Orinoco/Proxim card tests

spaceape · 02-05-2004

I was going to post this into my original thread (inquiring about opinions on the Orinoco/Proxim cards), but it was tossed into the newbie bin...

I thought some users might find this information helpful (I would have). I tested the following cards under both XP and W2K, using latest drivers and netstumbler 0.3.30:

- Orinoco 802.11b Classic Gold PCMCIA works great (we all know this by now).
- Orinoco/Proxim 802.11b/g Gold ("businessman" logo) works great, and its drivers are better than the previous card.
- Orinoco/Proxim 802.11a/b/g Gold - this worked but was clearly not compatible with netstumbler. I was able to get accurate SNR information, but was unable to differentiate between the a signal band and the b/g signal band (probably due to existing incompatibility, as said in other threads). Noithing crashed though!

Overall I'm pretty satisfied, and appreciate some of the comments I got earlier. I'm now going to try to get Ethereal to work for these cards...

Thorn · 02-05-2004

Sigh.

It's good that you got these working in your machines, but please keep in mind that if it not supported, you should properly be saying "it works with NS, right now, in this particular machine."

To say anything else is misleading.

The fact of the matter is, that if a given card is not supported, then it should be regarded with suspicion.

Because of the nature of the various chipsets and the NDIS 5.1 drivers, an unsupported card that works great for you at the moment may fail miserably the next time you boot up, and it may never work at all for someone using an "identical" machine. This is why we make such a big deal on these forums about supported vs. unsupported cards.

Look around, and you'll find many threads along the lines of "I was using a brand X card. It's been working for three weeks and suddenly quit..."

The Orinoco/Proxim 802.11b/g Gold Model 8420 ("Businessman") is one of the biggest offenders in this catagory.

Only the supported cards (i.e. Hermes chipset) work 100% of the time NS 0.3.0 and with any Windows OS.

spaceape · 02-05-2004

Yes, I totally agree. I'm by no means saying these cards are or should be supported. I'm only answering my original question - if someone REALLY wants to try and use NS with this a/b/g card - it is possible.

I'm going through the process of installing and mapping a enterprise-scale a/b/g network, and therefore was curious about a/b/g compatibility. I'm just posting my findings.

Thanks for the software.

Thorn · 02-05-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by spaceape
Yes, I totally agree. I'm by no means saying these cards are or should be supported. I'm only answering my original question - if someone REALLY wants to try and use NS with this a/b/g card - it is possible.

I'm going through the process of installing and mapping a enterprise-scale a/b/g network, and therefore was curious about a/b/g compatibility. I'm just posting my findings.
...

Understood, I just wanted to make it clear to others that may read this thread, that there are no gaurantees with anything other than the HERMES cards.

Good luck with your maping project.

Quote:

Originally posted by spaceape
... Thanks for the software.

You seem to have me confused with Marius. He's the author, and deserves the real thanks. I just "work" here.

ZipperSeven · 02-05-2004

Well, and you would be able to detect 802.11b/g access points with supported hardware, since the g specification implies backwards compatibility with the b spec.

For the a, I guess you wander around with your client software open to see if it finds something. Sounds kind of crappy, but I couldnt find anyone working on a Netstumbler-like project for cards other than the Orinoco clones.

EVH-rocks · 02-05-2004

I just googled NDIS as I have been wondering if there is any difference to the various drivers.

I am using the driver supplied by XP vers 7.43.0.9 (2001) as the disc supplied with my lucent orinoco gold does not have xp drivers.

From what I read on google NDIS is a standard interface driver for network cards and im guessing that all the drivers use these instructions, or is this not true.

I ask as when searching the forums mention is made of the NDIS driver as opposed to another type of orinoco driver.

eg NS works fine with the **** driver and the ndis 5.1 driver

are Ndis drivers mostly supplied by the company on disc/download sites or is it just an alternate way people have of describing the various drivers out there.

thanks and sorry for the dumbass question. Im usually lurking on here erading new and old posts.

spaceape · 02-05-2004

Quote:

Originally posted by ZipperSeven
For the a, I guess you wander around with your client software open to see if it finds something. Sounds kind of crappy, but I couldnt find anyone working on a Netstumbler-like project for cards other than the Orinoco clones.

