Intersil sells the Prism2.x/3 chipset to wireless card manufacturers and for 802.11b wireless gear the Prism2 chipset is pretty much the standard. A long time ago both Aironet (now Cisco) and WaveLan (now Lucent/Orinoco/Avaya/Agere) diverged from the base Prism2 chipset to make their own improved versions.

In the mean time Linux drivers have emerged to take advantage of the HostApMode abilities of the stock Prism2 cards which allows us to build a LinuxAccessPoint that supports InfrastructureMode.

If you are trying to setup a Prism2Card to work in your linux box (not in HostApMode, but as a client machine), here's a quick something I wrote up to keep people on the IrcChannel from asking me the same question over and over.... http://wiki.truffula.net/ashlandwifi/index.php?PrismCardSetup . Let me know if it works for you, and also if you have a distro not listed so I can add instructions for that distro. --ForrestEnglish

The problem is that most of the the stock Prism2Cards stink in comparison to the Cisco/Lucent ones. Below we are trying to maintain a list of the best Prism2Cards which have external antenna connectors to facilitate the building of high quality OpenSource AccessPoints.

Make

Model

Card

Connector

Rx

Tx

Comments

3Com

3CRWE777A

PCI (PCMCIA <-> PCI bridge)

Hackable (Brazilian portuguese text + pics)

?

?

Looks/behaves exactly as SMC2632W.

Addtron

AWP-100

PCMCIA

.

-76 dBm

>13 dBm

Looks like the Belkin and SMC

Addtron

AWP-101

PCMCIA

Unknown

.

.

.

Allnet

ALL0191

PCI

SMA

?

?

Detachable antenna. Looks like just another MW251 clone, maybe same as old WMP11 (see these pictures).

Asant¨¦

AL1011

5V PCMCIA

.

?

13 dBm

Very similar to Belkin & SMC, but also supported on Macintosh

Asus

wl110

5/3.3V CF

none

.

12-15 dBm

Compact Flash version of WL110

Belkin

F5D6020 (Ver.1)

PCMCIA

.

.

13-20 dBm (50mW max)

Very Flat & Stackable - Appears to be the same as the SMC; Careful: There's a F5D6020 ver.2 which has an Atmel AT76C502A Chipset

Belkin

F5D6001 ver.1

PCI

Reverse SMA

.

?

Works flawlessly with HostAP - needs to be flashed to firmware 1.4.9 (done on boot with prism2_srec), Version 2101 is ADM8211 based info and photo .. often wrongly labelled! Manuals

Compaq

WL100

3.3v PCMCIA

None

?

20mW typ / 100mW max

Compaq

WL200

PCI (PCMCIA <-> PCI bridge)

Reverse Threaded SMA

?

20dBm max

The PCMCIA version is the wl100. note: the WL210 and WL110 are different chipsets.

CellVision

WLC-100 (pdf)

?

?

?

?

one image looks like DLink. sold for $65 at comready.com

Demarc

Relia-Wave

5 VDC PCMCIA

Diversity RP-MMCX

-91db

100mW or 20dBm

-

Demarc

Relia-Wave

5 VDC PCMCIA

Diversity RP-MMCX

-91dB

200mW or 23dBm

-

D-Link

DWL-520(c1)

PCI

Reverse SMA

?

?

ADM8211 (not PRISM!) unsupported (original DWL-520 was prism)

D-Link

DW-655H

PCMCIA

yes, with nice switch

standard prism2.5?

standard prism2.5?

probably at least 100 mW

D-Link

DWL-650

3.3v PCMCIA

Hackable

-78 or -84 dBm

14 or 17 dBm

Dwl650Comments

D-Link

DCF650w

3.3v Compact Flash

lid snaps off/has socket

-80 to -88 dBm

14 or 18 dBm

Dcf650wComments

HauteSpot Networks

NL-2511CD PLUS

PCMCIA

Integrated 2dBi

-96 dBm

23 dBm (200mW)

Dual MMCX antenna connectors for diversity

HauteSpot Networks

NL-2511CD PLUS EXT2

PCMCIA

Dual MMCX

-96 dBm

23 dBm (200mW)

Dual MMCX antenna connectors for diversity

HauteSpot Networks

NL-2511MP PLUS

3.3/5v mini PCI

Dual U.FL/MHF

-96 dBm

200mW

Dual U.FL antenna connectors for diversity

LinkSys

WPC11

3.3/5v PCMCIA

.

