Hot! Orinoco Gold Wireless 802.11b PC Card (Dell Truemobile 1150) - 2 for $108 shipped, or 1 for $54 shipped

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V00DOO

Diamond Member
Dec 2, 2000
3,817
2
81
I am using two Dell Truemobile 1150 with Linksys BEFW11S4, it work great. Very good range. You'll need to download newer driver and client software from Dell instead of using the old software that came with it. I try using the client software from Orinoco but it wouldn't recognize Dell Truemobile 1150. Anyone knows if you can flash the firmware to a true orinoco gold?
 

JonBz

Junior Member
Jun 19, 2002
18
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Jumped on this deal yesterday and lo and behold it shows up on my desk today! I selected the free ground shipping and they sent it Airborne Express! I've had nothing but great experiences with Dell S&P. Thanks for the deal.
 

wuhoo

Senior member
Jan 14, 2002
429
0
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Originally posted by: V00DOO
I am using two Dell Truemobile 1150 with Linksys BEFW11S4, it work great. Very good range. You'll need to download newer driver and client software from Dell instead of using the old software that came with it. I try using the client software from Orinoco but it wouldn't recognize Dell Truemobile 1150. Anyone knows if you can flash the firmware to a true orinoco gold?

does dell offer free support (ie software) forever? or is it like one year etc

does this card only work in dells or any laptop?
 

wuhoo

Senior member
Jan 14, 2002
429
0
0
i cant seem to get it to give it to me with free shipping unless i go over that $100 limit
i know some people got free shipping even though they only ordered one
ack! i want the free shipping!
 

msh111

Senior member
Nov 13, 2000
339
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Originally posted by: swNYC
The Dell Truemobile 1150s are made by Agere Systems (Lucent/Orinoco spinoff) and has 128 Bit WEP RC4, and best of all, 13 Channels since they're for the global market :) (note: Channels 12 & 13 illegal for use in US per FCC regulations). There is a Lucent MC connector on the card to connect to an external antenna.

These cards works fine w/ my DLink DI-711 (from another AT/amazon deal) and the range kicks butt.
Just make sure to download newer drivers from Dell, since the ones on the CDROM is outdated.

I'm with you entirely on this. I'm using the exact same setup and it's a great little card that works fine with the D-Link router and updated drivers.
 

Fiveohhh

Diamond Member
Jan 18, 2002
3,776
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What version drivers you using from dell, I see a whole bunch and its hard to tell which is which
Thanks
 

aircasper

Senior member
Jan 26, 2001
486
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still waiting for my card to arrive, but no rush as i still need to pick up an accesspoint. i've been eyeing the Orinoco BG-2000, as apparently it has very good range and throughput. does anyone have any thoughts? it looks like the best price i can get out here in california is around $150 after shipping and taxes. for those of you outside of california, page computers has it for about $132 plus shipping.
 

pg22

Platinum Member
Feb 9, 2000
2,644
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This may be the dumb question of the day, but if I get one of these for my Dell lappy, what else do I need? I have a regular cable/DSL router from Linksys...but I'm assuming I need something else. Do I need a whole new router (I really hope not)?

Thanks!
 

nightowl

Golden Member
Oct 12, 2000
1,935
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PG: You will either need a wireless access point (WAP) or a router that has wireless built into it.

ALSO, what happened to the free shipping? It only has free shipping for orders over $99 now.
 

dcdomain

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2000
5,158
0
71
Damn they sent mine via airborne too! Awesome service!

Problem now is that I can't seem to find the drivers on the Dell site. Does anyone have a direct link? It keeps asking me for a system service tag everytime I log into support. Maybe I should just go to the Orinoco site and grab their drivers?
 

Fiveohhh

Diamond Member
Jan 18, 2002
3,776
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If I can figure out which drivers to get I'll send ya them, but there are a whole bunch when I searched for 1150. I think the 4130.1 ones are right, but will wait to hear from someone else
 

dcdomain

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2000
5,158
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71
*bump*

Ended up installing the card using the drivers that come with WinXP, then proceeded to update the drivers through Windows Update. Reception is still terrible, hoping for a driver set out there that will pull out some more performance from this thing...
 

swNYC

Senior member
May 19, 2001
473
0
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dcdomain: You will need to clear your cookies before entering Dell support. At the support page, choose "Inspiron 8000" and select "Sign in to standard support". Then click on downloads, and do a keyword search for "Truemobile 1150"
The newest set of drivers is dated 7/15/2002. Make sure you download both the Client Manager software and the drivers.