See that's the thing though - I can detect 802.11a AP's with this setup - I configured one of the AP's (it's a Foundry IronPoint 200) to only use it's 802.11a radio - and NS picked up the signal as channel 56, and gave accurate stats on it.

What was most surprising to me is that when both radios are on, NS picks up on the 802.11a radio SSID instead of the 802.11b's. Like I said, it's buggy, but you can definitely pick up the signals.

I hope this is helpful info, I definitely don't mean to be rockin' the boat!

ZipperSeven · 02-05-2004

I stand corrected.

My other thought is...wow...channel 56!

LOL

02-05-2004	#1 (permalink)
spaceape Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Geosynchronous Orbit Posts: 8	Orinoco/Proxim card tests I was going to post this into my original thread (inquiring about opinions on the Orinoco/Proxim cards), but it was tossed into the newbie bin... I thought some users might find this information helpful (I would have). I tested the following cards under both XP and W2K, using latest drivers and netstumbler 0.3.30: - Orinoco 802.11b Classic Gold PCMCIA works great (we all know this by now). - Orinoco/Proxim 802.11b/g Gold ("businessman" logo) works great, and its drivers are better than the previous card. - Orinoco/Proxim 802.11a/b/g Gold - this worked but was clearly not compatible with netstumbler. I was able to get accurate SNR information, but was unable to differentiate between the a signal band and the b/g signal band (probably due to existing incompatibility, as said in other threads). Noithing crashed though! Overall I'm pretty satisfied, and appreciate some of the comments I got earlier. I'm now going to try to get Ethereal to work for these cards...

02-05-2004	#2 (permalink)
Thorn Did you do the math? Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Villa Straylight Posts: 10,359	Sigh. It's good that you got these working in your machines, but please keep in mind that if it not supported, you should properly be saying "it works with NS, right now, in this particular machine." To say anything else is misleading. The fact of the matter is, that if a given card is not supported, then it should be regarded with suspicion. Because of the nature of the various chipsets and the NDIS 5.1 drivers, an unsupported card that works great for you at the moment may fail miserably the next time you boot up, and it may never work at all for someone using an "identical" machine. This is why we make such a big deal on these forums about supported vs. unsupported cards. Look around, and you'll find many threads along the lines of "I was using a brand X card. It's been working for three weeks and suddenly quit..." The Orinoco/Proxim 802.11b/g Gold Model 8420 ("Businessman") is one of the biggest offenders in this catagory. Only the supported cards (i.e. Hermes chipset) work 100% of the time NS 0.3.0 and with any Windows OS. __________________ Thorn "Read Altas Shrugged. Compare it to today. Repeat as necessary"

02-05-2004	#3 (permalink)
spaceape Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Geosynchronous Orbit Posts: 8	agreed Yes, I totally agree. I'm by no means saying these cards are or should be supported. I'm only answering my original question - if someone REALLY wants to try and use NS with this a/b/g card - it is possible. I'm going through the process of installing and mapping a enterprise-scale a/b/g network, and therefore was curious about a/b/g compatibility. I'm just posting my findings. Thanks for the software.

02-05-2004	#6 (permalink)
EVH-rocks Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: remote scottish highlands (after leaving therpalm trees of torquay in the english rivierra Brrr chilly man! Posts: 149	I just googled NDIS as I have been wondering if there is any difference to the various drivers. I am using the driver supplied by XP vers 7.43.0.9 (2001) as the disc supplied with my lucent orinoco gold does not have xp drivers. From what I read on google NDIS is a standard interface driver for network cards and im guessing that all the drivers use these instructions, or is this not true. I ask as when searching the forums mention is made of the NDIS driver as opposed to another type of orinoco driver. eg NS works fine with the **** driver and the ndis 5.1 driver are Ndis drivers mostly supplied by the company on disc/download sites or is it just an alternate way people have of describing the various drivers out there. thanks and sorry for the dumbass question. Im usually lurking on here erading new and old posts. __________________ 'We havent had that spirit here since 1969'

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