Caleb,
I never thought I would be doing this, but I have to jump to KarlNet's
defense on this issue. I can see no reason to beat up on Kevin just
because he is doing his best to answer your questions. If your agenda
is anything other than to glean information from this list that will
help you make your TurboCell network a little better, then I for one
am not interested in hearing you pitch your bitch. Constructive
criticism is one thing, but insults, name-calling, and flames are
another entirely.
To address your complaint, KarlNet could just announce that they will
remove any and all support from their software for any card other than
Proxim-Agere-ORiNOCO. I'm sure that would be much simpler for them,
and then they wouldn't be flamed for their half-assed support of other
cards. Is this what you want?
Personally, I am glad that KarlNet even tries to support other cards.
One reason for this is that it keeps Proxim honest on their pricing.
If KarlNet forced us to use Proxim cards, Proxim could jack their
price however high they liked. Anyone wanting to use TurboCell would
have to pay however much Proxim wanted. I feel this way even though I
don't have a single non-ORiNOCO card deployed in my production
network.
I find it very easy to believe that KarlNet's overtures to card
manufacturers have been rebuffed. Many of these companies are flying
along by the seat of their pants, and even keeping KarlNet updated on
changes is beyond their interest or capabilities. And when there's a
problem where the delivered card doesn't match up with the published
specs, there is even less chance of a collaborative effort to address
those issues and make KarlNet software completely compatible.
I will be the first to tell anyone who asks that KarlNet is far from
perfect. I could easily list off the problems I have with them, their
software, and their business model. I would be using something else
for my wireless network if I thought there was a better alternative to
KarlNet's products.
Yet, with all their blemishes, I think KarlNet has the best thing
going -- and that's why I use it. It is the best combination of
speed, robustness, and bang-for-my-buck that I've been able to find in
the eight years that I've been actively building and maintaining
wireless MANs.
I must add that I have been extremely pleased with the improvements
I've seen lately from KarlNet. There is still plenty of room for
improvement, but the good changes of the last few months make me
believe that KarlNet is very busy with even more ways to make my
engineering-administrative life easier and happier.
I modify and use the ORiNOCO cards because my testing has shown that
they work the best, period. If the Prism cards worked as well or
better, I would use them even with their shortcomings when coupled
with KarlNet's software. As it is, my findings echo KarlNet's, making
it very easy for me to take their advice and use the ORiNOCO cards.
Even adding an RF Linx 2400C amplifier, my solution still costs less
(and works much better) than one of the high-power (200mW) Prism
cards.
Regards,
-Brian
____________________________________________________________
Brian H. Oak CISSP CCDP CCNP CCA NNCAS Datawav-IS, LLC
Principal Engineer 109 N. Arthur Ave., Ste. 301
(208) 232-6860 Pocatello, ID 83204
(208) 232-0185 fax brian@infosystems1.com
-----Original Message-----
From: karlnet-bounces@WISPNotes.com
[mailto:karlnet-bounces@WISPNotes.com]On Behalf Of Caleb Carroll
Sent: Friday, April 04, 2003 10:01
To: Karlnet Mailing List
Subject: RE: [Karlnet] Thanks to Zcomax
Man, you should look into a political career. If Karlnet code only
supports the Intersil reference design and none of the card
manufacturers follow the reference design then what is the support
for? A mythical card that doesn't exist.
If companies are choosing to not follow the reference design, there
must be a good reason for this. Why doesn't Karlnet talk to some of
these companies or even just one of them and ask them to work with you
on this problem instead of just blaming everyone for not following the
reference design?
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********
On 2003-Apr-03 at 9:33 PM Kevin Knuth wrote:
>Caleb,
>
>Simply put: If the manufacturer of the CARDS is not misleading you,
then
>it
>works! Why is it that CISCO will tell you they are using the
Intersil
>reference design, but fail to mention they changed the firmware on
the card
>to a custom configuration?
>
>Other than that, I clearly said I did not want to get into an
argument over
>this issue.
>
>Kevin
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: karlnet-bounces@WISPNotes.com
>[mailto:karlnet-bounces@WISPNotes.com]On Behalf Of Caleb Carroll
>Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2003 5:56 PM
>To: Karlnet Mailing List
>Subject: RE: [Karlnet] Thanks to Zcomax
>
>
>>The problem is we do support prism cards- but many manufacturers
make
>>changes in their particular versions that affect the cards. Also,
many
>>problems COULD be correctable, but Intersil has not shown a great
desire
>to
>>make the necessary firmware changes to allow this.
>
>If "support" to Karlnet means blaming other companies for the
failings of
>Karlnet software then simply revise your list of "supported" cards
and
>remove all references to Intersil and Prism. If you have a list of
Prism
>cards that are actually 100% compatible with Karlnet software then
publish
>that list instead of just stating generically that Prism n.n cards
are
>supported. Consumers have the right to not be mislead by
advertising.
|