ok here's a nice story.
Even if it uses the same name, the Wavelan IEEE product is completely different from the old Wavelan
(see section 2.1
), and totally incompatible in term of protocol and hardware interface. It is still built by Lucent, and it still operate in the 2.4 GHz ISM band
(Direct Sequence
), but the new hardware fully support the IEEE 802.11 protocol
(and 802.11-b for the more recent versions
) and is no longer based on a Ethernet MAC chip. There is only a Pcmcia version
(the ISA version uses a ISA to Pcmcia bridge
) and the different access points. Recently, Lucent has added a USB adapter and mini PCI version of the card for laptop
(this one is based on a PCI-Pcmcia bridge
).
To confuse the issue, Lucent has renamed the Wavelan IEEE as Orinoco
(Wavelan was better IMHO
), and this division was part of Lucent spin-off into a new company called Agere. Avaya
(another Lucent spin-off
) is also selling the Orinoco. Enterasys is also selling the Wavelan IEEE as RoamAbout 802
(a company formerly known as Cabletron, which was the former DEC networking division
). Elsa is selling it in Europe as AirLancer 11
(on the other hand, the 2 Mb/s version is quite different
). In Japan
(and maybe also in Europe
), Melco is selling it as Buffalo WLI-PCM-L11. Lately, more vendors have been joining the club, such as HP
(HP 802.11b Wireless LAN
), IBM
(IBM High Rate Wireless LAN
), Dell
(Dell TrueMobile 1150 - on the other hand, the 1100 is an Aironet card
), Compaq
(Compaq WL 110, WL 210 and WL 215 - the WL100 and WL200 are PrismII based
), 1stWave
(1stWave PC-Card
) and ARtem
(ARtem ComCard
). The Apple Airport is also derived from the Wavelan IEEE
(see section 3.5
).
The Wavelan IEEE saga never ends. Proxim bought the card and access point business of Agere
(Agere kept the chipset and radio part
), so now the same Orinoco cards are sold by Proxim under the name Orinoco Classic or Orinoco World
(841X - with the big square antenna and using the same Agere Hermes chipset
). In a bold marketing move, Proxim renamed all it's other lines of wireless cards as Orinoco, however those cards are not based on the Agere chipset but on Atheros chipset
(846X, 847X and 848X
). The Orinoco 11b
(842X - 802.11b only with a short antenna
) are based on the Agere HermesII chipset, which is different from the old chipset
(and therefore not compatible with the usual Orinoco drivers
). So, if the Proxim Orinoco card doesn't have a big square antenna and do support 802.11a or 802.11g, you can be sure it's not a true Orinoco.
well...
just link them to the cesd or something 
) do, so you have nothing to fear any more 
