WPA now supported by prism2.device

[ncafferkey]

A new commercial version of the prism2.device wireless network driver is now available that supports WPA (TKIP) and WPA2 (CCMP/AES) encryption. However, please note that not all cards support all encryption modes.

A rule of thumb is that PCMCIA cards with white edge connectors support hardware WPA (TKIP) encryption, but not WPA2 (CCMP/AES). Cards with black edge connectors support WPA 1 and 2 when reflashed with new firmware in a PC (but encryption is done in software, so you'll need a fast Amiga to get reasonable speeds). PCI cards used with OS4 also need a firmware upgrade.

The new driver is available for EUR 15 per card for 68k and OS4. Please send inquiries and PayPal payment to caffer@cs.ucc.ie.

[ncafferkey]

Where do we look for said firmware updates, and how do we know we're looking at the right one? Is this a vendor-specific thing for each card model, or a generic prism2 thing that will work on all cards?

It's generic. Everything you need to know is here: http://linux.junsun.net/intersil-prism/
I recommend using the 1.7.4 firmware. There are a few variants of this for different chip revisions, but it's easy to identify the right ones with the Windows tool.

If I license a driver for a card, does that license follow the card from one Amiga to another?

Yes, I'm happy to provide both 68k and OS4 versions for the same card without any extra fee, but if you have two cards you'll need two licences.

Is this becoming a wider wireless API that others can port drivers for other chipsets to, or is this a monolithic prism2 driver?

The former. It uses a port of wpa_supplicant, which is also used by the AROS Atheros wireless driver.

[ncafferkey]

The traditional prism2.device could use a firmware file from Devs:Firmwares/ - is that still possible with the WPA version? Less chance of major screwups that way

I remember that you have a Hermes II card: this doesn't need a firmware reflash (I'd be surprised if it doesn't have a white connector).

@Colani1200

With an 030, only Hermes cards (white connector) should be used: I get around 150 to 250 kBytes/s on a 40Mhz 030. Prism II (black connector) cards give less than 100 kBytes/s on the same machine.

On an 060, I get around 200 to 450 kBytes/s with a Prism II card.

@mihcael

The card pictured appears to be a Prism II model, which needs a firmware upgrade.

@amigadave

Sorry, no news yet.

[ncafferkey]

Do I read correctly, that cards with white edge don't need to be reflashed (for WPA1)?

Correct.

And demo version or some sort of test program would be nice.

I'll think about it. But if a card works with the old driver (available on Aminet), it should work with the new driver too.

[ncafferkey]

I've been trying to check and update the firmware using my WinXP tower, bu thave been unable to find a driver for this thing so the card will be recognized by the Windows updater tool. Grrr. I even managed to get the PC internet connected via the wireless to ethernet dongle from my Tivo, and can check web pages, but online driver scanning comes up empty. Boooo!

According to the page linked above, "The driver for Linksys WPC11 v2.5 should [be] OK". IIRC I used this driver on my Win2000 box even though I don't have this card model.