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 |
PCI (PCMCIA <-> PCI bridge) |
? |
? |
Looks/behaves exactly as SMC2632W. |
|||
PCMCIA |
. |
-76 dBm |
>13 dBm |
Looks like the Belkin and SMC |
||
AWP-101 |
PCMCIA |
Unknown |
. |
. |
. |
|
ALL0191 |
PCI |
SMA |
? |
? |
Detachable antenna. Looks like just another MW251 clone, maybe same as old WMP11 (see these pictures). |
|
5V PCMCIA |
. |
? |
13 dBm |
Very similar to Belkin & SMC, but also supported on Macintosh |
||
5/3.3V CF |
none |
. |
12-15 dBm |
Compact Flash version of WL110 |
||
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 |
||
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 |
||
WL100 |
3.3v PCMCIA |
None |
? |
20mW typ / 100mW max |
|
|
WL200 |
PCI (PCMCIA <-> PCI bridge) |
Reverse Threaded SMA |
? |
20dBm max |
The PCMCIA version is the wl100. note: the WL210 and WL110 are different chipsets. |
|
? |
? |
? |
? |
one image looks like DLink. sold for $65 at comready.com |
||
5 VDC PCMCIA |
Diversity RP-MMCX |
-91db |
100mW or 20dBm |
- |
||
5 VDC PCMCIA |
Diversity RP-MMCX |
-91dB |
200mW or 23dBm |
- |
||
DWL-520(c1) |
PCI |
Reverse SMA |
? |
? |
ADM8211 (not PRISM!) unsupported (original DWL-520 was prism) |
|
DW-655H |
PCMCIA |
yes, with nice switch |
standard prism2.5? |
standard prism2.5? |
probably at least 100 mW |
|
3.3v PCMCIA |
-78 or -84 dBm |
14 or 17 dBm |
||||
3.3v Compact Flash |
lid snaps off/has socket |
-80 to -88 dBm |
14 or 18 dBm |
|||
NL-2511CD PLUS |
PCMCIA |
Integrated 2dBi |
-96 dBm |
23 dBm (200mW) |
Dual MMCX antenna connectors for diversity |
|
NL-2511CD PLUS EXT2 |
PCMCIA |
Dual MMCX |
-96 dBm |
23 dBm (200mW) |
Dual MMCX antenna connectors for diversity |
|
NL-2511MP PLUS |
3.3/5v mini PCI |
Dual U.FL/MHF |
-96 dBm |
200mW |
Dual U.FL antenna connectors for diversity |
|
3.3/5v PCMCIA |
. |
. |
14 dBm |
. |
||
PCI |
RP-SMA |
. |
||||
2511CD PLUS EXT2 |
PCMCIA |
Dual MMCX |
-? dBm |
23 dBm (200mW) |
Twin antenna leads |
|
2511MP PLUS |
3.3/5v mini PCI |
Dual U.FL/MHF |
-? dBm |
160mW |
Twin antenna leads |
|
MA311/MA311GE |
PCI |
- |
- |
- |
very reliable with orinoco_pci |
|
RangeLAN-DS 8434-05 |
3.3v PCMCIA |
Dual Reverse MMCX |
-83 dBm |
13dBm |
has a detachable antenna RangeLanDsComments |
|
RangeLAN-DS 8433-05 |
3.3v PCMCIA |
Single unknown connector (SSMB?) |
-83 dBm |
13dBm |
||
2511CD PLUS EXT2 |
PCMCIA |
Dual MMCX |
-81 to -95 dBm |
23 dBm (200mW) |
Twin antenna leads datasheet |
|
2511MP PLUS |
3.3/5v mini PCI |
Dual U.FL/MHF |
-? dBm |
22.5 dBm (177mW) |
Twin antenna leads |
|
PCMCIA |
? |
? |
? |
|||
PCMCIA |
Dual RP-MMCX |
-89 dBm |
200mW Max (23 dBm) |
OEM of Zcomax 325 same FCC-ID |
||
PCMCIA |
-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 |
|||
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 |
||
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 |
||
PCMCIA |
Dual Reverse MMCX |
-83 dBm |
13 dBm |
has a detachable antenna ZcomaxXi300Comments |
||
PCMCIA |
None |
-83 dBm |
13 dBm |
|
||
PCMCIA |
Dual MMCX (probably reverse) |
. |
. |
comes with no antenna, Sold by Future Electronics |
||
PCMCIA |
Dual Reverse MMCX |
-85dBm |
15dBm |
Prism 2.5, has a detachable antenna |
||
[XI-325H] |
PCMCIA |
Dual Reverse MMCX |
-83 |
100mw |
Prism 2.5, has a detachable antenna |
|
[XI-325H1] |
PCMCIA |
Dual Reverse MMCX |
. |
180mw |
Prism 2.5, has a detachable antenna, still waiting on FCC approval |
|
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
.