[NCLUG] Re: anyplace in town sell linux wlan pcmcia cards?

[Charles Hutchinson]

On Friday 14 November 2003 12:47, Matt Rosing wrote:
<snip>
>
> It is.  Now I have more questions.  How do I know what kind of pcmcia
> I have? There's PCMCIA, PCMCIA 16, and PCMCIA II. Or do I care?  I
> have a toshiba 7100 protoge.
>

Well I do beleave the Senao cards are all 16bit.  Chances are you can not go 
wrong with a 16 bit card.  Any 32bit slot will except a 16 bit card with now 
troubles.

<snip>
>
>  > locally, you could have gotten a nice one online, like an Orinoco or one
>  > of the Senao cards with +9dB of receiver sensitivity and that can
>  > operate up to 200mW.
>
> Can I turn it down to the 30mW I'll only need in my house?  Or is this
> so I can use my neighbor's network?  Actually, what prevents anyone
> from using mine without my knowing about it?
>

The Senao drivers are said to be tunable in how much power they output.  I do 
believe I read recently that depends on the wireless utilities you use but 
that could have been on the Wintendoze side of the fence.  You can turn the 
power down on the cards.

> One more question.  Is 802.11g really a standard?  I found an 802.11g
> hub with a discount at best buy and I'd hang onto it assuming some day
> there are 802.11g linux drivers, but if it's not really a standard
> then it's not worth the extra money.
>

I have heard that there are 802.11g drivers for a few cards out there but I 
have not looked too hard as my orioco cards work great for me and I have not 
looked to hard at them.  There has been a ratified standard last I looked.  
Not sure how well the early players adhear to said standard however since 
just about everyone had hardware out before that standard was voted on.


> Thanks for everyone's help
>
> Matt
>

NP

Chuck