A1260 PCMCIA Wifi worth it?

[Photon]

Asking like a teenager.

But yeah the main question centers around the router which obviously has Wifi.

As opposed to a teenager, I don't need my stuff to be wireless.

But my router has WPA2 by default and I don't know if I can create a non-encrypted network on the side to not waste 060 power on it or if I should try to find a wired card (with some RJ45 adapter) instead.

Specifically, I want to know if any PCMCIA card works with AmiTCP 4+ and bsdsocket.library, or if you have to know details of drivers and versions of this and that to install.

Cheers

[btp]

You will need a 16-bit PCMCIA wifi card (you can tell which are 32-bit cards because of their gold connector) with a compatible chipset. Cards with the PRISM2 chipset are the best supported (see https://aminet.net/package/driver/net/prism2v2 by Neil Cafferkey)

One issue is that these cards do not support WPA2 by default and you will need to flash them with newer firmware to enable it (from what I understand it is a process that depends on the particular card and involved some fiddling to locate the required tools and files)

Of course there are people selling pre-flashed Amiga-compatible cards.

[alexh]

They work really well but you have to find the right one. Unfortunately a lot of people have bought all of them and are now reselling them at high prices.

[fgh]

I compiled a list ages ago of some cards compatible with the prism driver.

[Sir_Lucas]

Originally Posted by Photon

Asking like a teenager.

But yeah the main question centers around the router which obviously has Wifi.

As opposed to a teenager, I don't need my stuff to be wireless.

But my router has WPA2 by default and I don't know if I can create a non-encrypted network on the side to not waste 060 power on it or if I should try to find a wired card (with some RJ45 adapter) instead.

Specifically, I want to know if any PCMCIA card works with AmiTCP 4+ and bsdsocket.library, or if you have to know details of drivers and versions of this and that to install.

Cheers

PCMCIA WIFI WPA2/AES cards work fine with A1200 and A600.
You need to check if your router also supports B/G or B/G/N as these cards support B only.

They support all TCP/IP stacks including AmiTCP. However, I strongly suggest to get RoadShow as it's the best TCP/IP and it supports DHCP as well.

Here's an example of a pre-flashed WPA2/AES PCMCIA card:

[Photon]

Thanks for all the tips! Maybe I should look into wired options, if that's more compatible and easier to set up on the Amiga side?

1. Can I use a PCMCIA card with RJ45 connector?
2. Is there an even better wired Ethernet option for 1260?

[klx300r]

@ Photon


I recommend an A314-cp https://github.com/niklasekstrom/a314


It's running nicely with my TF1260

[Sir_Lucas]

Originally Posted by Photon

Thanks for all the tips! Maybe I should look into wired options, if that's more compatible and easier to set up on the Amiga side?

1. Can I use a PCMCIA card with RJ45 connector?
2. Is there an even better wired Ethernet option for 1260?

1. Yes, you can use PCMCIA wired cards.

With wired PCMCIA and 060 you can go as fast as 800 - 900KB/s via FTP.

2. The only other option that comes to my mind is a Plipbox, but it's a rather slow solution in comparison to PCMCIA.

[alexh]

There are drivers for 2 wired PCMCIA network chipsets covering almost the entire 16-bit PCMCIA offering. As long as it's a PCMCIA and not CARDBUS ethernet it's almost certainly going to work.

https://aminet.net/package/driver/net/cnetdevice
https://aminet.net/package/driver/net/3c589

Just don't buy one without the RJ45 cable/dongle as they are usually proprietary and impossible to get.

Unfortunately price-wise Amiga resellers, just like Wifi, have bought most of them and now they retail for about 5x what they should.

[Swe_Kryten2x4b]

Originally Posted by Photon

Thanks for all the tips! Maybe I should look into wired options, if that's more compatible and easier to set up on the Amiga side?

1. Can I use a PCMCIA card with RJ45 connector?

Yes. I'm using a 3Com 3C589D and it works great. It's of course dead slow as compared to what is available now but it works. My Amiga is always at the same spot all the time so I didn't see the need for a wireless card.

Still, at cold boot the amiga may not immediately be able to use the card.

Check this thread:
https://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=97789

I've solved it by having a patched kickstart.