Orinoco Gold 802.11b Wireless PC Card

by Agere

Product Details

Product Manual [334kb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.2 x 4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00006BA7X
• Item model number: 848441556
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 21, 2002

Product 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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the extra money, November 27, 2002

By 

Eric "shie0041" (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Orinoco Gold 802.11b Wireless PC Card (Personal Computers)

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.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply amazing, THE BEST card out there, October 18, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Orinoco Gold 802.11b Wireless PC Card (Personal Computers)

... WinXP already had all the drivers needed. Another 5 minutes to change my ESSID, enable WEP, and set my WEP 128-bit key, and I was securely connected to my network. I know performance while using WEP "should" suffer, but I didn't see any difference - still connected at 11 mbps, and surfing the web at 4.5 mbps via my ATTBI cable. And it didn't change much when I started walking around my house (2 story 2800 sq.ft.). The worst signal I had was in my garage sitting in my car with doors closed - 85%. Can't even compare with WPC11 I had, where my signal and link quality would drop to 15-30% every time I had a wall between laptop and AP. So, don't cut corners and try to save a few bucks by going with cheaper brands - spend extra $20 and you'll be happy you did.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Works for Mac -- Powerbooks, October 31, 2002

By 

J. T. Yong "johnny_bravo" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Orinoco Gold 802.11b Wireless PC Card (Personal Computers)

I bought one for my Powerbook G3 (bronze keyboard) and it slid right into the PCMCIA slot on the left side. Set up my wireless network with a Netgear wireless router (M314) and I was on the 'Net in fifteen minutes. Easy install. (I believe Orinoco manufactured the first Apple Airports cards, too).