This Page Contains Hardware Comparisons. Please feel free to add charts for other types of hardware, update fields containing ?, update prices, add new models/manufacturers, etc.. You know the deal 
Regrettably, some people delete information that is still of use...
This page lists mostly very ancient products. Here's another site that has sadly gone out of date, but less so.
Looking for a neat table comparing all of the receive sensitivities? Check out ReceiveSensitivity .
Note: Please standardize on xmit power. It is hard to compare dBm and mW. Here is some help: 30dBm is exactly 1000mW or 1 full Watt, 20dBm is exactly 100mW, 17dBm is about 50mW, 15dBm is about 32mW. Because antenna and distance calculations use dB it might be better to use dBm for all power ratings. Weird, but more useful.
Note note: A dBm <-> mW calculator can be found here, for those that are wondering about exact mW/dBm correlations. Power in dBm is simply 10*log(power in mw) so, for example, 100mw expressed in dBm is 10*log(100)= 10*2= 20dBm
Go here for all MacOS 9 and MacOS X driver info: MacOS
Contents
802.11b Client Adapters
Card Name |
Interface type(s) |
Power |
Price(s) |
Ant. Connector |
Comments |
Chipset |
Drivers for |
FCC ID |
Senao/Engenius NMP-8602+ |
MiniPCI |
400mW (b,g), 100mW (a) |
64 euros+VAT |
2x U.FL, N female +4 euros |
Best card I've ever owned, period. Beats my 200mW Senao PCMCIA card hands down and supports also g/a to boot. Works fine on my Centrino laptop. |
Atheros |
Windows XP, 2003, Linix (Madwifi) |
|
PCMCIA |
100 mW |
NO |
-- |
Prism ? |
[LinuxDrivers | Linux] - BSD? |
|||
Actiontec HWC01170-01 |
PCMCIA |
? |
32ukp |
None |
Poor range |
Prism 3 |
Windows Linux BSD |
|
3com AirConnect |
PCMCIA |
30 mw |
$150 |
2xMMCX!!! |
Prism?/Symbol? |
Linux/[open|free]BSD |
||
3e-110 |
PCMCIA |
200 mw |
None (Int. Antenna) |
physically identical to Senao, but different driver; RF Manager (adjusts TX power) is available for ~$10 |
Prism 2.5 |
Windows NT/2000/ME/CE/XP/Linux |
||
PCMCIA |
30mw |
$130 |
None |
Linux |
||||
PCI 2.1 |
Version 2: 31dBm |
External Detachable Rubber Antenna unscrews to SMA connector |
Optional desktop omni antenna with 5 foot cable ( F5D6900 ) |
Version 1: Prism2.5 Version 2101: ADM8211 |
Driver Windows 95 , 98SE,Me, 2000 , NT , XP NOTE:- No Linux drivers supplied by belkin, open-source driver for NetBSD (atw) |
|||
Belkin F5D6020 (Ver. 1) |
PCMCIA Pic |
13 dBm ~ 20 dBm (50mW) (max) |
? |
PCB mount for optional SMA/MMCX jack |
Discontinued, Rebranded Eumitcom (Now Accton) WL11000-1 card, Optional PCI Adapter F5d6000 (Also discontinued, only works w/ Ver.1 card) |
Works beautifully w/linux |
||
PCMCIA 16 Pic |
17 dBm (50mW) |
$50(Amazon), $25 (PriceGrabber), $29 (Sears until 10/25/03) |
same as SMC 2632W V2 |
Works w/linux driver HOWTO HOW TO belkin_howto |
||||
Belkin F5D6020 Ver.3 |
Cardbus |
16 dBm - 18 dBm (40 mW - 63 mW) |
? |
? |
Rebranded EDIMAX EW-7106PC |
