Document Number: HDWSUP1001
Product: Observer
Date: March 6, 2003
Title: Network Instruments’ Observer® Custom Driver Installation for Atheros-based 802.11a/b Combo Cards

Network Instruments’ Observer® Custom Driver Installation for Atheros-based 802.11a/b Combo Cards

Supported Combo Cards
Any wireless NIC employing the Atheros AR5001X Combo WLAN chip set. This includes cards from virtually every manufacturer that supports the combo feature: DLink, Intel, Linksys, Netgear, and Proxim to name a few.

Supported Microsoft Windows Versions
   • 2000
   • XP

For Observer to properly analyze wireless packets, the driver must pass through all of the packets, not just those packets addressed to that NIC (i.e., it must put the card in ‘promiscuous’ mode). Observer must also have access to the ‘raw’ wireless packets.

Because standard wireless drivers do not support either raw or promiscuous mode, NI has written a custom driver so that you can use Observer as a wireless protocol analyzer.

Installing the Driver

Before you install the driver, you must:
   • Verify that the NIC is operating correctly with the manufacturer-supplied driver as described in the manufacturer’s installation       instructions. Once you have verified that the hardware works and can find an access point, un-install the manufacturer’s drivers
      through the Windows Control Panel Add/Remove Programs applet.
   • Install Observer. Refer to the Observer User Manual for details. You must install Observer so that you can update the NIC driver from
      the Observer directory.

To update the driver, follow these steps:
   1. Right-click on the ‘My Computer’ icon and choose Properties.
  

   2. Click the Hardware tab and then the Device Manager... button to display the Device Manager:

   3. Right-click on the wireless driver (e.g. Nortel Networks e-mobility) and choose Properties.
  

   4. Click on the Driver tab and then click the Update Driver... button. This starts the Update Hardware Wizard:

   5. Click Next.
The Wizard asks you how you want to update the driver:

   6. Choose “Search for a suitable driver for my device (recommended)” and click Next.
The Wizard asks where you want to search for the driver:

   7. Click “Have Disk...,” and the Wizard displays the driver location selection dialog:

   8. Enter (or browse to) the following directory (assuming that C:\Observer Files is your Observer directory):

Observer 9 and earlier
C:\Observer Files\drivers\wireless

Observer 10 and up
c:\program files\observer\drivers\wireless

Click OK, and the Wizard displays a list of compatible drivers it found:

   9. Choose the appropriate analyzer driver with the “NI” prefix (“NI/ Atheros Based AR5001 A/B Wireless Network Adapter,”
       for example) and click Next. *

       The Wizard informs you that the driver lacks a Microsoft digital signature.

   10. Click Yes. Network Instruments has tested the driver, ensuring it works with Windows and with Observer.
         Click Finish to close the Wizard. The NI Driver is now available in the Windows Device manager:

   11. Right click on My Network Places and choose Properties to display your network connections. Right click on the wireless network
         connection and choose Properties and click the Wireless Networks tab. The following dialog is displayed:

   12. Verify that the Use Windows to configure wireless network settings checkbox is unchecked. Click OK to close the dialog.

    13. Click Start->Programs->Observer->Atheros 802.11a/b Client utility to start the NI/Atheros wireless configuration utility.
          Click the Station Configuration Tab to set up AP SSIDs and WEP keys as necessary.

Configuring Observer for Wireless Operation
Once you have installed the wireless NIC and Network Instruments’ custom driver, you will be able to see the wireless Probe in the Probe List. Check the setup options before you begin capturing packets.
   1. Start Observer. If the new wireless card is the only installed NIC in your system, the wireless Probe will appear in the
       Probe List under the Wireless Advanced Probes heading.

      If the wireless card is installed along with other NICs, you may have to Select a Different Network Adapter by choosing that
      option from the Tools menu (or by clicking the NIC icon on the toolbar). Observer will display the list of available cards.
      Select the NI Analyzer driver for your wireless NIC.

   2. Once the wireless Probe appears in the Probe list, right click on it and choose Probe or Device Properties…,
       which displays the Local Observer Configuration dialog.

   3. Configure the settings for your wireless protocol. Click on the 802.11a/b tab to display configuration properties:

   4. Set the wireless configuration options to match your network.

Note that if your wireless network is configured for WEP, you must
activate WEP and enter the WEP key(s) in the Edit WEP Keys dialog in
Observer.

The configuration options are described below:

Using Observer’s Wireless Analysis Features
The Wireless Reviewer’s Guide highlights Observer’s wireless-specific features. For complete documentation describing all of Observer’s features (including wireless), refer to the online help system, which is available on the Observer main menu. Context sensitive help is also available by pressing the F1 key.