CISCO NIC

After doing plenty of research and finding that I would purchase Netgear (G
standard) wireless hardware for my home network setup, I have since found
that my university also allows wireless connection in its library and
certain other buildings. This would be very useful for me, but after reading
their IT site, they ONLY support a CISCO infrastructure with the, as they
state "CISCO Aironet 350 WEB PCMCIA" card. This is a B standard card as is
their infrastrucure but I might settle for the slower speed if it means
access to their network as the computer rooms are always a nightmare to get
an available workstation .

Questions

1/ I have not seen "WEB" card on the cisco site, so does anyone know if this
card would be PCM version or PCL? (PCL is smaller and is the same
dimensions as the sliding subsitute plastic in the free slot on my laptop
(8.5.cm / 3.31 inch long x 5.4cm / 2.13 inch wide x 0.3cm / 0.1 inch deep).
Preferably without an aerial which I think is only on desktop versions
anyway. I study away from campus and dont think the "bookshop" staff are
overly tech minded to answer my questions over the phone.

2/ Is CISCO any good in comparision so versions such as Netgear, Lynksis,
Belkin etc (This may influence me getting a CISCO router for home now)

3/ Would the infrastructure at Uni support a G card if CISCO have one in the
Aironet 350 series (I'm investing for the future too)

4/ The uni have a map of their infrastucture localizing WLAN to certain
floors of buildings and select certain areas. Can I do this to so only "my
house" and not "Bob the Hacker" down the road gets my signal?

5/ The 350 series seems to support Mac Addressing and WEP - but I think WAP
(what does this stand for? Not Wireless Application Protocol is it?) is a
more enhanced security option. I dont think the card supports it? Or is it
configurable on any card?

I am running Windows 2000 Professional on my laptop which will use the Uni
Infrastructure but want to create a wireless network at home too with the
same laptop and a desktop using XP home edtion. Hence my router querie as
well


Any opinions, experience with CISCO, or general tips would be much
appreciated.

Regards

Dave

>
> 2/ Is CISCO any good in comparision so versions such as Netgear, Lynksis,
> Belkin etc (This may influence me getting a CISCO router for home now)
Hope you are joking here, Cisco stuff is legend in the networking world. You
simply dont speak of Cisco in the same breath as Netgear etc.
>
> 3/ Would the infrastructure at Uni support a G card if CISCO have one in
the
> Aironet 350 series (I'm investing for the future too)
No, it depends on the speed of the access point - both access point and card
have to be G capable
>
> 4/ The uni have a map of their infrastucture localizing WLAN to certain
> floors of buildings and select certain areas. Can I do this to so only "my
> house" and not "Bob the Hacker" down the road gets my signal?
Yes, you can do this using wire mesh reflectors, and adjusting the power of
the AP

>
> 5/ The 350 series seems to support Mac Addressing and WEP - but I think
WAP
> (what does this stand for? Not Wireless Application Protocol is it?) is a
> more enhanced security option. I dont think the card supports it? Or is
it
> configurable on any card?
WPA not WAP - WiFi protected access, availability depends on chipset and
firmware version - most manufacturers are not WPA ready yet.
>

Dude, you can't ever use Netgear in the same sentence as Cisco! Honestly, my
brother is a Network Technician and when you say Cisco around him he acts
like Homer when you say "beer!"



> 2/ Is CISCO any good in comparision so versions such as Netgear,
> Lynksis, Belkin etc (This may influence me getting a CISCO router
> for home now)

In article <bj62uv$b78$(E-Mail Removed)>, (E-Mail Removed)
says...
> Dude, you can't ever use Netgear in the same sentence as Cisco! Honestly, my
> brother is a Network Technician and when you say Cisco around him he acts
> like Homer when you say "beer!"
>
>
>
> > 2/ Is CISCO any good in comparision so versions such as Netgear,
> > Lynksis, Belkin etc (This may influence me getting a CISCO router
> > for home now)
>
>
>
>

Cisco is evil.
Their Draconian policies regarding the licensing of their OS on re-sold
Cisco hardware is reason enough to look for ANY other solution first.

