Hello all. I would like to clarify what I said. When I said Marketing fluff, I am referring to the fact that the RoamAbout card was still using a term on the label that they had been using from the beginning of them selling the card.
It has been many years since I did any serious work in the electronics field, and things tend to fog up with age. The information that is available on the web about how each OEM implements the features in a wireless pc card is not complete. I do know from Lucent documents that with v6 of the software for Macintosh, the cards with the correct Firmware are WiFi Certified 802.11b. The tech document is dated March 2000. So there is good posibility that the cards offered for sale now, are of the WiFi Certified type. Quoting from the Lucent Document "Added WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) functionality. This requires a firmware level 6.04 in the PC cards. WiFi functionality ensures interoperability with other 802.11B high rate products." The key word is interoperability. I take this to mean backwards compatable. My RoamAbout card has the WiFi certification logo on the front of the card along with the notation of DS High Rate. Every card I have except the Dell TrueMobile 1150 and the YDI Wireless has the WiFi Certification logo. They all work with the Orinoco drivers under OS 9.x.x. and all connect to the Base Station I have. I think that if you buy the card from the vendor of you choice and it does not work as advertised, they have an obligation to make it good. My RoamAbout works fine at home with my Base Station, but just to make sure, I will take it to the local restruant that offers free WiFi and see. Just as a thought, prehaps I will take apart my Base Station and check the Firmware in the card that is in it. Wonder what I will find?? I have a Graphite BS and I know it has the Lucent Orinoco Silver card in it. I might even put in a third party Silver card and see if the Airport software will upgrad the Firmware or toast the Base Station. Ken Vann -- G-Books is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Check our web site for refurbished PowerBooks | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-Books list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-books.html> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-books%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- >The Think Different Store http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
