[NTLK] Wireless Cards - Lucent

[Anthony Morrow]

On Feb 7, 2016, at 5:09 PM, Doug <ispinn at gmail.com> wrote:

>> What does the router settings need to
>> be for the Lucent wireless cards to work
>> with them?
>> 
>> Doc Clu
> 
> Others more on the ball on wireless communications, please chime in.
> 
> I remember learning that different hardware have different abilities
> along the chain. Some cards support only WEP, some can be upgraded,
> some are stuck in old ruts and cannot be upgraded.
> 
> The Lucent cards, IIRC, are stuck at WEP level encryption.
> 
> Somewhere, someplace, is a simple diagram showing hardware and
> software used in the (infinite) combinations of different devices and
> SW through the communications chain, showing what each device and
> software (OS, extension, DLL, etc.) supports, and which can and cannot
> be upgraded.
> 
> I haven't found that diagram, yet.
> 
> Doug
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> http://newtontalk.net/
> http://twitter.com/newtontalk


My understanding is 802.11b wireless only supports WEP. WPA/WPA2 was added with 802.11g. I don’t know of any 16-bit PC card that supported 802.11g, they were all 32-bit CardBus and not compatible with the Newton.

Paul Guyot’s kallisys.com website used to have a list of compatible cards and what extensions were needed to make them work. You can find a copy of it in the wayback machine <https://web.archive.org/web/20080705024020/http://www.kallisys.com/newton/morewifi/>.

Speaking of wireless compatibility, I learned something interesting about some enterprise grade hardware that may or may not apply to consumer routers. With the equipment we have, setting up one SSID with WPA/WPA2 protection disabled 802.11b compatibility for other SSIDs broadcasting from the same access point. We had a chemistry lab with a bunch of older computers and they magically lost wireless access when we deployed a new SSID with WPA2 protection. The computers had 802.11b wireless cards and that was the cause. So if you plan to set a separate SSID at home for your Newton can’t connect, that may be the problem. I’ve not tested this with my home router since my Newton is now retired.

-Tony Morrow