Win98,Win2k, WinXP, Linux with ndiswrapper and WinXP drivers or open source driver |
NDD9571060301 |
|
USB 1.1 |
13dBm? |
? |
Dual Dipole Antennas (Int. PCB U.FL jack? and mount for SMA/MMCX End Launch Jack) |
Same Chipset as Netgear MA101 |
Windows 9x/ME/2000/XP/Linux |
K7SF5D6050 |
||
Belkin F5d6050 (Ver.2) |
USB 2.0 |
? |
? |
Single Antenna |
? |
? |
? |
? |
Belkin F5d6051 |
USB 2.0 |
? |
? |
Integrated Antenna (USB "Stick-type" Adapter) |
? |
? |
? |
K7SF5D6051 |
Belkin F5D7050 (Ver. 1-4) |
USB 2.0 |
? |
? |
Integrated Antenna |
? |
? |
see passys.nl |
|
Cisco AIR-LMC352 |
PCMCIA |
100mw |
$105(Amazon), $102 (PriceGrabber) |
Dual MMCX |
|
Aironet |
Linux, BSD, OSX |
|
Cisco AIR-PCM352 |
PCMCIA |
100mw |
$99 (WLANmall), $115(Amazon), $106 (PriceGrabber) |
No |
Sensitivity: 1 Mbps: –94 dBm, 2 Mbps: –91 dBm, 5.5 Mbps: –89 dBm, 11 Mbps: –85 dBm |
Aironet |
Linux, BSD, OSX |
|
Cisco AIR-PCI352 |
PCI |
100mw |
$199(Amazon), $188 (PriceGrabber) |
RP TNC |
|
Aironet |
Linux, BSD, OSX |
|
USB 1.1 |
15dB |
http://www.computersonics.com (Computer Sonics $39.95) |
Single internal chip antenna |
5v @ Tx 550mA max Rx 350mA max |
. |
Win Linux |
IIO-0232USB611 |
|
Compaq HNW-200 |
USB |
79mw? |
? |
? |
Windows 9x/ME/2000/XP/Linux |
|||
Conceptronic C54C |
PCMCIA |
? |
No |
? |
Atheros |
Windows 9x/ME/2000/XP/Linux |
|
|
PCMCIA |
200mW |
RP-MMCX |
-91dbm 11Mb/-96 1Mb FCC Cert w/ high gain antennas |
Prism 2.5 |
Windows 9x/ME/NT4/2000/XP/CE3/Linux/MAC/NetBSD |
qgk-dt200 |
||
PCMCIA |
100mW |
RP-MMCX |
-91dbm 11Mb/-96 1Mb FCC Cert w/ high gain antennas |
Prism 2.5 |
Windows 9x/ME/NT4/2000/XP/CE3/Linux/MAC/NetBSD |
qgk-dt100 |
||
PCMCIA |
300mW |
RP-MMCX |
-91dbm 11Mb/-96 1Mb |
Prism 2.5 |
Windows 9x/ME/NT4/2000/XP/CE3/Linux/MAC/NetBSD |
- |
||
Dell TrueMobile 1100 |
PCMCIA |
30 mw |
$99 |
|
Rebranded CiscoAironet 340 |
IntersilPrism2 w/ Aironet MAC controller |
Linux/FreeBSD |
|
Dell TrueMobile 1150 |
PCMCIA/MiniPCI |
30mW |
Same as Orinoco |
Rebranded Orinoco Gold |
Hermes |
Windows (XP has them built in), *unix, Mac, WindowsCE |
||
Dell TrueMobile 1180 Ver.1 |
USB |
? |
? |
|
Internal Ant. |
ISL387AIK33 = Prism2.5? |
? |
|
Dell TrueMobile 1180 Ver.2 |
USB |
? |
|
Single Popup Ant. |
Broadcom Chipset |
? |
||
PCI |
15 dBm (31.6 mW) |
$42(Amazon) |
Reverse SMA |
See DlinkCard for hardware hacks |
IntersilPrism 2.5, ADMtek ADM8211 (Rev. C) |
*BSD driver wi (prior to Rev. C), NetBSD driver (atw) for Rev. C, Windows (all revisions), Linux |
||
PCI 2.2 |
15 dBm (31.6 mW) |
$45(Amazon) |
Reverse SMA |
See DlinkCard for hardware hacks |
TI acx100 |
|||
32-bit CardBus |
15 dBm |
$45(Amazon) |
No - There is a U.fl Connector on the top of the antenna, square in the middle - easy hack. |
See DlinkCard for hardware hacks; Up to 22Mbps with DLink AirPlus connections |
TI acx100 |
|||
PCI |
? dBm |
? |
? |
? |
TI Chipset |
? |
||
Engenius |
See entry for Senao |
. |
. |
. |
See SenaoCard for more info |
. |
. |
|
FarallonSkyLine PN473 PC-Card |
