| Orinoco Gold 802.11b Wireless PC Card |
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Model: 848441556
Brand: Agere Systems
Manufacturer: Agere Systems
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 25
Form factor: Plug-in module
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: IEEE 802.11b
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| Features: |
Plugs directly into PCMCIA card slot
Intuitive client manager for easy, fast configuration
Up to 100 location profiles
Wide coverage range of up to 1,750 feet
802.1x authentication, 64 and128-bit WEP |
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| Description: |
| The same ORiNOCO PC card can be used worldwide for the Enterprise, ISP, Public Access or Home/SOHO markets using any of the ORiNOCO access point infrastructure products. The card provides high-speed wireless networking at 11Mbps and secure Internet access for laptop and desktop computers, as well as a wide range of mobile client computing devices.ORiNOCO PC Card delivers the same high-performance connectivity as wired systems, with the added freedom to move around your building or campus. The ORiNOCO PC Card is designed with a choice of security levels to protect your data. The Gold version provides enhanced security with a 128-bit key, using RC4 encryption. The ORiNOCO PC Card is interoperable with other manufacturers high-speed IEEE 802.11b compliant systems and is fully compliant with the WECA (Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance) Wi-Fi 'wireless fidelity' standard. |
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| User Reviews (25 total): |
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Great Laptop Wireless Card!, March 3, 2008
By C. Karma (Phoenix AZ USA)
A great 802.11b laptop wireless card that allows for easy connection of an external antenna.
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THE Best, Bar None, May 27, 2004
By chlorofiend (Chicago, IL USA)
By far the best wireless card I've seen in use. I get signals well outside the range of any of my friends and colleagues. Driver support in virtually any OS and its also supported by NetStumbler for wardriving or general network detection. I'd recommend scrapping the software it comes with, and just using the WiFi capabilities of your OS, if they offer them. Also has support for an external antenna, to further extend your effective signal reception. I don't see myself using any WiFi cards aside from the Orinoco series.
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Zero set up time, June 27, 2003
By Stephen Northcutt (Kauai, HI USA)
I bought the card, put it in my XP Professional and it worked, no fuss, no muss. I can even attach an extension antenna to it. I doubt it makes much difference in range, but it looks very geeky and I like that.
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Terrible card, June 22, 2003
By unknown
The software for this card is the worst. I noticed in another review someone had good luck running it with a D-Link 614+ router, I could never get it to connect. Maybe it's a Windows 98 issue but there is no conflict with card as far as 98 goes. Even the software that came with the card indicates it is working properly. I've tried everything including changing TCP/IP settings directly and the card will not connect with the 614+. Tech support is about a joke. After fighting with this card for hours I went and got a Microsoft USB and it ran 5 minutes out of the box.
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Easy to install, works immediately, June 16, 2003
By Rubidium37 (Tucson, AZ United States)
I recently purchased Dell Inspiron 5100 notebook and LinkSys wireless access point router BEFW11S4 with intention to build a simple network of two computers (one wireless and one direct line). Connected the router with my desktop computer first, followed setup instructions (router manual) and got connected to the Internet in no time (have Motorola cable modem SB4200). After that, I connected the Inspiron (direct cable to the router), run network Wizard in Win XP and established connection between both computers and Internet. As the last step, I installed the Orinoco software, disconnected Inspiron and router and inserted Orinoco Gold card into Inspiron. Again, using Network Connection option in XP, computer practically connected itself to the network and I was able to share both Internet connection and files/printer accross the house. Haven't tried 128 bit encryption yet. After more then a month, network works just fine with the all above components. This card is great.
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No dropped signals, Very good buy, May 18, 2003
By mssanjay (Atlanta, GA)
Its reviews made me to buy this one and it is really a good buy and an excellent product. I hardly have any dropped signals and range too is very good. Easy setup and nice software bundle.
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Great Item, May 7, 2003
By Mark Bryant (Richmond, VA)
I recently got this card after hearing the horror stories with the Linksys cards. I love this card it give me great coverage all over my house. I am using it with a Linksys router. Great Buy!
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fantastic, great signal strength, no dropped connections, May 2, 2003
By mssanjay (Atlanta, GA)
I read a lot of good reviews about this and went ahead and bought it. Works fantastic. No dropped connections and signal strength is great. I have a Netgear MR814 wireless router by the way. I highly recommend this .
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Let me say more., April 5, 2003
By EDB (MI)
I have Dlink-614+ router, WIFI certified, then I purchased a SMC EZ Connect wireless PC card for my laptop, not certified. They all support 802.11b standard, but they never talk to each other even though I put them head to head. Supporting 802.11b, it's nothing, don't believe that. Certified products are a little bit expensive, but they are reliable. If you need your laptop talk to different networks, you need a certified PC card. If your budget is tight, you can choose non-certified router and PC card from the same manufacture.
The SMC tech support people worked hard to help me, but it just did not work. I sold it and purchased this orinoco card. It's certified, and it works out of box. This is an old card, it needs 5 V to work, so it sucks more power, and it seems to be a 16 bit non-cardbus card, but I did not see any impact on speed or stability. This card is great.
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Easy to install, easy to use. in a word... GREAT., March 20, 2003
By graduate student (Catskill, NY United States)
My husband and I spent a lot of time figuring out what kind of wireless card to get for our IBM ThinkPads. After scouring reviews everywhere, I found that this particular card had received a lot of high marks.We ordered one, figuring that we would see how well it worked, and how difficult the setup was. We got the card, and I let my husband have first go at it. It was easy to set up. Within minutes, he was able to connect to the router. Granted we run Windows 2000, and we followed the installation direction to a T. When it came time for me to install it on my computer, it took longer for me to enter in the data to connect to the router than the install did. Neither my husband nor I had any problems with the install, and even after reformatting my computer a few days ago, it took me no time at all to be back in the wireless love. We live in a 2 floor townhouse, and we have no problems connecting to the router no matter where we are. I can easily use my computer on the screened in porch or in the kitchen. The signal is strong, and I've never had any problems. All in all, don't scrimp and save [a few bucks] by buying another card. This card is worth every penny. After reading the horror stories for other cards, it makes me very happy that I did the research and picked this card from the start.
