[lug] cheap 802.11b for linux...

[Sean Reifschneider]

On Wed, Mar 20, 2002 at 06:25:50PM -0700, Ed Hill wrote:
>  http://pcmcia-cs.sourceforge.net/ftp/SUPPORTED.CARDS
>
>the (+/- $65) "PrismII based cards" (orinoco_cs driver) have only
>"limited functionality". 

The limited functionality is, at least partly, that they don't work without
a base-station.  Considering that the last Lucent Orinoco card I got was
under $60 (found through pricewatch, older model), and that brand new ones
are $69, I'd recommend that you go that direction.

Also note that the Orinoco RG-1000 access point, which includes a modem and
the ability to dial out or use ethernet for connectivity, is $139 via mail
order, I'd submit that you may not want to waste your time with getting two
Orinoco cards, a $40 PCMCIA card to put in your desktop machine, and
mucking about with a point-to-point network...

>I can't afford a base station and don't have broadband at home (yet) but
>would like access to public WLANs and at a few friend's residences... 

If you just need one card, get an Orinoco.  The pricing of them is pretty
competitive with the Prism II cards, and the Orinoco cards are better
supported in general.

If you really want to do it cheap, make me a deal to buy one of the Prism
II cards that we have in which the outer casing around the antenna is
broken (but the cards are otherwise quite functional).  ;-)  We've
converted over to Orinoco cards and mostly use these cards as spares for
Hacking Society meetings.

Sean
-- 
 Why would I want to be a Doctor, when I could be a MASTER?
Sean Reifschneider, Inimitably Superfluous <jafo at tummy.com>
tummy.com - Linux Consulting since 1995. Qmail, KRUD, Firewalls, Python