Wireless (again)

[Ed Greshko]

Timothy Murphy wrote:

>>> I was however interested from a purely academic point of view
>>> to know if it is possible to determine the chipset
>>> either from documentation or by use of some application.
>> First, I have a PC card labeled "Orinoco Wireless Networks - Gold".  It is
>> made by Agere Systems.  Has a nice product number on it of PC24E-H-FC. 
>> The label also has a serial number, a part number, a MAC address, a few
>> other FCC and other agency's registration numbers.
> 
> I too have an Orinoco Gold card in my hand at this moment.
> As you say, it gives some information about the card,
> but it does not say anything about the chipset _inside_ the card.
> 
> [Actually, it does not give the firmware version either;
> dmesg tells me
>         eth1: Firmware determined as Lucent/Agere 8.72]
> 
>> I don't have a laptop running any incantation of Linux.  So, I can't tell
>> you if the output of "lspci -vv" would reveal any clue as to the type of
>> chipset it contains.  A scanning electron microscope may come in handy
>> about now....
> 
> That was my sole point in this discussion -
> that it is not at all easy to find the chipset inside a WiFi card
> as some have claimed.

Yes.  I think some people are missing the point.  It is not a simple matter 
of holding the card in front of you and the chipset identity will pop out at 
you.  Nor is there a utility to run that will print it out for you.

In the case of my Orinoco Card...well I think I bought it 3~4 years ago. 
Any documentation I may have had on it is long gone.

>> Or, try going to  http://linux-wless.passys.nl/ and search there to see if
>> your card is listed.  I found mine...PC24E-H-FC.  But, it is a good thing
>> I used google to get to that web site as I didn't know that Agere was
>> acquired by Lucent.
> 
> It is almost as difficult to trace the ownership of WiFi companies
> as it is to find the chipset inside a WiFi device.
> As I understand it, Proxim now owns the Orinoco brand,
> and in fact has the most recent Windows software for these cards.
> 
> Incidentally, this URL describes the chipset as "Orinoco"
> which I am sure is not accurate.

And even if the chipset is "Orinoco" one has no idea if it is "Orinoco 
2.4.6" or "Orinoco 9B.7A4".

It is easy to tell someone "We gave you all the clues...it is up to YOU to 
find it" when they themselves couldn't do it.  :-)