n/a |
? |
? |
Unknown |
Mac/Win |
|||
GigaFast WF721-AEX A* |
PCMCIA |
16dBm-18dBm (40-63 mW) |
~$29 |
None |
-83dBm receive sensitivity |
Atmel? |
Windows XP, 2000, ME, 98SE, Linux with binary drivers from GigaFast |
. |
GigaFast WF721-AEX R* |
PCMCIA |
16dBm-18dBm (40-63 mW) |
~$29 |
None |
-83dBm receive sensitivity |
Windows XP, 2000, ME, 98SE, Linux with binary drivers from GigaFast |
PANWL1102 |
|
GigaFast WF721-AEX T* |
Cardbus |
16dBm-18dBm (40-63 mW) |
~$29 |
None |
-83dBm receive sensitivity |
TI acx100? |
Windows XP, 2000, ME, 98SE with binary drivers from GigaFast |
. |
IBM High Rate Wireless LAN Card |
PCMCIA/ISA (with adapter) |
30mW |
~$160 |
LucentProprietary Connector |
It's a rebranded/relabeled Lucent Orinoco Gold |
Hermes |
Windows, ?Linux? |
|
PCMCIA/ISA |
? |
? |
? |
? |
Linux |
|||
PCMCIA/PCI |
30mW |
None |
Mediocre Windows Drivers that don't support the ANY essid, WinCE drivers would not load on two different machines |
WinCE, Linux |
||||
Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG |
miniPCI |
16 dBM (40 mW) |
$30 |
U.FL / IBM UltraConnect |
Receive sensitivity: 11 Mbps: -82 dBm to 1 Mbps: -89 dBm; supposedly has problems connecting to several APs. Many IBM ThinkPads ship with this in its UltraConnect connector version; because ThinkPads use this connector, a good upgrade would be the IBM AR5BMB-44 Atheros 4G |
Intel 2200BG chipset |
Drivers for Linux at http://ipw2200.sourceforge.net/ |
numerous |
Lancom MC11 |
PCMCIA 16bit 5V |
? |
? |
Lucent type |
same as LucentWirelessCard, 128 bit encryption |
Hermes |
Linux |
|
Lancom MC11b |
PCMCIA 16bit |
? |
? |
? |
|
other, newer chipset |
? |
|
LinksysCard WPC11 |
PCMCIA 16 |
95mW |
discontinued |
No! |
|
Linux |
||
Linksys WUSB11 |
USB 1.1 |
63mW (18dbm) |
newegg.com |
Can be soldered on |
works great with linux! Datasheet can be found here: ftp://ftp.linksys.com/datasheet/wusb11_v28_ds.pdf |
at76c505 |
Linux |
|
Linksys WPC11 |
PCMCIA 16 |
16mW |
discontinued |
No |
original version 128 bit WEP 12dBm Pout -90dBm sensitivity |
Prism 2.0 |
numerous |
|
Linksys WPC11 v2.5 |
PCMCIA 16 |
40mW |
discontinued |
No |
128 bit WEP 16dBm Pout -80dBm sensitivity |
Prism 2.5 |
numerous |
|
Linksys WPC11 v3.0 |
PCMCIA 16 |
40mW |
$50-$10=$40(Amazon) |
No |
current version 128 bit WEP 16dBm Pout -80dBm sensitivity |
Prism 3.0 |
numerous |
|
Linksys WPC11 v4 |
Cardbus :'( |
? |
? |
NO |
128 bit WEP |
Win, Linux, *BSD? |
||
Linksys WMP11 |
PCI |
$60-$10=$50(Amazon) |
Works amazingly w/ linux-wlan 0.1.10. Newer versions are no longer based on the Prism2 chipset (now BroadCom?) and have no linux driver. I have v 2.7 of this card and the only released windows driver for this revision comes on the cd and is pretty buggy. The new BroadCom chipset works with mac os x. |
Prism 2.5 |
Linux Mac os x |
|||
Ethernet Bridge/client with RP-SMA jack |
WET11 User Manual: 19dB (~80mW) |
Ideal client device for WISP, uses ReverseSma connector |