.

14 dBm

.

LinkSys

WMP11

PCI

RP-SMA

.

+16dBm

Wmp11Comments

Netgate

2511CD PLUS EXT2

PCMCIA

Dual MMCX

-? dBm

23 dBm (200mW)

Twin antenna leads

Netgate

2511MP PLUS

3.3/5v mini PCI

Dual U.FL/MHF

-? dBm

160mW

Twin antenna leads

Netgear

MA311/MA311GE

PCI

-

-

-

very reliable with orinoco_pci

Proxim

RangeLAN-DS 8434-05

3.3v PCMCIA

Dual Reverse MMCX

-83 dBm

13dBm

has a detachable antenna RangeLanDsComments

Proxim

RangeLAN-DS 8433-05

3.3v PCMCIA

Single unknown connector (SSMB?)

-83 dBm

13dBm

RangeLanDsComments

Senao

2511CD PLUS EXT2

PCMCIA

Dual MMCX

-81 to -95 dBm

23 dBm (200mW)

Twin antenna leads datasheet

Senao MiniPCI

2511MP PLUS

3.3/5v mini PCI

Dual U.FL/MHF

-? dBm

22.5 dBm (177mW)

Twin antenna leads

Siemens

I-Gate

PCMCIA

?

?

?

Antenna

SMC

SMC2532W-B

PCMCIA

Dual RP-MMCX

-89 dBm

200mW Max (23 dBm)

OEM of Zcomax 325 same FCC-ID

SMC

SMC2632W

PCMCIA

Hackable

-76 dBm

50mw Max (17 dBm)

Smc2632wComments Appears to be the same as the Belkin. Caution: There is a V.2 that comes without PrismII

SMC

SMC2602W

PCI

unknown but strange solder pads on PCI card

-76 dBm

50mw Max (17 dBm)

Comes with Smc2632W card with sticker saying "Do not remove". PCI card is not a straight PCMCIA bridge, it is a plx card. manufacturer site photo shows ADMtek 8211 controller, thus not compatible since no prsimII hardware

Teletronics

WL-11000

PCMCIA

Dual Reverse MMCX

-83 dBm

15 dBm

It appears to be a Zcomax XI-300, they sell one with and one without the snap-on antenna

Zcomax

XI-300

PCMCIA

Dual Reverse MMCX

-83 dBm

13 dBm

has a detachable antenna ZcomaxXi300Comments

Zcomax

XI-300B

PCMCIA

None

-83 dBm

13 dBm

Zcomax

ZFE-300

PCMCIA

Dual MMCX (probably reverse)

.

.

comes with no antenna, Sold by Future Electronics

Zcomax

XI-325

PCMCIA

Dual Reverse MMCX

-85dBm

15dBm

Prism 2.5, has a detachable antenna

Zcomax

[XI-325H]

PCMCIA

Dual Reverse MMCX

-83

100mw

Prism 2.5, has a detachable antenna

Zcomax

[XI-325H1]

PCMCIA

Dual Reverse MMCX

.

180mw

Prism 2.5, has a detachable antenna, still waiting on FCC approval

ZoomAir

4105

PCMCIA

RP-SMA

.

14 dBm

http://www.goonda.org/wireless/prism2/ Some good but slightly dated prism2/linux information -- DonPark

Other good source of information: http://www.seattlewireless.net/index.cgi/HardwareComparison

.


[CategoryDocumentation]


CategoryPersonalTelco

Prism2Card (last edited 2007-11-23 18:01:43 by localhost)