[Wirelessdriver-support] Linksys WPC11 & SMC 2632W V2

[<rus...@sy...>]

Hello,

Below is a quick "field report" that I managed to "live out" in the last 
week. The host machine is a PowerBook Wallstreet II running 10.2.2.

Summary:
Linksys WPC11: card recognized and used, no problem.
SMC 2632W V2: does *not* work (the "Version 2" is Atmel based, rather 
than Prism - I think this should be reflected on the support page [ 
http://wirelessdriver.sourceforge.net/faq.html#supported ])

Waiting for an Orinoco silver to make some more tests...

___

Having succesfully tested the Linksys, I read a few pages about that card 
(see [ http://staff.deltatee.com/%7Eangusa/Hardware.html ]

>I don't recommend this card. It is under powered compared to the ones 
>listed above.

and, if it's any reference at all, user reviews on Amazon [ 
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000056SSM/ ]

>The range of the WPC11 is very very poor. It is by far the worst of any 
>wireless LAN card that I have had experience with.

) and had the impression that by getting another card, I would get a 
better range (always a good thing). I decided on the SMC 2632W, having 
also read on the aforementionned site [ 
http://staff.deltatee.com/%7Eangusa/Hardware.html ] that

>This is the best inexpensive card I have found yet. I have the version 1 
>card and don't know what the version 2 is like. I haven't even bothered 
>with an external connector because the range is so good.

A very promising statement indeed! At my local computer shop, they had 
the 2632W, but there was no specific mention of version 1 or 2. Actually, 
there was a picture of the card on the front on which there was no 
mention of "V2"... but the card inside (by its form, LED placement, etc.) 
looked very different... and had "V2" printed on it.

After unsuccessfully trying to make it work, I read that this specific 
(Version 2) 2632 uses an Atmel chipset, for which, by the way, sources 
have been made available (before that, there was only an x86 compatible 
binary). More info at: [ http://www.chip.org/~alb/SMC2632Wv2.html ]. 
Perhaps an OS X port in the distant future?

Conclusion: if you have a WPC11... maybe try to compare its range with 
other cards to see if the "range myth" is true (say, compared to a 
(compatible, Version 1) SMC 2632 or an Orinoco)? and if you have a SMC 
2632 V2... give it to a friend for Christmas or something. ;-)

Best,

Greg Sadetsky