Results of some experiment so far

[dnt]

Okay, I've been working on getting the 43.00 detonator drivers on our laptop and gettting a 802.11g wireless card in. So far it's not looking good for us.

1) The nvidia driver - I have been able to put the 1280x854 resolution in BUT its not what we want. The 1280x854 doesn't fit in one screen. It sort of increase the screen real estate. i.e. Lets say the start bar is out of the screen all you have to do is move the cursor to the bottom of the screen and it moves the screen to the lower bottom but now the top of the screen is out of view. Anyways, it must be some other string. I need to talk to someone at Nvidia to find that string.

2) I think I found out why VPR Matrix didn't use the same wireless card in the A4 models as oppose to our A5 model. If you didn't know the A4 has the better Orinoco chipset while we have the prism chipset. The reason is because there isn't enough room to fit the card. Take a look at the picture I've attach. The card on the left is a Broadcom 802.11g wireless card (from Linksys Router) and the card on the right is our Lan Express Wireless card. If you look, you can see that one on the left is taller. Too tall to fit in the slot. Trust me, I tried to cram it in :D . Anyway, from measuring it our card is 43 mm and our slot can probably at most accept 47 mm tall card.

So it might look like if we want to get 802.11g later on, it might be an external pcmcia card, unless some other company makes another design.

[Ioman]

Thanks for all the info DNT. Justin posted in one of the other forums that if you call the BB tech support and tell them your wireless capabilities are not working, then they will send you out a wireless networking card for free: http://forums.designtechnica.com/showthread.php?threadid=1524

I plan on doing this, then selling the card they give me and getting an 802.11G wireless networking card. I hate having something sticking out of my PCMCIA card slot....but it looks like our best choice.

[Angus]

I think we're all getting little overzealous with the ol' 802.11G prospects. My thoughts are that once the draft is finalized this summer and the G standard enters wide distributed use I'm sure someone will see a market to make the smaller sized miniPCI cards that will fit into our computers. If someone saw a market for the small B versions (as they must have for the 200A5) then they will probably do it for G too, just to stay competitive.

Give it some time, I'm sure that the cardbus option won't be the only option given a little time.

[RageSlave]

I agree with Angus here. Besides the initial release of G standards is yet to come, There has been an influx of unrated cards, so once the technology has been finalized, there will be
1) a host of pre market hardware to bundle into oems, and
2) real testing cannot begin until it's release.

Given those two items I would say that waiting 6 monthes after release of an official stadard would rid the world of predated hardware, and work out any vulnerabilities that may exist within the technology itself. If this was a video card we were talking about, then who knows when to buy.

IMHO Networking gear, especially wireless is much more critical to buy just the latest thing.

[dnt]

Did some more research.... apparently the mini-pci slot we have is Mini-PCI Type-IIIB. The one on the left was Mini-PCI Type-IIIA. There are other type too but the one we will most likely encounter are those two. The only differnece is that the "A" is taller than the "B". Thats the only difference. Been trying to get a better internal network card. I'm just basically trying to get the Orinoco chipset one. The only problem is that they are seem to come in the "A" version. Actually thats the slot most laptop maker use (IBM, Dell, TOshiba, etc) Eh, I know it would be easier if I just put a pcmcia card in but dam it, it's part of the cool factor of the laptop having the wlan hidden. My quest continue...

[TroyG]

Keep searching!!! Please!!! :)

[mddmx]

I am eagerly watching this thread ... I love my 200A5 ... the wireless sucks. It just about kills me to have a cisco card sticking out the side of my only pcmcia slot.

What can we do to help ... ?