The day I had a Cisco factory sales puke call me and virtually accuse me
of using a pirated copy of their software because I didn't buy the
hardware and software from a local "authorized" Cisco dealer was the day
I vowed to never purchase another piece of Cisco equipment. Apparently,
the local vendor was unhappy that I declined his offer to sell me the
gear I needed for MSRP + 20% (I bought the same gear, new, WITH a
licensed copy of the OS, from CDW for MSRP less 20% or so) and ratted me
out to Cisco.

Cisco is evil. Give your business to companies that earn it, not to
those who try to demand it.

Te 350 series of access points will not be upgraded to support g, the only
ap's from cisco that will are the 1100 and 1200 series.

From a personal point of view, Cisco is thought of in the same vein as
Stella Artios, reassuringly expensive.

> > 3/ Would the infrastructure at Uni support a G card if CISCO have one in
> the
> > Aironet 350 series (I'm investing for the future too)

Te 350 series of access points will not be upgraded to support g, the only
ap's from cisco that will are the 1100 and 1200 series.

From a personal point of view, Cisco is thought of in the same vein as
Stella Artios, reassuringly expensive.

> > 3/ Would the infrastructure at Uni support a G card if CISCO have one in
> the
> > Aironet 350 series (I'm investing for the future too)

On Wed, 3 Sep 2003 21:40:52 +1000, "Dave" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>After doing plenty of research and finding that I would purchase Netgear (G
>standard) wireless hardware for my home network setup, I have since found
>that my university also allows wireless connection in its library and
>certain other buildings. This would be very useful for me, but after reading
>their IT site, they ONLY support a CISCO infrastructure with the, as they
>state "CISCO Aironet 350 WEB PCMCIA" card. This is a B standard card as is
>their infrastrucure but I might settle for the slower speed if it means
>access to their network as the computer rooms are always a nightmare to get
>an available workstation .
>
>Questions
>
>1/ I have not seen "WEB" card on the cisco site, so does anyone know if this
>card would be PCM version or PCL? (PCL is smaller and is the same
>dimensions as the sliding subsitute plastic in the free slot on my laptop
>(8.5.cm / 3.31 inch long x 5.4cm / 2.13 inch wide x 0.3cm / 0.1 inch deep).
>Preferably without an aerial which I think is only on desktop versions
>anyway. I study away from campus and dont think the "bookshop" staff are
>overly tech minded to answer my questions over the phone.
>
>2/ Is CISCO any good in comparision so versions such as Netgear, Lynksis,
>Belkin etc (This may influence me getting a CISCO router for home now)
>
>3/ Would the infrastructure at Uni support a G card if CISCO have one in the
>Aironet 350 series (I'm investing for the future too)
>
>4/ The uni have a map of their infrastucture localizing WLAN to certain
>floors of buildings and select certain areas. Can I do this to so only "my
>house" and not "Bob the Hacker" down the road gets my signal?
>
>5/ The 350 series seems to support Mac Addressing and WEP - but I think WAP
>(what does this stand for? Not Wireless Application Protocol is it?) is a
>more enhanced security option. I dont think the card supports it? Or is it
>configurable on any card?
>
>I am running Windows 2000 Professional on my laptop which will use the Uni
>Infrastructure but want to create a wireless network at home too with the
>same laptop and a desktop using XP home edtion. Hence my router querie as
>well
>
>
>Any opinions, experience with CISCO, or general tips would be much
>appreciated.
>
>Regards
>
>Dave
>
>
>

The Cisco Aironet PCM-350 and PCI-350 are one of the top performing
Wireless 802.11b network cards around.

Good Receiver Sensitivity and Good Power Output 100mWatts.

