This GPU is WIRELESS?!

[Psp_040]

Heyo, so I'm the guy who sent the card. I was really surprised to see that the video was done so quickly! It's super awesome for Linus to shed more light on what is a stupid and obsolete technology. I just had two of them laying around because I found them online for $80 for both and bought them after watching RandomGaminginHD did a video on them. Overall, the experience was surreal and would like to thank the entire team

 

[RoseLuck462]

I almost bought one of these from oversea during the pandemic. It would have been cool seeing it work so well out the box.

 

Overall I’m a bit disappointed by the video because they didn’t try from different distances. Like what if the initial latency issues they saw was because the computer was just a little too close. I wished they would have tried from a distance of 100ft or greater.

 

Hope they come back to this in the future.

[Celly_]

The year was 2004. I was a contractor hired by the 802.11 IEEE working group to build out the wireless network for their meeting group meetings. 

Actually, let's take a step back, for some back story.

See, back in 2004 hotels didn't have WiFi, heck, most of the hotels the meetings were held at didn't even have internet beyond a simple DSL (Or ISDN) line. So, they hired out to the company I worked for at the time, to help provision bandwidth, and more importantly, wire up whichever hotel or convention center they chose for the meeting (never the same one twice) in the matter of 24 hours to support WiFi for ~500-1000 attendees. This was wild stuff back in the day -- We're talking running CAT-5 cable down elevator shafts and using sheet music stands to mount "Top of the line enterprise level Motorola" wifi access points, which at the time didn't like having more than 40-50 devices connected to them at a time.

So, anyways -- This event was in San Antonio, and it was a beast of a logistics job. Bandwidth was trouble getting lit. No central ethernet in the hotel (ended up repurposing telco cat2 to get 10BT in come cases) Just a giant headache -- But in the end, we pulled it off, and everything was humming along.. Until is wasn't.

Suddenly, during the first major meeting of the day, everyone was kicked off the Wifi. My Motorola Startac was blowing up. I ran into the makeshift network war room, and seconds later, everything came back.

> Outage log: "11:30-11:37 AM: Cause -- Solar flare."

Back then, QOS for wifi was less than desirable, so no one really got grumpy. I mean, it was literally the 802.11 working group eating their own dog food, they obviously knew the ingredients.

Then it happened again.

> Outage log: "2:32-2:39 PM: Cause -- swamp gas."

And again.

> Outage log: "4:34-4:41 PM: Cause -- full moon."

And it continued every few hours, and lasting for 7 minutes. And it wasn't the network going down, it was literally, the wifi network would just .... disappear ... everywhere ... 

So, I decided to go start talking to the braintrust of the IEEE -- and the few people who would actually give the 'tech help' the time of day, and started asking questions. Nothing really helpful came of it -- so I decided to break out the big boys.

See, at some point, a development version of Orinoco Gold PCMCIA wifi a/b/g card that was channel and power unrestricted was turned into the lost and found -- and lets just say -- was never found. I popped that bad boy in my laptop (running Yellowdog? SUSE? Slackware? Who knows, it was 2004, the year of the linux desktop) ... Then set up camp at the hotel bar, muttered "Mess with the best, die like the rest" .. Smacked <ENTER> .. and put that bad boy into 3l33t sCaNnInG MoDe, and waited.... and waited.. and drank lone stars ... and waited..

And then ding... DING.... <gone>

... 802.11 CHANNEL 1: SSID {REDACTED_MANUFACTURE}_VIDEO_ROOM_211
... 802.11 CHANNEL 2: SSID {REDACTED_MANUFACTURE}_VIDEO_ROOM_211
... 802.11 CHANNEL 3: SSID {REDACTED_MANUFACTURE}_VIDEO_ROOM_211
... 802.11 CHANNEL 4: SSID {REDACTED_MANUFACTURE}_VIDEO_ROOM_211
... 802.11 CHANNEL 5: SSID {REDACTED_MANUFACTURE}_VIDEO_ROOM_211
... 802.11 CHANNEL 6: SSID {REDACTED_MANUFACTURE}_VIDEO_ROOM_211
... 802.11 CHANNEL 7: SSID {REDACTED_MANUFACTURE}_VIDEO_ROOM_211
... 802.11 CHANNEL 8: SSID {REDACTED_MANUFACTURE}_VIDEO_ROOM_211
... 802.11 CHANNEL 9: SSID {REDACTED_MANUFACTURE}_VIDEO_ROOM_211
... 802.11 CHANNEL 10: SSID {REDACTED_MANUFACTURE}_VIDEO_ROOM_211
... 802.11 CHANNEL 11: SSID {REDACTED_MANUFACTURE}_VIDEO_ROOM_211
... 

... What the actual f'n alamo ... I watched this for seven minutes. and then *POOF* gone ... 

Now, it may of been my years of experience. It may of been my killer tech instinct, or it may of been the lone stars... But something was telling me that I should goto room 211 and see what the actual hell is going on there...

