jimcarree

Hi,

I have an old IBM ThinkPad 770X laptop running Windows 98 (NOT Windows 98 SE) with a PCMCIA card slot and a USB 1.1 port. I would like to connect from the laptop with 802.11b or 802.11g protocol to a wireless router.

I'm having trouble finding a wireless PCMCIA card or wireless USB device with b or g protocols that will run on the Windows 98 operating system.

I have found numerous wireless PCMCIA cards and USB adapters that run under Windows 98 SE, but upgrading the laptop to Winodws 98 SE is not an option.

Do you know of any wireless PCMCIA cards or USB adapters that run under the Windows 98 operating system?

Any suggestions would be appreciated -- including pointers where I might find the desired information.

Thanks in advance.

miketoy

See if you can get hold of an ORiNOCO card, these work fantastic in Windows 98. They are also sold as a D-Link DWL-660, Dell Truemobile 1150 or Compaq WL110 (all the same card with a different sticker).

Windows 98SE was the first OS Microsoft released with support for WDM which most wireless drivers are based around. The upgrade path from Windows 98 to 98SE is free for anyone licenced to use Windows 98 so I would recommend an upgrade unless there are technical reasons for not doing so.

jimcarree

Thank you for your response. Based on your suggestion, I found a Proxim Orinoco Wireless 802.11b PCMCIA Card for sale. I don't have the exact model # yet, but hope to get the info soon. I'm a little leery of it since it is a "Proxim Orinoco" wireless card instead of just a "Orinoco" card. Should I be concerned about the difference?

I found some information that indicates the OEM Orinoco cards can be upgraded to the highest quality Orinoco by performing firmware upgrades. Do you think this Proxim Orinoco card could be firmware upgraded to the true Orinoco model?

Would you recommend rather that I wait to see if it works in my Windows 98 laptop / LinkSys Compact Wireless router (WRT54GC) setup first before determining whether to upgrade it (i.e applying the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." philosophy)?

Thanks in advance for making time to assist me with this.

idialman

Proxim/Orinoco/Lucent/Agere are all the same company. I'd see how well it works first before upgrading the firmware

miketoy

Hi there
I have had to install numerous USB wireless adaptors on Win98 machines and have found that there is a problem with some of the VXD files being not compatible. Some seem to work and some don't, i think the difference can be if the machine has had all the windows updates done as win98se is essentially win98 with all the updates (as far as I can tell). If your machine has a network card in it I would connect a hard wired connection and do all the windows updates and try again. Some one else may have some more suggestion and correct me here.

jimcarree

It's actually an entirely new build of the operating system, the main new feature being WDM (Windows Driver Model) which cannot be installed as an individual component to Windows 98.

It also comes with IE5, Internet Connection Sharing and enhanced USB, IEEE 1394 and ACPI support and is a highly recommended upgrade for anyone running the first edition of Win98.

idialman

I just purchased the Proxim/Orinoco Silver card on eBay, but probably won't attempt installing the card until the first week of June.

Thank you both for making time to help me out on this.