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| Recommended PCMCIA cards for a Wallstreet 300Mhz PDQ? |
Posted by: mkinn on 2026-05-10 19:08:48
I tried two Proxim Orinoco Gold cards, and every driver on Macintosh Repository. Card not recognized.
I'd be willing to try ANY PCMCIA card that DEFINITELY WORKS, but there are no guides on what to do.
Anybody done this, anybody willing to post a how-to? I realize that the correct Gold card will support WEP 128 bi, and the Silver version will support 64 bit, but I cannot seem to find one that works. Part numbers? Versions? Photos? Are there any which would support G or N? the ethernet supports 10/100, which is fast, but I'd still like to try it and make a YouTube video about it. |
Posted by: finkmac on 2026-05-10 21:35:34
vague question. what are you trying to do?
what does the processor speed matter?
do you mean wifi pcmcia cards?
OSX? OS9?
for OS9 the proxim should work fine.
check on macintoshgarden. stay away from the awful website that is mac crapository.
you won't get G or N speeds on OS9, and you're stuck with WEP.
you have more options if you run OSX. |
Posted by: Byrd on 2026-05-11 03:01:53
Try the official Apple Airport drivers for the card; it should be detected as an Airport card. You can flash the firmware of Silver/Gold cards but under Windows only.
Some other info here:
OS X Mac compatible G USB dongles are around but there is a fair overhead to run them and software in lowly G3 Macs; also see ethernet-wifi bridges. |
Posted by: Durosity on 2026-05-11 07:52:05
The Apple DVD PC Card would definitely work in it as it was specifically made for that PowerBook only, but it's a pretty pricey card for just a simple test.
Realistically.. any card should 'work' as in be recognised by the system.. it may not have a driver, but it should still show up as being inserted. |
Posted by: A24A on 2026-05-11 09:43:40
You mentioned Proxim Orinoco Gold cards. Do these have a "thick" antenna like an earlier 11 Mbit/s Lucent Technologies Orinoco Gold card? At least the latter ought to be detected if Mac OS 9.x AirPort software exists on a Wallstreet. A Proxim card with a "thin" antenna on the other hand may have a different chipset, which possibly does not work in a case like this. |
Posted by: A24A on 2026-05-12 02:21:46
Also, an Apple knowledge base article 75082 (modified 4/18/02) AirPort 1.3.1 Document and Software contained the following hardware requirements:
AirPort-capable computer with an internal AirPort Card
A PowerBook G3 or G4 series computer with a Lucent WaveLAN or Orinoco IEEE Turbo 11MB PC Card |
Posted by: A24A on 2026-05-12 16:03:55
Carried out a quick test in a 233 model. The following PCMCIA cards, both with the slab-shaped antenna:
a) Orinoco 11 Mbit/s Gold (blue and gold label), Lucent Technologies on the antenna, Lucent Technologies PC 24E-H-FC on the backside label.
b) Orinoco Wireless Networks Gold (purple and gold label), Orinoco on the antenna, Agere Systems PC24E-H-ET on the backside label.
AirPort 1.3.1 software (see the previous post) for Mac OS 9 was used. Each card appeared with an AirPort card icon.
Only a very simple wireless connection test (using an iCab browser) in order to read the setup page of an old Netgear Wi-Fi router (reset first). No encryption tested. Connection OK with both cards. |
Posted by: mkinn on 2026-05-12 17:12:14
You mentioned Proxim Orinoco Gold cards. Do these have a "thick" antenna like an earlier 11 Mbit/s Lucent Technologies Orinoco Gold card? At least the latter ought to be detected if Mac OS 9.x AirPort software exists on a Wallstreet. A Proxim card with a "thin" antenna on the other hand may have a different chipset, which possibly does not work in a case like this. PCMCIA WiFi card, OS 8.6 and OS 9.1. I will try OSX 10.1 later. I have since read that only the cards with the square antenna, and NOT the cards with the curved antenna will work, but my square antenna Silver card won't work either. Neither one has the thick antenna. Where can I find the FW? I guess I'll have to find an old Windows PC with PCMCIA slots to flash the FW. |
Posted by: A24A on 2026-05-12 17:53:00
I have since read that only the cards with the square antenna, and NOT the cards with the curved antenna will work, but my square antenna Silver card won't work either. Neither one has the thick antenna.
This is what I mean by a slab-shaped or thick antenna: |
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