-83dB Receive Sensitivity. You CAN connect WET11 to Linux systems using Orinoco WaveLAN in Ad-Hoc mode. See WET11 page on how to increase receive sensitity for greater range |
Prism 2.5 |
Windows Config Utility - Runs with any OS that supports Ethernet |
|||
PCMCIA |
15 dBm (31.6 mW) |
$61(Amazon), $57(eCost), $54(LanStreet), $57 (PriceGrabber) $49 (Moonblink) |
MC $19 (Moonblink),$35(HyperLinkTech), Card (RFI 6010A, RMC-6010-B, Radiall R299.792.107) |
same as LucentWirelessCard, 128 bit encryption |
Hermes |
Windows, MacOS, WinCE, FreeBSD, Linux: Orinoco (GPL), wvlan_cs (deprecated),wavelan2_cs(propietary) |
||
PCMCIA |
15 dBm (31.6 mW) |
$59(Justdeals), $58(invictusnetworks) $65(LanStreet) $40 (PriceGrabber) |
MC $35(HyperLinkTech), Card (RFI 6010A, RMC-6010-B, Radiall R299.792.107) |
same as LucentWirelessCard, 40 bit encryption, upgradeable to 128 bit: follow Link "Upgrade Silver To Gold - Windows" on http://wireless.pollaknet.at/index.php?wirelessp=hardware/silvertogold |
Hermes |
Windows, MacOS, WinCE, FreeBSD, Linux: Orinoco (GPL), wvlan_cs (deprecated),wavelan2_cs(propietary) |
||
Lucent WaveACCESS PC24E-H-ET-L |
PCMCIA |
6mW |
? |
Low power output for ETS 300 328 point-to-point (with up to 12dB antennas), red plastic instead of black, otherwise believed to be identical to Orinoco Silver |
Hermes |
|||
PCMCIA 16-bit |
200mW (USA) 100mW (CE) |
$69 Fry's Electronics (apple section) |
Rebadged Senao 2511CD PLUS |
See also SenaoCard |
Prism 2.5 |
Internal antenna model |
||
PCMCIA |
200mW |
$125 |
2 MMCX |
1 MMCX to Nfemale Connector included; Very probably rebadged Senao 2511CD PLUS |
Prism 2.5 |
Same as Senao 2511CD PLUS |
||
PCMCIA |
200mW |
2x MMCX external antenna jacks. SenaoCard for antenna choices |
Same as Engenius and Senao cards |
Prism 2.5 |
Windows ME/NT 4.0 /2000/XP/CE3.0/Linux/*BSD/MACOS 10.1,10.2 See also SenaoCard |
|||
PCMCIA |
200mW |
NO (Internal Antenna) |
Similar to Engenius and Senao cards |
Prism 2.5 |
Windows ME/NT 4.0/2000/XP/CE3.0/Linux/MAC OS X 10.1, 10.2/NetBSD See also SenaoCard |
|||
mini PCI |
200mW |
2x U.FL (also called MHF or IPEX) antenna jacks |
Engenius |
Prism 2.5 |
Windows/Linux/MAC OS X 10.1, 10.2/*BSD |
|||
NetGear MA101 |
USB1.1 |
13dBm |
No but useSMA Mod |
? |
Windows 9x/ME/2000/XP/Linux |
|||
NetGear MA301 |
PCI |
? |
? |
? |
? |
? |
Linux 2.4.18 (Experimental) |
|
NetGear MA311GE |
PCI |
? |
ï¿?6 |
Yes |
(with wlan or orinoco 0.13+) |
IntersilPrism 2.5 |
9x/ME/2000/XP/Linux |
|
NetGear MA311 |
PCI |
? |
$60 (PriceGrabber) - $10 Rebate = $50 $65(Amazon) |
Work very good with HostAP |
IntersilPrism 2.5 |
Linux 2.4.20 |
||
NetGear MA311GR |
PCI |
? |
55€ aprox. |
Works on most 440BX motherboards (PCI 2.1) |
IntersilPrism 2.5 |
Win ALL/Linux |
||
PCMCIA Type II |
59mW |
$57-$10=$47(Amazon), $40-$10=$37 (PriceGrabber) |
Linux |
|||||
NetGear MA401SE rev. D |
PCMCIA |
|
Yes, MS-156 |
? |
IntersilPrism 2.5 |
Linux (HostAP, Linux-wlan) |
||
? |
? |
