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Octo · Sep 29, 2002, 11:19 AM

Other than the Apple Airport card, are there any other cards that I can install inside of my Pismo, under 10.2.1, and use the built in antennas?

The reason I'm asking is that my school has complete botched their wireless network and I have to use a Cisco card to access the wireless network. I'm curious if a CISCO AIR-LMC352, could be installed inside of my powerbook. The CISCO AIR-LMC352, has the same form factor has an Airport card.

Thanks for any info.

rambo47 · Sep 29, 2002, 11:28 AM

My understanding is that no, you cannot use a third party card in the AirPort internal slot. Although it might fit the PowerBook will not recognize it, this done on purpose by Apple. However, you could simply slide the Cisco card into the slot on the side of your Pismo. It will definitley work that way.

Odd that your AirPort card would not work. It should access any 802.11b network. It's a universal standard, and I know for a fact that Proxim's SkyLine card and Orinoco's WaveLAN cards work with my home AirPort network, at least under OS 9. Usually, when some one's AirPort card fails on another network the cause can be traced to a misconfiguration on the part of the user. Then again, never underestimate the stupidity of network adminsitrators and their inate ability to screw Mac users.

tooki · Sep 29, 2002, 04:22 PM

Well, Lucent/Agere WaveLAN cards actually are recognized in an Airport slot, but unfortunately they don't fit physically, so you wouldn't be able to put your keyboard back on!

Find out what exactly your school's Cisco (Aironet, presumably?) network requires. It's my understanding that the latest Aiport update added some sort of Cisco compatibility.

tooki

Camelot · Sep 29, 2002, 04:43 PM

Looking at pictures of the AIR-LMC352 online, I don't think it will fit.

While it doesn't have the bulbous antenna other 802.11b cards have, it also doesn't have the recess that the Apple card has. You see, Apple's card has a recess in the end where the antenna plug in so that the overall card size *including antenna connector* fits within the PCCard dimensions. If I remember rightly, there's no room inside the machine for the antenna connector outside the card's bounds.

Then, of course, I have to wonder why you're looking at this card, anyway. It's more expensive than the Apple AirPort card and the only difference appears to be the second antenna connector, which you can't use, anyway.

Octo · Sep 29, 2002, 07:06 PM

Okay, so it looks like the card won't fit in after all. I would rather use the Airport solution, just because that way nothing is sticking out.

The reason I have to use a Cisco card is that my school has configured their Cisco Aironet system to only accept Cisco NIC's. I called the help line and asked for the name of the Network Administrator so that I could enquire as to what was up with Airport cards not working. The tech at the help desk told me that they weren't allowed knowing that and would not give me the name of their supervisor when I asked for it.

I then emailed the manager of the department and he told that the cards didn't work for some reason and that they had a call into Apple Technical Support for resolution of the problem. When I asked about the Cisco AP configuration utility and if 'Ensure Compatability with: Non-Cisco 802.11b NIC's' was check off he said no that it wasn't. I told him that the Apple cards mostly likely won't work if it wasn't selected and he said that if they simply selected it they would have to reconfigure every Windows machine on the network, 'which isn't an option."

I guess I just won't see the wireless network at my school for a while.

alex239 · Sep 30, 2002, 12:44 AM

Hey man, don't but a new card. Buy an access point of your own. Plug it into the ethernet and be on your way. Screw the Admins - of course you will want to make it secure by turning on WEP.

ginoledesma · Sep 30, 2002, 03:09 AM

That's sort of ridiculous -- they're having to reconfigure "each and every" Windows machine on campus. Either that's how the option/feature really works or that they're just worried that enabling that option would allow other non-Cisco cards to ride on the wireless network.

However, working around their policy may result in severe penalties -- for example, being banned from the wireless network. There are ways to prevent forwarding packets from specified wireless cards (they block out the MAC address), so its probably wiser to work with them instead of against them. I'd try to coordinate with Apple and Cisco on this one. Maybe if you show the admins that there is a simple way that doesn't inconvenience them it would work out for the best.

tooki · Oct 1, 2002, 03:03 PM

"Reconfigure every Windows machine" my behind! That's a crock of feces, I tell you!

Gotta love Windows-only network admins...

But the "Ensure compatibility with non-Cisco NICs" checkbox does not mean that if it's unchecked, ONLY Cisco cards will work. It means they MAY NOT work. Airport cards support Cisco authentication, which may be the only thing needed.

I'd find someone to borrow an Airport card from, install it and the latest Aiport software on your powerbook, and see if it works.

tooki

tooki · Oct 1, 2002, 03:07 PM

P.S. http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106626

Octo · Oct 1, 2002, 07:14 PM

Actually I tried it again today with OS X.2.1 and it worked. I had trouble getting the IP address from the DHCP server on a couple of occasions, but other than that it worked.

That was one of the things they told me was the problem with the Macs, the DHCP server wasn't assigning an address to them for some reason.

ghporter · Oct 1, 2002, 08:08 PM

As tooki says, the network individual was feeding you a "crock". One client's differences CANNOT require all the other clients on a network to require changes. Yet another example of "I don't understand, but I'll snow you to make you go away so I don't have to admit I don't understand." Sheesh!

Tooki's link to the KnowledgeBase was my personal thought, though I couldn't remember the term for Cisco's authentication scheme.

As for not getting an address from the DHCP server every time, it could be something as simple as a default timeout in your Mac's settings that isn't long enough for their (possibly slow) server.

Remember, "Non illegitimati carborundum!" If it's working for you with 10.2.1, then great-don't even bother with the network office again. Tooki, is it possible to adjust the timeout for waiting for a DHCP server response in any MacOS?

tooki · Oct 6, 2002, 04:49 PM

I don't know. I imagine that on OS X it's possible to set it, but I have no clue how.

Maybe someone in the OS X - UNIX forum might know?

tooki

ghporter · Oct 7, 2002, 08:23 PM

After a personal experience over the weekend, I can add another suggestion: the subnet mask you're using may not fit the range of addresses being assigned. A large network may need a mask of 255.255.0.0, rather than the more typical 255.255.255.0 used in smaller networks. Sometimes you're in the right subnet for what's being assigned, and sometimes you aren't. Just a thought.