PCMCIA WiFi compatibility

[bob at sinister.com (Bob Keyes)]

On Sun, 18 Apr 2004, Duane Morin wrote:

> Ok, so last night I smashed my Netgear wireless card (physically, when I
> dropped the machine).  Given that I always had trouble getting the drivers
> to work with the thing, and had to recompile them every time I tweaked the
> kernel, this feels like a good opportunity to change cards.  Does anybody
> recommend a pcmcia wireless 802.11b card that is plug-in compatible with
> Fedora?

This might be best answered on the BAWIA mailing list, but I'll give it a
shot.

First think of whether this would be a good time to upgrade. You may want
to get 802.11g, 802.11a, etc. But if you want to stay with 802.11b, think
of your other needs. Is you laptop new enough to take CardBus (32 bit)
cards? Because many wifi cards now are CardBus and therefore not
compatible with some older laptops.

The most compatible, and most tested card in the world is the Orinoco
series. However, I still like cards with the Prism2 chiset, as the specs
for the card are more open, and  you can do more with them. The SMC
2532W-B is a High powered (200mW) 802.11b card with the prism2 chipset and
detachable antenna (so you can hook up a larger antenna for additional
range) - and available at Microcenter and other places for $50. The
additional range offered by the power of cards like the SMC and its
competitors the Senao are impressive, but will drain your battery fast at
full power. Don't worry, though, the card adapts its power level to the
minimum neccessary (or is supposed to).

And I am pretty sure it's plug-compatible with Fedora.