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Cisco Aironet Wireless LAN Adapters Installation and Configuration Guide for MS-DOS
OL-1744-02
Chapter1 Overview
Introduction to the Wireles s LAN Adapters
Introduction to the Wireless LAN Adapters
The Cisco Aironet Wireless LAN Client Adapters, also referred to as adapters, are radio modules that
provide transparent, wire less, data commun icati ons betwe en fix ed, por tabl e, or mobil e devi ces an d other
wireless devices or a wired net work infrastructure. The ad ap ters a re f ul ly co m p at ib le wh en u sed i n
devices supporting Plug-and-Play (PnP) technology. Host devices can be any device equipped wit h a PC
Card Type II or Type III slot. These devices include:
•Desktop systems
•Portable laptops
•Notebook computers
•Personal digital assistants
•Pen based computers
•Other data collection devi ces
The primary function o f th e ad ap t e rs is to transfer data packets t r an spa rently through the wire less
infrastructure. The ad apters operate similar ly to a standard network pro d uc t ex cep t that the cable is
replaced with a radio co nnection. No special w ireless networking f unctions are required , and all existing
applications that operate over a network can operate using the adapters.
The PC Card can also be bu ilt into peripheral devices s uch as printers to provide t hem with a transparent
wireless connection to a wired network.
This document covers three types of adapters:
•PC card client adapter (also referred to as a PC card)—A PC M CIA c ard radio module that can b e
inserted into any device equipped with an external Type II o r Type III PC card slot. Host devices can
include laptops, notebook computers, personal digital assistants, a nd hand-held or portable devices.
•LM card client adapter (also referred to as an LM card)—A PCMCIA card radio modul e that can be
inserted into any device equipped with an internal Type II or Type III PC card slot. Host devices
usually include hand-held or portable devices.
•PCI client adapter—A client adapte r card ra dio modu le tha t can be ins erte d into an y dev ice eq uipped
with an empty PCI expansion slot, such as a desktop computer.
Refer to the “Radio Antenna” section on page1-4 for an ten n a d ifferen ces be tw ee n t h es e a da pt er s.
CISCO AIRONET 340
SERIES
11 Mbps WIRELESS LAN ADAPTER
47519
CISCO AIRONET 340
SERIES
11 Mbps WIRELESS LAN ADAPTER
47893
65189