[dnt]

Okay some more info. So there is NO orinoco chipset mini-pci car in "B" size. I like them the most because if you look at the spec they have the best sensivitiy and power consumption. The only one that seem to be making type "B" cards are the tawainese.... Only three compnay do. Z-Com, Ambit and Askey and they are using AMD's chipset. Not the intersil's prism chipset. So if you want a different wireless card, you can pick the other 2 manufactor but they are the same reference design as our ambit. So you have a choice of using an external orinoco pcmcia card or Wait until someone makes a "B" type G card. Or You can try cutting into the laptop case. Should have room even thoght some chips are in the way. The broadcom 802.11g card is only single sided so you don't have to worry about anything on the board shorting out the chip. Just put some electrical tape on that side :-)

Maybe someday we will get a 802.11g in "B" form factor but don't hold your breathe. It might take a couple of year....unless you can convice all the major manufactor (IBM, Dell, Gateway, HP, SOny) to use the mini-pci Type IIIB size. Any questions...

Oh, for me I pick up a pcmcia card and gonna hold my breathe for a 802.11G card. Worst comes to worst.... I bought the BESYbuy plan so WHEN my computer breaks, I'm gonna get a new one and hopfully VPR Matrix will have this fix in there next version.

[aguynamedace]

Hey guys...i've been searchin for some mini-pci cards using 802.11g and the type B-III form factor, and so far here is is the only one that ive found so far:

http://www.usi.com.tw/capabilites_products/usi_b1_7_60.htm

i dont know anything about this company, but if anyone does, or if anyone does anything with this card, let me know.

[dnt]

that card won't work. It's a type A not B. It will be too big for the 185/200 model.

[Jimmm]

I installed an xterasys mini pci 802.11g card just fine. The signal strength sucks untill you hook up one of the antennea leads, you can only hook up one lead because of the length of the wires, unless you wanna open the case. But after hooking up one of the wires I get 48-54 Mbps throughout my house. Best deal I found for this card was acortech.com for 53 bucks

[dnt]

Okay to continue with this.. thanks jimmm for the info on the 802.11G card. I got it to work in my 185 laptop too. So it should work in the 200 and 205 laptop too. Anyways I did some comparison test too. I compared the IBM High Speed PCMCIA (Orinoco chipset), Xterasys Mini Pci 802.11G (Prism Chipset), and the stock Ambit Mini Pci in our 185/200 laptop (amd chipset).

This is the information I got when using netstumbler. I keep the laptop/AP in the same area but just switch the cards around. The AP was about 2 rooms away and had to go through about 3 walls. I am running XP Professional SP1. Also I just install the drivers for the card not the utility. I didn’t test this with the 802.11G mode because I have a 802.11B router. So everything is in 802.11b mode.

Okay, I not sure what these number means but hopefully someone on the board knows and can explain it to the rest of us. :-) But on my observation with the XP’s built in signal meter…

The Xterasys does seem to have better signal compared to the stock Ambit one. The Xterasys does seem to jump like one or two extra bar. The weird thing I notice though was that the Xterasys does seem to change data speed a lot more than the Ambit. For example when I cover up the antenna with my hands, the signal goes from 11 - 5.5 – 2 – 1 and no signal. But with the Ambit I notice that it usually jump from 11 – 5.5 and no signal or sometime from 11 to no signal. Not many in betweens. Many times I would notice the Xterasys change briefly but usually end with 11mbits. Keep in mind that the laptop and AP were stationary.

Also I notice that when using the Xterasys card… The antenna are on either side of the laptop are different. For example, I wanted to know which antenna the card was using (left or right).. so I cover both of them with my hand and watch the signal go away and release either hand to see witch antenna is being used. Its suppose to have a diversity antenna right? (Where ever the best signal the card should switch to it) The thing was that it wouldn’t switch to the other antenna when I cover up the antenna that was being used. But if I change the angle of the laptop, it would jump to the other antenna. It’s sort of like one antenna was for one angle and the other antenna was for another angle. And that was how it decided which antenna to use. I hope that makes sense :-)

Of course the IBM card was the leader. Mainly because they have a great chipset and the antenna is probably better than our built in one.