So, I go up to room 211. Knock on the door. And 2004 Tech Bro opens it:

"2004 Tech Bro (2004TB):" Heeeeeeeeeey! You here for the tequila demo?!?!

Me: "No, I'm tech support. I'm having net..."

(2004TB): YOOOOOOOOO! TECH SUPPORT IS HERE! COME ON IN! So dude, we're trying to do this demo, and the internet keep going out...

Me: That is actually why I'm here. Do you know what {REDACTED_MANUFACTURE}_VIDEO_ROOM_211 is?

(2004TB): (Turns around to other 2004TB) SEE STEVE (not sure if his real name was Steve, the Lone Stars were the only thing that remember anything at this point)! I TOLD YOU PEOPLE WOULD SEE IT!

Me: Okay, Well. It seeeeeeems {REDACTED_MANUFACTURE}_VIDEO_ROOM_211, may be causing the network issues.

(2004TB): Nah Man. This is cutting edge stuff. Come check it out and have a drink! 

I walk into the room. And on the coffee table is like 10 bottles of tequila, and a Dell, with so many antennas poking out of it, it looks like Posidens family was encased inside and their tridents were fighting thru the case in order to escape..

(2004TB): This, right here, is the worlds first wireless HD video card. The {LONESTAR_MEMORY_2000}..

Me: I'm sorry what?

(2004TB): This uses WiFi to transfer the highest quality video you have ever seen. Here, Watch...

2004TB Turns on the PC, and a 12" TV over in the corner lights up, and plays a 7 Minute clip of the under appreciated movie HEAT staring none other than Danny Trejo. 

(2004TB): No one else can do this right now. We do this by switching the signal thru every 2.4ghz channel to find the best... (insert more marketing wank)

Me: Okay, I'm going to need to stop you right there. Once we're done with this movie, I'm going to need to ask you to just stop. This is what keeps killing the WiFi..

(2004TB): No, can't be.. My team told me they fixed that issue..

Me:  ಠ~ಠ

(2004TB):  ಠ~ಠ

Me: You have popcorn? Or just Tequila?

(I may not of actually said that... but it is my story, so that is what I said...)

... And that friends is the story of the time I busted what was the first Wireless HD video card / wifi DOS device ever created. The manufacture never made it as far as I know. And the (2004TB) were asked to leave/stop since I guess the IEEE had a rule against non-approved demos during their meetings. 

I'm sure no one will ever read all of this. But I feel this is internet important, and this video really gave me nostalgia. 

[papajo]

On 1/4/2023 at 1:39 AM, Celly_ said:

The year was 2004. I was a contractor hired by the 802.11 IEEE working group to build out the wireless network for their meeting group meetings. 

Actually, let's take a step back, for some back story.

See, back in 2004 hotels didn't have WiFi, heck, most of the hotels the meetings were held at didn't even have internet beyond a simple DSL (Or ISDN) line. So, they hired out to the company I worked for at the time, to help provision bandwidth, and more importantly, wire up whichever hotel or convention center they chose for the meeting (never the same one twice) in the matter of 24 hours to support WiFi for ~500-1000 attendees. This was wild stuff back in the day -- We're talking running CAT-5 cable down elevator shafts and using sheet music stands to mount "Top of the line enterprise level Motorola" wifi access points, which at the time didn't like having more than 40-50 devices connected to them at a time.

So, anyways -- This event was in San Antonio, and it was a beast of a logistics job. Bandwidth was trouble getting lit. No central ethernet in the hotel (ended up repurposing telco cat2 to get 10BT in come cases) Just a giant headache -- But in the end, we pulled it off, and everything was humming along.. Until is wasn't.

Suddenly, during the first major meeting of the day, everyone was kicked off the Wifi. My Motorola Startac was blowing up. I ran into the makeshift network war room, and seconds later, everything came back.

> Outage log: "11:30-11:37 AM: Cause -- Solar flare."

Back then, QOS for wifi was less than desirable, so no one really got grumpy. I mean, it was literally the 802.11 working group eating their own dog food, they obviously knew the ingredients.

Then it happened again.

> Outage log: "2:32-2:39 PM: Cause -- swamp gas."

And again.

> Outage log: "4:34-4:41 PM: Cause -- full moon."

And it continued every few hours, and lasting for 7 minutes. And it wasn't the network going down, it was literally, the wifi network would just .... disappear ... everywhere ... 

So, I decided to go start talking to the braintrust of the IEEE -- and the few people who would actually give the 'tech help' the time of day, and started asking questions. Nothing really helpful came of it -- so I decided to break out the big boys.

See, at some point, a development version of Orinoco Gold PCMCIA wifi a/b/g card that was channel and power unrestricted was turned into the lost and found -- and lets just say -- was never found. I popped that bad boy in my laptop (running Yellowdog? SUSE? Slackware? Who knows, it was 2004, the year of the linux desktop) ... Then set up camp at the hotel bar, muttered "Mess with the best, die like the rest" .. Smacked <ENTER> .. and put that bad boy into 3l33t sCaNnInG MoDe, and waited.... and waited.. and drank lone stars ... and waited..

