Thor Lancelot Simon wrote:

> On Mon, Jan 24, 2000 at 08:54:46AM -0800, Jason Thorpe wrote:
> > On Mon, 24 Jan 2000 11:46:43 -0500
> >  Scott Bartram <scottb@iis.com> wrote:
> >
> >  > I just checked out buy.com and they have the kit for $138.95. However,
> >  > make sure you pick the right product because they also have the
> >  > Aviator *PRO* PCMCIA/ISA combo for the same price! Verify the
> >  > manufacturer part number:
> >
> > The Pro is apparently a card + base station.  I wonder if those use the
> > newer firmware (Build 5) that can do Infrastructure mode?
>
> Please excuse this question from someone very naive about 802.11:
>
> Will these cards talk to _any_ other 802.11 cards?  If so, which ones?

The 802.11 standard is another one of those standards that is the union
of several things.  It encompasses two totally incompatible modulation
methods: slow frequency hopping and CDMA (or direct sequence as it's called
in 802.11).  With the same modulation type and data rate I think the
theory is that different cards should be able to talk to each other, but
I wouldn't bet on it.


> My dad's just dropped the dough for an AirPort Base Station and the card
> for his iBook -- I'd love to find cheap ISA cards I could use to clean
> up the rest of the cable mess all over his house.

AirPort uses direct sequence, so Aviator cards can't talk to them.


--

        -- Lennart