloading the latest version of the software from our web site run the setup installation program (e.g. AirSleuth-Pro_Setup.exe). When the Setup Wizard runs follow the prompts for installing the application and hardware drivers. Be sure to review the License Agreement as you progress through the installation procedure. When the Setup Wizard has completed then click the 'Finish' button. When the installation program completes it is important that you REBOOT the machine before continuing with the installation.

Windows Vista:
A dialog will appear with the warning "An unidentified program wants to access your computer…" – click the 'Allow' button. A dialog may appear with the warning "Windows can't verify the publisher of this driver software…" — click the 'Install this driver anyway' button.

Windows XP:
A dialog may appear with the warning "The software has not passed Windows Logo testing…" — click the 'Continue Anyway' button.

Step 2. Attach the Wireless Device

After rebooting, with the computer powered-up and running Windows, attach the PCMCIA or USB wireless device to your machine.

Windows Vista:
Two notification balloons should appear – first with a message 'Installing driver software…', and the second confirming that 'Device driver software installed successfully.'

Windows XP:
The 'Found New Hardware Wizard' will launch. If the first dialog asks 'Can Windows connect to Windows Update to search for software?' select 'No, not this time' and click the 'Next' button. When the next dialog asks "What do you want the wizard to do?" select 'Install the software automatically (Recommended)' and then click the 'Next' button. A dialog will appear warning that the software "has not passed Windows Logo testing…" – click the 'Continue Anyway' button. When the 'Found New Hardware Wizard' has completed then click the 'Finish' button.
REBOOT the machine if Windows prompts you to do so.

Step 3. Verify Driver Installation Using Device Manager

Right-click the My Computer icon and select Manage. When the Computer Management dialog appears double-click Device Manager. Expand the Network adapter category and verify that a HomeRF USB or PCMCIA adapter is listed as having been properly installed. If a HomeRF device is not listed or if it is and there is a yellow question mark or exclamation point next to it, then the driver for the device has not been properly installed and the Analyzer will not run. If you encounter this problem do not panic — we've had lots of experience installing drivers and software on a variety of different machines and operating systems and we'll assist you in getting the application up and running. Please contact Nuts About Nets at support@NutsAboutNets.com or 425.881.6506.

Step 4. Unbind Network Protocols and Services
This step is not absolutely necessary but recommended — it does prevent Windows from attempting to use the wireless device for communication purposes.

Windows Vista:
1. Click Start->Control Panel.
2. Select 'Network and Sharing Center'.
3. Select 'Manage network connections' – and a dialog box entitled 'Network Connections' will appear.
4. Right-click on the name of the Analyzer-aware connection – the 'Device Name' will include 'HomeRF' – and then select Properties.
5. Under the 'Networking' tab there is a window entitled 'This connection uses the following items:' – uncheck all the protocols and services that are listed.
6. Click OK.

Windows XP:
7. Click Start->Control Panel.
8. Double-click 'Network Connections'.
9. Right-click on the name of the Analyzer-aware connection – the 'Device Name' will include 'HomeRF' – and then select Properties.
10. Under the 'General' tab there is a window entitled 'This connection uses the following items:' – uncheck all the protocols and services that are listed.
11. Click OK.

Step 5. Run the Analyzer application and enter Registration Code

The first time the application is launched you will be prompted to enter a Registration Code. This can be found on stickers attached to the wireless device and the front page of this Quick Installation Guide. Thereafter it should not be necessary to re-enter the Registration Code.

The simplest way to confirm the Analyzer is working properly is to turn on a microwave oven or activate a 2.4 GHz cordless phone. Depending upon how close you are to the source of the RF signals you should see significant activity when viewing the Analyzer's various diagnostic traces.

Let’s get started on your wireless project…