Comments on the Proxim RangeLAN-DS PCMCIA Prism2Card:

Originally we were hoping that this card was a rebranded Zcomax XI-300 (see ZcomaxXi300Comments). However MichaelCodanti reports that:

I just got my 20 Proxim RangeLan-DS 8434-05 cards...

The good news:

• They are Zcomax XI-300's and have a snap off antenna with two Reverse MMCX connectors

• Update 1/11/2002 ErikWalthinsen verified that they work under Linux as both clients and APs. (At least after forcing an update to the 0.8.3 firmware) Details here: [http://lists.personaltelco.net/pipermail/ptp/2002q1/011140.html]

Now for the bad news:

• The sticker says they have firmware 0.7.6, where the new Zcomax ones have 0.8.3.
  • You can get the 0.8.3 firmware from SMC (I think)
  • Zcomax has released the 1.03.04 firmware the is Windows XP compatible, but they haven't released the drivers that are required to install it.

Now for the REALLY bad news:

• These are 3.3 volt cards, not 5 volt. (They are like the D-Link cards) But even worse, the cards are keyed correctly (unlike the D-Link ones) so they won't even go into the slot on my Toshiba 430CDT or a Stylistic 1000. This could be good news for some embedded boxes(if they support 3.3 volt) as I think the 3.3 volt cards draw less power.

I, also, got 2 Proxim RangeLan-DS 8433-05 cards. They are almost the same as the above 8434-05 cards but the have an integrated antenna with a single connector of unknown type (maybe SSMB). They still come with old firmware and are 3.3 volt.

NOTES: With a little coaxing you can get Windows to update the firmware on these cards. I had to use drivers from Zcomax (had to hack the .inf file) and then I used the firmware update tool from Addtron as Zcomax hasn't released the 0.8.3 firmware they ship on their cards They have released a newer one but you can't use it until they release newer drivers to match.

Here is some sample signal numbers from using cards in an iPaq running PocketPC all using the same driver (Compaq's Prism driver) and everything:

Above numbers are all the best I saw from the card while holding the iPaq in the same spot in my house connecting back to an AirPort base.

• could you test a lucent and/or cisco card just to give some comparison? --ForrestEnglish

  • I don't have any Cisco cards, and in testing against a Lucent it would be using different drivers and report different numbers, so I would have to change my testing methodology to do distance testing instead of measuring signal strength. I just haven't had time yet. --MichaelCodanti

    someone with a linux box could use wavemon to test the lucent and prism2 cards using the same number scale. wireless tools reporting for cisco cards seems to be broken in my experience though. --ForrestEnglish

• I picked up some of these from MichaelCodanti, the card seems to work pretty well, no problem with use as normal client card when connecting to an AP. I haven't tried the HostAp mode yet. Drawback so far is that the snap-on antenna feels very flimsy. I already broke one of the plastic stabalizing pegs when trying to pull it off. It still seems reasonably secure fit though. Definately not a bad card for the price. --RichardLotz

I think the Lucent cards are still better, but the Zcomax and Proxim cards with the snap off antenna appear to almost as well.

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