Subject: Re: wi* and/or pcmcia* at pci* decent vendor?
To: Jason Thorpe <thorpej@wasabisystems.com>
From: Todd Vierling <tv@pobox.com>
List: netbsd-users
Date: 07/04/2003 11:56:48
On Thu, 3 Jul 2003, Jason Thorpe wrote:

: The D-Link DWL-520 certainly used to be Prism2-based -- I have one of
: these in a Soekris net4501 that I used for my AP.
:
: 	http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=42

DWL-520 rev A and B used Prism.  The one they're manufacturing now, DWL-520
rev C1, probes as BRCM.  (Tried it.  It's the *same card* as the current
revision of the Linksys WMP11, 0x14e4/0x4301.)

I'm still trying to scour for dealers from Pricewatch or similar who claim
to have Prism2 based ones.  I found one dealer who has DWL-520 rev B and rev
C1 listed separately, but the Bs are out of stock, and I'm assuming will
stay that way.

Now I see that I've actually tried Linksys, D-Link, and a Korean generic,
but not actually Netgear as I originally mentioned.  On further research, it
seems the Netgear MA311 is still using Prism; or at least, their
downloadable drivers have no mention of mfr 0x14e4 in the Windows .INF
files.  So I may be looking for a MA311 too, though I've seen mentions of
errors with wi* at pci* when Googling for "ma311 netbsd"....

(sigh.  BRCM's nasty binary-Windows-98+-driver-directly-from-BRCM chipsets
are taking over the non-10/100 networking world and no one's really
noticing.  It is becoming a disturbing trend, *not* documented by the
manufacturers, and I should have seen this coming back when I was looking
for HomePNA gear.  "Get your networking hardware now before it becomes
Windows-only!"  8-)

-- 
-- Todd Vierling <tv@pobox.com>