Also, if your firmware is not version 8.10, flash it to 8.10 with this hack:
Flashing the Truemobile w/ Orinoco Firmware
 

Fritzo

Lifer
Jan 3, 2001
41,920
2,161
126
The reception on mine is outstanding! Great card. I made a cantenna with $25 worth of parts and now I can wander up to 800' from my access point and still get reception (of couse, I set up an antenna tower outside which helps a lot too ;) ).
 

Dotman

Member
Apr 11, 2002
69
0
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Fritzo can you detail how you did that and how it's attached to your base station? Would really like that range to surf near the park here.

Dot
 

hmsrolst

Diamond Member
Mar 18, 2001
5,269
1
71
Has anybody successfully used this card with an Orinoco RG-1100 Residential Gateway and 128 bit encryption?
 

dcdomain

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2000
5,158
0
71
Thanks for the info! Have both files on hand now. One last question, I read somewhere that some people had problems with the card after they installed the client software because it conflicted with WinXP's own wireless network management. Has anyone here used the client software in WinXP? Any problems?
 

pg22

Platinum Member
Feb 9, 2000
2,644
0
76
Could someone suggest a good wireless access point to use with this card? I already have a normal router. Thanks!
 

johto

Senior member
Apr 20, 2001
642
0
0
Originally posted by: pg19
Could someone suggest a good wireless access point to use with this card? I already have a normal router. Thanks!

a cheap one ;)

watch the hot deals for ones... my netgear from buy.com (60AR) arrived today. usually linksys is the brand that gets deals, their stuff doesn't have a great reputation though.

also, why would i want to flash the card back to 8.10? i've had my 1150 for a few months now from a previous deal.
 

Fritzo

Lifer
Jan 3, 2001
41,920
2,161
126
Bad advice. Cheap is not always good. SMC makes great access points. DLinks aren't bad, but 3Com and Linksys kind of stink. Check reviews to make a decision, then look for the best deal on the one you choose.
 

hoang101

Member
Jun 20, 2002
27
0
66
I'm confuse, b/c you are the first one that say Dlink ain't bad, and 3com and Linksys are crappy, what I hear is different. I'm in market for the AP now . So what do you think about DL713P ?
 

johto

Senior member
Apr 20, 2001
642
0
0
Originally posted by: Fritzo
Bad advice. Cheap is not always good. SMC makes great access points. DLinks aren't bad, but 3Com and Linksys kind of stink. Check reviews to make a decision, then look for the best deal on the one you choose.

if you notice, i said linksys has a bad rep. their version 1s are absolutely terrible, i know from personal experience (pcmcia, usb, and AP products). but i've heard the v2s ap/routers are a different story. i've had trouble with linksys wired products before.

dlink's tech support, if you ever need it, sucks (3 months to answer an email??). but their products are ok.

smc has a pretty good rep going for them, never used their wireless products.

3com's stuff is just fine (i'd choose over dlink/linksys), i use 1st generation equipment at my parents house. only caveat is their cards (original version and perhaps more?) don't work with cisco equipment. so much for wi-fi. (works with apple airport, dlink, and linksys though).

netgear... well i haven't setup this new one yet. but their repuation is generally very good, in the upper middle of manufacturers. wired products i've used are always high quality.

oh yeah, and my dell truemobile card (agere/orinoco) is great as well. their products are thought of very highly as well as cisco, but are usually out of the price range that we look for.
 

JonBz

Junior Member
Jun 19, 2002
18
0
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Originally posted by: hoang101
I'm confuse, b/c you are the first one that say Dlink ain't bad, and 3com and Linksys are crappy, what I hear is different. I'm in market for the AP now . So what do you think about DL713P ?

I'm using the D-Link DI-713P right now. Ordered it on Monday right after I ordered the TrueMobile. Setup was fairly painless. I'll be trying to setup my printer on the built in print server tomorrow. I'm getting great reception all through my house. Gateway Accessories and Buy.com both have it for around $130, though Gateway won out slightly since they didn't charge me tax. D-link has a $30 MIR right now that excludes most of the big B&M's (BestBuy, CompUSA, OfficeDepot, etc.). It's not a super hot deal, but it was the best I could find on this model. So far I've been pleased with it.
 

dcdomain

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2000
5,158
0
71
Just checked the driver versions off the Dell website, seems as though it's older than the one I have installed through Windows Update.