Wireless Network Adapters

2005-01-05T14:00:07Z

Harrijs: /* PC Card (PCMCIA) adapters */

This document covers IBM integrated (MiniPCI), Cardbus and PC Card (PCMCIA) Wi-Fi devices.

= Finding out which adapter you have =
For MiniPCI or Cardbus adapters run the command:
lspci -n
And compare the PCI IDS with the once below.

= MiniPCI adapters =

== IBM a/b/g Wireless LAN Mini PCI Adapter ==
PCI ID: 168c:1014 
Chipset: Atheros 
Driver: [[madwifi]] 
Supported wireless modes: 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g

Specifications: [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-52623 MIGR-52623] 
Users Guide: [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-52650 MIGR-52650] 
Service Parts: [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-52626 MIGR-52626]

== IBM a/b/g Wireless LAN Mini PCI Adapter II ==
Supported wireless modes: 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g

Specifications: [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-57210 MIGR-57210] 
Users Guide: [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-57217 MIGR-57217] 
Service Parts: [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-57214 MIGR-57214]

== IBM Dual-Band 802.11a/b Wi-Fi Wireless Mini PCI adapter ==
Chipset: Atheros 
Driver: [[madwifi]] 
Supported wireless modes: 802.11a, 802.11b
== IBM 11b/g Wireless LAN Mini PCI Adapter ==
Chipset: Atheros 
Driver: [[madwifi]] 
Supported wireless modes: 802.11b, 802.11g
== IBM High Rate Wireless LAN Mini-PCI Adapter ==
PCI ID: 1260:3873 
Chipset: Prism 2.5 
Drivers: [[orinoco|orinoco_pci]] or [[hostap]] 
Supported wireless modes: 802.11b

Specifications: [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-44033 MIGR-44033] 
Users Guide: [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-44134 MIGR-44134] 
Service Parts: [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-44051 MIGR-44051]

== Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG Mini-PCI Adapter ==
PCI ID: 8086:4220 
Chipset: Intel 
Driver: [[ipw2200]] 
Supported wireless modes: 802.11b, 802.11g

Specifications: [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-54903 MIGR-54903] 
Users Guide: [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-54910 MIGR-54910] 
Service Parts: [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-54904 MIGR-54904]

== Intel PRO/Wireless LAN 2100 3B Mini PCI adapter ==
PCI ID: 8086:1043 
Chipset: Intel 
Driver: [[ipw2100]] 
Supported wireless modes: 802.11b

Specifications: [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-50022 MIGR-50022] 
Users Guide: [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-50108 MIGR-50108] 
Service Parts: [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-50032 MIGR-50032]

== Cisco Aironet Wireless 802.11b Mini PCI ==
PCI ID: 14b9:a504 
Chipset: Cisco 
Driver: airo 
Supported wireless modes: 802.11b

Specifications: [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-44122 MIGR-44122] 
Users Guide: [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-44107 MIGR-44107] 
Service Parts: [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-44128 MIGR-44128]

== Unsupported MiniPCI adapter ==
Although the MiniPCI slot is an industry standard and can accept any MiniPCI adapter, the IBM BIOS is set to only allow you to boot with a 'supported' adapter installed. Attempts to install an unsupported card will result in the following message:

1802: Unauthorized network card is plugged in - Power off and remove the miniPCI network card.

The reason for this is that the combination of MiniPCI card and the integrated antenna in the ThinkPad needs to be certified by the US FCC (Federal Communications Committee).

Additional Information about Unsupported MiniPCI adapters can be found at: http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~mjg59/thinkpad/

= Cardbus adapters =
Cardbus is a 32bits bus that runs at 33MHz, and is in many ways simular to the PCI bus. In fact under Linux Cardbus adapters are handled by the PCI subsystem. 
You can differentiate a PC Card adapter from a Cardbus adapter as the later has a gold coloured grounding strip
== IBM 11 a/b/g Wireless Cardbus Adapter ==
Chipset: Atheros 
Driver: [[madwifi]] 
Supported wireless modes: 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g

Specifications: [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-51855 MIGR-51855] 
Users Guide: [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-51959 MIGE-51855] 
Service Parts: [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-51874 MIGR-51874]

== IBM 802.11a Wireless LAN Cardbus Adapter ==
Supported wireless modes: 802.11a

Specifications: [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-42209 MIGR-42209] 
Users Guide: [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-42233 MIGR-42233] 
Service Parts: [http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-42231 MIGR-42231]

= PC Card (PCMCIA) adapters =
PC Card or PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) as it used to be called, is an 8 or 16bits bus limited to 8MHz, in many ways simular to the old ISA bus and not suitable for highspeed devices.
== Cisco Aironet 350 802.11b wireless PC card with 128bit ==
Chipset: Cisco 
Driver: airo_cs 
Supported wireless modes: 802.11b
== IBM High Rate Wireless LAN PC Card ==
Chipset: Prism 2.5 
Drivers: [[orinoco|orinoco_pci]] or [[hostap]] 
Supported wireless modes: 802.11b
== Alvarion BreezeNET PC-DS.11b ==
Chipset: HERMES I 
Drivers: orinoco_cs 
Supported wireless modes: 802.11b

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Wireless Network Adapters