Oh, attached are some pictures I took. One is a comparison of the Ambit card and the Xterasys card. Abit is on the left side. Also the other picture is of the xterasys card installed w/ both antenna. And NO, the antenna wires won’t reach. You will have to pull it a bit. DO NOT PULL ON THE CONNECTOR… it could pop off. I’m not responsible or any damage to your laptop if you do it.

[dnt]

Update: I notice that the switch doesn't seem to work with the 802.11g card. I mean it doesn't turn off the card. So it looks like the card is always on. Oh well, I don't think it really kill that much battery life

[kahleeb]

I just got a new VPR Matrix Laptop and I like everything about it except that it has no built in wireless. Can I add a wireless card like this in the 220A5 to provide me with built in wireless so I don't have to use my wireless card?

I wasn't quite sure from this post if this was addressed. So if someone could point me in the right direction, I would appreciate it.

[spankers]

If you want built in wireless or an upgrade for the crap stock 802.11b mini-PCI in the 185/200, get an Xterasys XG-600. I've been happy with mine, particularly since there is a Linux driver available. Easily twice the range of the stock card and connections are much more reliable.

Of note to those considering a hard drive upgrade... take a look at the Toshiba MK-6022GAX. I've upgraded and it is MUCH snappier than the MK-3018 that came stock in my 185. It has a 16 MB buffer and 60 gig capacity.

[kahleeb]

What about the Intel WM3B2100 Mini PCI Card? After posting this, I ran across another post saying that this was the offical card used in the Centrino machines. Is it any good?

[spankers]

I've never used it but have heard good things of it . The downside is that it is an 802.11b card (11 Mbit max) and does not do 802.11g (54 Mbit).

I am a bandwidth whore and wanted the 11g capabilities of the Xterasys (along with the Prism GT chipset and Linux compatability).

Do NOT buy a Atheros based mini-PCI board. The Atheros radios are great (some provide 11a,b, and g tri-mode support... i.e., Acer EM-500AG) but the BIOS in the 185/200/220 has indigestion with these cards and will not boot (no POST, dark screen). Bad voodoo.

[kahleeb]

Thanks for the advice. It looks like the card you are referring to is a bit more expensive and since I only have an 802.11b network, I probably won't need G for a long time. I like bandwidth too... however, since I only have a little over the tenth of bandwidth available at my house, for what the 802.11b can do, it seems a bit overkill to go for the G.

Hopefully the install will go well. Does anyone have any tips besides what has already been said?

After I intall the wireless card, will I have to use that stupid toggle switch on the side? I don't quite understand how that thing works. Do I have to choose between audio and Wireless? Can someone explain?

Is there a particular reason why VPR Matrix took the wireless card out of the 220A5 model? Possibly because it was so crappy and everyone was complaining?

I do have one other question. It is regarding this Toshiba MK-6022GAX hard drive. Do you know what the stock hard drive is in the 220A5? How much better is the Toshiba HD over the one that comes in the 220A5?

[spankers]

The 220A5 probably has the Toshiba MK-4018GAS drive. 13 ms seek time, 2MB buffer, and 40 Gig capacity. From what I've seen, the VPR widescreen laptops seem to use the Toshiba drives.

The switch on the side may or may not effect your wireless. My Xterasys mini-PCI card does not care if the switch is on or off, unlike the stock card.

The audio function for the side switch is only for when you wish to play CD's when the computer is powered off... kinda turns your laptop into an ungainly Discman.

In regard to VPR's decision to discontinue built in wireless... who knows??? The card was DEFINATELY crap though.

[EL]

VPR 220A5 WINXP Pro.

I just Installed an INTEL PRO2100 ( 3B) Lan wireless and the signal is strong and no dropping signal I will recommend it , and the switch is working and the blue led also

[kahleeb]

I personally don't know if I like this card that much. The signal seems to be decent to weak. It may just be that as I leave the main area where my router is, my signal degrades. But in my living room I have an Access Point setup and the web pages load up really slow. It doesn't lose the connection, it just takes longer than normal to laod up pages.

It seems my external Belkin card gets a stronger signal. Does anyone have any comments on this?