ORiNOCO is the brand name that was used for a family of wireless networking solutions by Proxim (previously Lucent). These chipsets provide wireless connectivity for 802.11-compliant Wireless LANs. The different models of cards, referred to by different color-based monikers, were:
- White/Bronze: Standard WaveLAN IEEE PC Cards with 802.11 support
- Bronze/Silver: WaveLAN IEEE Turbo PC Cards with 802.11b and WEP support
- Silver/Gold: WaveLAN IEEE Turbo 11 Mb PC Cards, with support for 802.11b and additional WEP features
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Compatibility
The WaveLAN chipsets that power ORiNOCO-branded cards were commonly used to power other wireless networking devices, and are compatible with a number of other access points, routers, and wireless cards, including the following:
- 3Com AirConnect
- Cabletron RoamAbout 802.11 DS
- Compaq WL100 11 Mbit/s Wireless Adapter
- D-Link DWL-650
- ELSA AirLancer MC-11
- Ericsson WLAN Card C11
- Farallon SkyLINE
- HyperLink Wireless PC Card 11Mbit/s
- Intel PRO/Wireless 2011
- Intersil PRISM2 11 Mbit/s Wireless Adapter
- LA4111 Spectrum24 Wireless LAN PC Card
- Lucent Technologies Wavelan/IEEE Orinoco
- Melco WLI-PCM-L11
- Microsoft Wireless Notebook Adapter MN-520
- NCR WaveLAN/IEEE Adapter
- Proxim LAN PC CARD HARMONY 80211B
- Samsung 11Mbit/s WLAN Card
Preferred wireless chipset for wardriving
The ORiNOCO (and their derivatives) is preferred by wardrivers, due to their high sensitivity and the ability to report the level of noise (something that other chips won't report). The pre-Proxim (or 'Classic') ORiNOCO cards have a jack for attaching an external antenna. [2]
Linux drivers
The open source HermesAP driver supports the IEEE 802.11b Hermes/ORiNOCO family of chips.