Excellent software support, and easy to use software for assoiciations
with many different AP configurations.

Not too sure if WPA will be supported on them though, I don't think
Cisco have made any statements yet.

Probably have to wait for the Aironet-360!

AJ

My Cisco 350 is a PCI card. Actually, it's a PCMCIA card mounted to a PCI
board. There may be a firmware upgrade to the G standard but I haven't
checked. As for WAP, you're actually looking for WPA for enhanced
encryption. It might be available as a firmware upgrade.

Dave wrote:

> After doing plenty of research and finding that I would purchase Netgear
> (G standard) wireless hardware for my home network setup, I have since
> found that my university also allows wireless connection in its library
> and certain other buildings. This would be very useful for me, but after
> reading their IT site, they ONLY support a CISCO infrastructure with the,
> as they state "CISCO Aironet 350 WEB PCMCIA" card. This is a B standard
> card as is their infrastrucure but I might settle for the slower speed if
> it means access to their network as the computer rooms are always a
> nightmare to get an available workstation .
>
> Questions
>
> 1/ I have not seen "WEB" card on the cisco site, so does anyone know if
> this
> card would be PCM version or PCL? (PCL is smaller and is the same
> dimensions as the sliding subsitute plastic in the free slot on my laptop
> (8.5.cm / 3.31 inch long x 5.4cm / 2.13 inch wide x 0.3cm / 0.1 inch
> deep). Preferably without an aerial which I think is only on desktop
> versions anyway. I study away from campus and dont think the "bookshop"
> staff are overly tech minded to answer my questions over the phone.
>
> 2/ Is CISCO any good in comparision so versions such as Netgear, Lynksis,
> Belkin etc (This may influence me getting a CISCO router for home now)
>
> 3/ Would the infrastructure at Uni support a G card if CISCO have one in
> the Aironet 350 series (I'm investing for the future too)
>
> 4/ The uni have a map of their infrastucture localizing WLAN to certain
> floors of buildings and select certain areas. Can I do this to so only "my
> house" and not "Bob the Hacker" down the road gets my signal?
>
> 5/ The 350 series seems to support Mac Addressing and WEP - but I think
> WAP (what does this stand for? Not Wireless Application Protocol is it?)
> is a
> more enhanced security option. I dont think the card supports it? Or is
> it configurable on any card?
>
> I am running Windows 2000 Professional on my laptop which will use the Uni
> Infrastructure but want to create a wireless network at home too with the
> same laptop and a desktop using XP home edtion. Hence my router querie as
> well
>
>
> Any opinions, experience with CISCO, or general tips would be much
> appreciated.
>
> Regards
>
> Dave

On Fri, 05 Sep 2003 01:19:37 GMT, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>My Cisco 350 is a PCI card. Actually, it's a PCMCIA card mounted to a PCI
>board. There may be a firmware upgrade to the G standard but I haven't
>checked. As for WAP, you're actually looking for WPA for enhanced
>encryption. It might be available as a firmware upgrade.

The Cisco Aironet AIR-PCI350 is NOT a Cisco PCMCIA card mounted in a
PCI carrier. It might look like it on the surface but if you remove
the "PCMCIA" which happens to be the AIR-LMC350 with dual MMCX
connectors and no diversity antenna and insert it in a PC with PCMCIA
slot, IT WILL NOT FUNCTION.

Don't make the mistake I made, thinking I could do this. You cannot.

Unlike most wireless vendors, that use a PCMCIA in a PCI carrier,
Cisco have created a true wireless PCI network card, and have changed
the boot block address in the PCMCIA card, so it doesn't function as a
true PCMCIA card when inserted into a notebook PC.

I've learnt the hard way!

802.1x (WPA) is supported in the latest firmwares by Cisco. Latest
firmware is 5.20.17.

As for G standard in Aironet 340/350 range, unlikely - incorrect
hardware and chipsets.

Just my two pence worth!