ORiNOCO
Encyclopedia
Proxim Wireless
Proxim Wireless Corporation , is a San Jose, California-based company that builds scalable broadband wireless networking systems for communities, enterprises, governments, and service providers. It claims to offer WLAN, mesh, point-to-multipoint and point-to-point products through a global channel...
(previously Lucent). These chipset
Chipset
A chipset, PC chipset, or chip set refers to a group of integrated circuits, or chips, that are designed to work together. They are usually marketed as a single product.- Computers :...
s (codenamed Hermes) provide wireless connectivity for 802.11-compliant Wireless LAN
Wireless LAN
A wireless local area network links two or more devices using some wireless distribution method , and usually providing a connection through an access point to the wider internet. This gives users the mobility to move around within a local coverage area and still be connected to the network...
s.
Variants
PC Card
In computing, PC Card is the form factor of a peripheral interface designed for laptop computers. The PC Card standard was defined and developed by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association which itself was created by a number of computer industry companies in the United States...
, referred to by different color-based monikers:
- White/Bronze: WaveLAN IEEE Standard 2 Mbit/s PC Cards with 802.11 support.
- Silver: WaveLAN IEEE Turbo 11 Mbit/s PC Cards with 802.11b and 64-bit WEPWired Equivalent PrivacyWired Equivalent Privacy is a weak security algorithm for IEEE 802.11 wireless networks. Introduced as part of the original 802.11 standard ratified in September 1999, its intention was to provide data confidentiality comparable to that of a traditional wired network...
support. - Gold: WaveLAN IEEE Turbo 11 Mbit/s PC Cards with 802.11b and 128-bit WEPWired Equivalent PrivacyWired Equivalent Privacy is a weak security algorithm for IEEE 802.11 wireless networks. Introduced as part of the original 802.11 standard ratified in September 1999, its intention was to provide data confidentiality comparable to that of a traditional wired network...
support.
Later models dropped the 'Turbo' moniker due to 802.11b 11 Mbit/s becoming widespread.
Proxim, after taking over Lucent's wireless division, rebranded all their wireless cards to ORiNOCO - even cards not based on Lucent/Agere's Hermes chipset. Proxim still offers ORiNOCO-based cards under the 'Classic' brand.
Rebranded products
The WaveLANWaveLAN
WaveLAN is a brand that describes two completely different families of wireless network solutions:* Pre-IEEE 802.11 WaveLAN, also called Classic WaveLAN* IEEE 802.11-compliant WaveLAN, also known as WaveLAN IEEE or ORiNOCO-History:...
chipsets that power ORiNOCO-branded cards were commonly used to power other wireless networking devices, and are compatible with a number of other access points, routers and wireless cards. The following brand and models utilise the chipset, or are rebrands
Rebranding
Rebranding is the creation of a new name, term, symbol, design, or a combination of them for an established brand with the intention of developing a differentiated position in the mind of stakeholders and competitors....
of an ORiNOCO product:
- 3Com AirConnect
- Apple Airport and Airmac cards (original only, non extreme). Modified to remove the antenna stub.
- AVAYA World Card
- Cabletron RoamAbout 802.11 DS
- Compaq WL100 11 Mbit/s Wireless Adapter
- D-Link DWL-650
- ELSA AirLancer MC-11
- Ericsson WLAN Card C11
- Farallon SkyLINE
- Fujitsu RoomWave
- HyperLink Wireless PC Card 11Mbit/s
- Intel PRO/Wireless 2011
- LA4111 Spectrum24 Wireless LAN PC Card
- Lucent Technologies Wavelan/IEEE Orinoco
- Melco WLI-PCM-L11
- Microsoft Wireless Notebook Adapter MN-520
- NCR WaveLAN/IEEE Adapter
- Proxim LAN PC CARD HARMONY 80211B
- Samsung 11Mbit/s WLAN Card
- Toshiba Wireless Lan Mini PCI Card
Preferred wireless chipset for wardriving
The ORiNOCO (and their derivatives) is preferred by wardriversWardriving
Wardriving is the act of searching for Wi-Fi wireless networks by a person in a moving vehicle, using a portable computer, smartphone or PDA....
, due to their high sensitivity and the ability to report the level of noise (something that other chips do not report). The pre-Proxim (or 'Classic') ORiNOCO cards have a jack for attaching an external antenna.