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Worth the Price for the Card, March 19, 2003
By unknown
I recommend ppl to try out this wireless card. First I bought Dlink DWL-650 for about the same price and the signal reception was really bad. I then returned the card and bought this one as the review was good. And I was suprise to see the quality of the signal reception on this card. I got excellent reception on the same location compared to 'very low' using the Dlink card. I mostly use this card in my university and I am very amazed with the quality. Get this card, don't be fooled by the cheaper price on other products.
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Started working immediately on newer Linux OS..., March 9, 2003
By blabber (Stockton, CA United States)
I got this card to use on a used IBM Thinkpad I got on eBay. Being semantically challenged yet brave to try out new tech toys, I predicted I would have trouble getting things to work, as I can barely operate a can opener. To add to the fun, I quit using Windows 98 in favor of SuSE Linux 8.1 Pro the same week. Amazingly, I didn't even need the included driver CD that came with the card to make it go. I just tweaked the network settings in the Linux setup tool area, and boom... I was on the air talking to my Belkin wireless router at warp speed. If only ALL of my upgrades and add-ons went this smooth!!! I almost opted for Orinoco's Silver card, but paid the extra few bucks for the better encryption security. Now, if only I could figure out how to turn the encryption ON...... =;^)
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Very good reception!, March 4, 2003
By Matthew Clark (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
I use this card for the wireless network in my law school and get great reception, even when the network node is two or three floors away. One of my friends uses a Belkin card and can only get reception if he's in line-of-sight of the network node. After one week, he returned the other card and got the Orinoco!
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Easily worth the extra $..., February 6, 2003
By Erik Engquist (Brooklyn, NY United States)
This card was recommended to me by a friend who has written a book on how to set up a wireless network. The card, he said, is manufactured with superior components. I was tempted to buy other wireless PC cards that purport to do the same thing but cost $... instead of $..., but in this case I took my friend's advice -- and I'm very glad I did. The card works very well. I've used it in a two-year-old ThinkPad running Windows 2000, an ancient ThinkPad 760EL running Windows 95, and a new Gateway running Windows XP. No problems with any of them.
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Easy to set up, January 1, 2003
By David Wilson (Maryland)
This card was quite easy to install and configure, even without my knowing much about computers. It took me about 30 minutes to get it up and running. The card has good range (from my basement to the second floor) and the speed is also great. It does seem to slow, however, when a cordless phone is being used in the same area. Overall, I'm quite happy with it.
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Absolutely marvelous..., December 30, 2002
By 'Kaze (Washington DC)
To those of you laptop users who are searching for a way to get into the world of wireless networking, here is by far the greatest card for the money I have ever seen.First of all, let me say that I owned the DLink 22Mbps card before I purchased this one after becoming disgusted with how the card refused to work. I purchased this card after hearing Tech Support at work say that it is a decent card. After a somewhat difficult configuration period (the one criticism I have for the card is that the software installation and configuration was a bit more tricky than implied by the instructions) I got the card to work marvelously. It grabs and holds signals incredibly well. I've sat in the hallway outside of my lab and left the card on observation to see how many antennas it was detecting, and found it was picking up the antennas at the opposite end of the corridor, easily 500 feet away. The only complaints I have with the card are the instructions (I already mentioned) and the fact that it has difficulty dealing with concrete walls, but I suspect any card would have problems with the 4" cinderblock walls with 2" of plaster on either side that exist in my building. Don't waste your time, money, and energy on a cheaper card - spend a little more money and get a card you can depend on.
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Satisfied, December 20, 2002
By Mohamed Hassanain (Louisville, Ky United States)
A breeze to install at least with XP and an SMC router. I have my router set up in the basement and I have great to good range all the way up to the third floor attic and out on my back deck. (ahh the convenience). Completely what I expected.
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Simple installation, good performance, December 3, 2002
By Scott K. Ibara (Wailuku, HI USA)
The initial installation with the supplied software was very quick and easy; it only took about 5 minutes. I use this card when I'm on campus. Because the IT department there supports the card, they have instructions on how to configure the card to work with their network. Although the instructions were a bit dated, that configuration took another 10 minutes. Once that was done, I've had no problems connecting to the network. I'd consider the performance to be very good, but I don't know what that's worth because I sit within 50 feet of the access point anyway and I don't move either.
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Worth the extra money, November 28, 2002
By shie0041 (Minneapolis, MN USA)
I purchased this card after failing to get Linksys' WPC11 to work with my Toshiba laptop (a common problem according to numerous users on Toshiba's tech support online forum).Installation is trivial with Windows XP: just plug the card in and watch as WinXP recognizes the card and installs the driver. I've never even used the CD that came with it. Want to upgrade the driver and firmware? No problem again, just use Windows Update. My office-mate has a WPC11 for his Dell laptop and so we can easily compare signal strength. I am able to connect to the wireless network in the next building, and both my building and the other are brick. He's never once recieved a signal from that network. On the network in my building I always have a stronger signal than he does. The bottom line - this is a great card that is well worth the extra money.
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Late delivery, November 20, 2002
By OLIVIER TARDY (PARIS France)
This product is advertised as being shipped within 24 hours.I am still hoping to receive it tomorrow, after placing the order two days ago, with an additional 19 USD for a 24 hours shipping...
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