are us robotics wlan products compatible?

[cangiante]

I went to the local electronic superstore and found what seemed to be a "not bad" offer on access points and pc cards.
The vendor was actually offering US robotics products but had no idea whether they could work together with the netBook or not...
the ref. no. for the wireless access point is 132450
while the item no. 132410 stands for the wireless access pc card.
what do you think? will they be compatible with the nB or not?

[diem]

you'll need to go digging on the web - if the PC card uses either the Lucent Hermes or Intersil Prism chipsets then it will work in the netBook.

Happy Googling! (I don't think the card is on my WLAN compatibility matrix (http://www.isbg00598.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/faq/Networks.htm#LANcompat))

[cangiante]

thank you diem,
I've just post a message into the italian mailbox of us robotics.
i hope somebody will find my "bottle" and, in the meantime, i do have another question for you.
is the fact that access points are all the same an assumption correct in your opinion?
is that true that only pc cards have to be checked before buying in order to use them with the nB?

[diem]

well sort of, yes.

There is nothing that can make an AP incompatible with the netBook, and as long as both PC Card and AP have the 'WiFi' logo on them then they should both support 802.11b (transfer rates up to 11Mbps and 64-bit WEP).

However, I would still suggest trying out your chosen PC Card with any given access point before you spend any money...

[cangiante]

Following the route suggested on your compatibility page I ended up with consulting Fladda's site where I found this note:

US Robotics 2410 Prism-II PCMCIA

it seems that the product I saw at my local vendor has been made with this chipset...

what do you think?

is this a good sign or just nothing more that we had already known?

[martyscholes]

FWIW,

I tried a USR card (can't recall the model #) on my netBook. It works like a charm in my wife's windows 98 box, but not on the netBook.

[fladda]

You can't have been looking at my web site. I don't have one !

However a WiFi card that used the Prism II chipset should work on the Netbook, but the WEP encryption will not work. Note that some manufacturers sell the same card part number, but containing different internal chip sets. For example the Netgear MA-401 - earlier cards are Prism II and later cards are not.

I suggest that you double check that the US Robotics card is indeed a Prism II based card - get the FCC ID: number and do a search on Google and see what you find. If you've got plenty of time you can do some detailed research on the FCC web page, as described on Mr Diem's excellent web site.

Hope this helps,

Ralph

[cangiante]

thank you all for giving your pieces of advice!
I ended up with buying a brand new Belkin F5D6020 (which should have Intersil Prism II chipset inside) and a Belkin access point at a reasonable price at an electronic retailer network just opposite home. the vendor was helpful and agreed to give me a policy of return basis in case the card won't work.
firstly I inserted the pc card into the nB slot and was quite worried by the fact that E displays "disk not present"; I hope that this doesn't matter.
Secondly I connected the access point to the ethernet cable and saw the link led blinking on the pc card: I hope this is a good sign.
Then I started NetStatRF but it is not working... does anybody know why? Maybe intersil prism II chipset are not supported?
Anyway I am going to try the system tomorrow as my service provider forgot to enable the second connection to the broadband network.
The reason I bought this system is to use it in combination to my home pc for a broadband connection.

[fladda]

NetStafRF only works when you have an active 802.11b connection in progress.

First you need to :-

1. Configure your WiFi card using the Ethernet settings on the Netbook control panel.

2. Use a Netbook application that brings up the connection dialogue box, and select the WiFi card (rather than say a 56k modem). Suggest using Opera or Ffinger.

3. LED on the Prism II card should come on when the Netbook starts up the 802.11b connection.

IIRC there are more details on Mr Diem's web site.

Incidentally you do not need an access point if you are just connecting your Netbook to (say) a PC. You can use Peer-to-Peer mode for this, so long as all machines use the same type of 802.11b card, and firmware revisions are up-to-date etc.

Ralph

[cangiante]

Originally posted by fladda
First you need to :-

1. Configure your WiFi card using the Ethernet settings on the Netbook control panel.

2. Use a Netbook application that brings up the connection dialogue box, and select the WiFi card (rather than say a 56k modem). Suggest using Opera or Ffinger.



1) do you think I am doing the right thing by using the same settings available for the lucent orinoco kind of cards?

2) do you think I can use also the email app?

[fladda]

Yes. For Prism II based 802.11b cards, you need to configure your Netbook as a Lucent Orinoco. Do not enable WEP as this doesn't work on the Prism II based cards.

You could use email to bring up the initial connection dialogue box, but I'd recommend using a simpler application such as Ffinger to start with. This would eliminate all of the email settings from the equation.

Use Ffinger to ping your access point in the first instance. If that works, then your 802.11b connection is working.

Ralph

[cangiante]

I guess I am not doing the right thing as the nB crashes every time I try to connect via flfinger...
I edited the ethernet settings as follows:
config. method: manual
hostname: netBook
device: Lucent Orinoco
options: (I did actually nothing)
Addresses: I got my IP address and the default gateway directly from my pc. the mask is 255 255 255 0

every time I try flfinger the system performs a soft reset.

do you happen to know where I am actually going wrong?

[fladda]

I've never had FIFinger causing a soft reset ?

I suggest that you :-

1. Try deleting the commsdb.dat file in c:system/data. Note that this will erase all of your internet and other communications settings. Then configure your 802.11b card again as before.

There are known issues with corruptions to the commsdb.dat file when you are upgrading the operating system.

2. Check that the .OPX file(s) required by FIFinger are present.

I suppose that the reset might be occurring when the Netbook tries to initialise the Prism II card.

Q. Does the Netbook reset occur before or after you get the 'open connection' dialogue ?

Ralph

[cangiante]

Originally posted by fladda
I've never had FIFinger causing a soft reset ?

I suggest that you :-

2. Check that the .OPX file(s) required by FIFinger are present.

I suppose that the reset might be occurring when the Netbook tries to initialise the Prism II card.

Q. Does the Netbook reset occur before or after you get the 'open connection' dialogue ?

Ralph

2) which OPX files are actually required by FlFinger?

A. the nB resets as soon as I select the internet address and click OK. the nB then asks me which connection I want to use (e.g. Belkin Card) and at that moment it resets.

[cangiante]

I am glad to write that everything is now ok!
the problem was not due to the access point (the nB resetted when in flfinger before actually getting even connected!) and not related to the commsdb.dat file (I tried deleting it but the resetting persisted).
Fladda was right: the reason of the system reset was linked to .opx files. in fact there were a couple of programs which had not been uninstalled properly. I found them by scrolling the install/remove app. and see a couple of them which were "partial".
Now everything works fine and for those who might be interested in knowing more I can summarize as follows:

1) WLANPCCARD: belkin f5d6020 (found at an electronic network local shop). the price I paid was 99 euro (VATincluded).
WEP is not supported but in the meantime the stylus is free to go back and forth.

2) WLANACCESSPOINT belkin F5d6030 (bought in the same shop at 159 euro including VAT). there was another retailer who was selling another AP for about 50 euro less but I preferred to buy from the former one, who agreed to sell everything on a policy of return basis in case of not working.I've been using it for a couple of hours now and I am writing from the kitchen (note that the AP is right on the other side of my apartment).

3) Home Access Gateway which has been installed by my broadband ISP.

I used the same settings for lucent orinoco and set the box to DCHP. Moreover I followed the advice of DIEM who has written about the SSID in his most recent post, tonight

current TX rate is 4 MB