PCMCIA Cards Hiding in Linksys Routers

As some eagle-eyed viewers have pointed out, I didn't notice during filming that Windows connected to the internal adapter at the end there, and didn't realize it until after uploading. The wireless-g card does indeed work if you disable the built-in adapter, and the link light blinks as well!

Anyone remember PCMCIA standing for People Can't Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms.

For those not familiar with PCMCIA, PC Card and CardBus, the bus that's used for the original PC card is essentially an extension of the 16-bit ISA bus. CardBus upgrades that to basically be a 32-bit PCI bus and those cards have the golden strip with rivets near the connector end. ExpressCard succeeded PC Card and CardBus by switching over to PCI Express (also supports USB).

Oh man, this brings back bad memories of working for a university. The then president of the university wanted us to be the first campus in the US with the entire campus covered in WiFi. So he rushed to put in a bunch of A/B access points, even though we knew G was right around the corner. So I spent an entire winter break going around to every Cisco AP and swapping out the PC Cards for new G cards.

Just a little tip for any desoldering with solder wick for anyone who could use it, a little bit of extra flux will go a long way in pulling solder up into the wick

12:18 The screw for the hard drive cover is right next to that long black one.

5:47 nothing screams „Don‘t you dare and try to service me!“ louder than a soldered case 😤

Having a second computer to help diagnose and repair the other one was a game changer

I used to watch TV on my laptop with a PCMCIA TV tuner, back in the day...

I do testing and configuration for PCBA's for a living and I'm 99% sure those tabs on the first board were test points. From the looks of it, they most likely had a test bed that the card would slip into for automated testing. Oh, as for drivers, the install software is usually optional. Just go into properties for the device, click the update driver button, and point it to the folder containing the drivers. If it's an exe like the first card, try opening it with something like 7-zip. Often, especially back in the old days, these were just executable zip files. If so, extract it to a folder and there should be a sub-folder containing the drivers, just point it to that folder.

Just like the OG access point from Apple. Man, I miss the early/mid 2000s Linksys time period.

I had to laugh when you mention the game adapter in the documentation and immediately pull one out.

I miss these routers. So reliable, so versitile! I used to pick them up at thrift shops and use them all over to help friends and family fix their internet problems.

Was watching some unrelated videos and then found this recommended to me. I don't know if I'm the only one fascinated by wireless routers, but seeing a bunch of them on the thumbnail, instantly click on and watch it.

Seeing old Ubuntu brought back so many memories. I never had a CD burner back then and USB drives were still out of my reach (grew up poor as) and I used to have the install CDs shipped to my house from them for free all the time. They came with stickers and different versions (desktop, server) IIRC. That's not far off form the version of Ubuntu we used to use when I volunteered for a non-profit that donated off-lease and donated computers to needy kids circa 2010ish. I used to hack together the most jank shit and install Ubuntu on it. I daily Debian on my notebook and for all of my server hosting now, but I still have some love for the Ubuntu project and the push it gave me into Linux waters.

All of those Linksys routers have metal threaded UNDER the plastic. I’ve taken them off before. ;)

seems like almost a crime to have a linksys router without DD-WRT on it, let alone a dozen, lol.

Dude! I can't tell you how excited I am over this video. It's not for no reason, just that I experimented with so much hardware during this era. There was so much more elegance in design. Like yeah, nah it's all the same chipset running everything. THE INTERNET :)

PCMCIA cards were used quite a bit as a component in wireless devices because you could get the wireless card certified ONCE, and then use it as a drop-in module for whatever device needed WiFi connectivity. IIUC, changes to the design require recertification, so it makes tons of sense to only do this when the RF design actually needs to change, vs. incremental updates on every device that has a radio in it. It's the same reason many devices now use those little postage stamp PCBs with the drilled castellations along the edge. You just solder that little bugger to your main PCB, and voila, you shortcut the certification needed to sell your device with WiFi, BT, or cellular radios. The only time it makes sense to integrate the RF design is when 1) you're confident that you'll get the design right the first or second time (no changes and respins and recertifications); 2) you know you're going to make enough of them that the bespoke design certification costs are less than the cost of including larger, slightly more expensive pre-fabbed modules and the interfaces / assembly steps to integrate them. So, an iPhone will be fully integrated. Maybe also later revisions of a mature and essentially perfected router design sold by the truckload to chain computer stores. Everybody else will use a drop-in module.

The plastic boots over the antennas on the newer Linksys routers is actually removable, exposing the same physical metal base on the antennas.