And then ding... DING.... <gone>

... 802.11 CHANNEL 1: SSID {REDACTED_MANUFACTURE}_VIDEO_ROOM_211
... 802.11 CHANNEL 2: SSID {REDACTED_MANUFACTURE}_VIDEO_ROOM_211
... 802.11 CHANNEL 3: SSID {REDACTED_MANUFACTURE}_VIDEO_ROOM_211
... 802.11 CHANNEL 4: SSID {REDACTED_MANUFACTURE}_VIDEO_ROOM_211
... 802.11 CHANNEL 5: SSID {REDACTED_MANUFACTURE}_VIDEO_ROOM_211
... 802.11 CHANNEL 6: SSID {REDACTED_MANUFACTURE}_VIDEO_ROOM_211
... 802.11 CHANNEL 7: SSID {REDACTED_MANUFACTURE}_VIDEO_ROOM_211
... 802.11 CHANNEL 8: SSID {REDACTED_MANUFACTURE}_VIDEO_ROOM_211
... 802.11 CHANNEL 9: SSID {REDACTED_MANUFACTURE}_VIDEO_ROOM_211
... 802.11 CHANNEL 10: SSID {REDACTED_MANUFACTURE}_VIDEO_ROOM_211
... 802.11 CHANNEL 11: SSID {REDACTED_MANUFACTURE}_VIDEO_ROOM_211
... 

... What the actual f'n alamo ... I watched this for seven minutes. and then *POOF* gone ... 

Now, it may of been my years of experience. It may of been my killer tech instinct, or it may of been the lone stars... But something was telling me that I should goto room 211 and see what the actual hell is going on there...

So, I go up to room 211. Knock on the door. And 2004 Tech Bro opens it:

"2004 Tech Bro (2004TB):" Heeeeeeeeeey! You here for the tequila demo?!?!

Me: "No, I'm tech support. I'm having net..."

(2004TB): YOOOOOOOOO! TECH SUPPORT IS HERE! COME ON IN! So dude, we're trying to do this demo, and the internet keep going out...

Me: That is actually why I'm here. Do you know what {REDACTED_MANUFACTURE}_VIDEO_ROOM_211 is?

(2004TB): (Turns around to other 2004TB) SEE STEVE (not sure if his real name was Steve, the Lone Stars were the only thing that remember anything at this point)! I TOLD YOU PEOPLE WOULD SEE IT!

Me: Okay, Well. It seeeeeeems {REDACTED_MANUFACTURE}_VIDEO_ROOM_211, may be causing the network issues.

(2004TB): Nah Man. This is cutting edge stuff. Come check it out and have a drink! 

I walk into the room. And on the coffee table is like 10 bottles of tequila, and a Dell, with so many antennas poking out of it, it looks like Posidens family was encased inside and their tridents were fighting thru the case in order to escape..

(2004TB): This, right here, is the worlds first wireless HD video card. The {LONESTAR_MEMORY_2000}..

Me: I'm sorry what?

(2004TB): This uses WiFi to transfer the highest quality video you have ever seen. Here, Watch...

2004TB Turns on the PC, and a 12" TV over in the corner lights up, and plays a 7 Minute clip of the under appreciated movie HEAT staring none other than Danny Trejo. 

(2004TB): No one else can do this right now. We do this by switching the signal thru every 2.4ghz channel to find the best... (insert more marketing wank)

Me: Okay, I'm going to need to stop you right there. Once we're done with this movie, I'm going to need to ask you to just stop. This is what keeps killing the WiFi..

(2004TB): No, can't be.. My team told me they fixed that issue..

Me:  ಠ~ಠ

(2004TB):  ಠ~ಠ

Me: You have popcorn? Or just Tequila?

(I may not of actually said that... but it is my story, so that is what I said...)

... And that friends is the story of the time I busted what was the first Wireless HD video card / wifi DOS device ever created. The manufacture never made it as far as I know. And the (2004TB) were asked to leave/stop since I guess the IEEE had a rule against non-approved demos during their meetings. 

I'm sure no one will ever read all of this. But I feel this is internet important, and this video really gave me nostalgia. 

Nice story I still dont get how you located them were they a part of your wifi network? Cause the way I read your story makes it look like that this were some unaffiliated to the event or you guys doing their own thing but maybe I missed something. 

Also wouldnt it be possible to have them broadcast on a (or a couple) specific channel and your setup just use the rest? 


 

[asdasdfasdf]

Sorry but you say God's name in vain so many times that I had to turn it off. Lately I heard you guys saying God's name in vain constantly so I'm going to have to discontinue watching you. I'm just saying this for feedback. Sorry guys. Interesting video but I can't watch.