We love the Agere wireless products, mainly because of the superior tools, and the excellent support for multiple operating systems such as Linux and XP. We also love that each Orinoco PC card has a port for adding an external antenna and they work with NetStumbler.


Quick Tip:
"Hacking" your Agere Orinoco RG-1000/1100 Access Point and USB client to add external antenna's.
* WARNING - doing this may void your warranty, proceed with caution!

Open your RG-1000/1100 by prying off the rear cover after unplugging the unit from the wall. Remove the power cord and network cable. Now, examine the rear of the unit and find the RJ-11 phone jack and the power jack. Below the RJ-11 and above the power jack, you will see a small rectangular plastic clip holding these Orinoco RG together. With a small flathead screwdriver, push down gently and push to the left. Once you loosen this, you need to remove the rubber "pad" on the very bottom of the RG, and you will find a smaller clip, pry this clip open, and then pull the 2 sides of the RG apart. Be advised that there are smaller clips that should loosed once these 2 are pryed apart. Gently, push and pull each side of the RG and it will eventually come apart.






















The RG-1000 AP opened and modified for external antenna connection(Click to Enlarge)


Once the RG is apart, you will have 2 sides, one with all the components, and a plastic side. Using a Dremel tool, or similar cutting device, or even a drill with a larger size bit, make a small hole below the RJ-11 jack in the component side. This hole should be slightly larger than the diameter of the external antenna cable. Once you make this hole, remove the plastic plug from the end of the Orinoco PC Card (the antenna plug), and plug in the Lucent pigtail. Put a piece of tape over the end to hold the pigtail in place. Snap the cover back on and hook up your external antenna. Power up the unit and enjoy the increased signal strength to your wireless clients!

Note:On the RG-1100, there is no cutting required, since there is no phone jack/modem installed. The jack is covered by a sticky plastic tab, remove this, pry open the RG-1100 and simply insert the antenna into the card. Put a piece or tape over the antenna cable to hold it in place, and snap the RG-1000 back together. You can now attach your antenna and you are ready to go, no cutting needed!

The RG-1000 with "hacked" external antenna pigtail sticking out. (Click to Enlarge)

Hacking the Orinoco USB client to add an external antenna

The Orinoco USB client can also be "hacked" to gain better signal strength by adding an external antenna. The USB client is very easy to open and add your pigtail, only requiring a small hole be drilled at the very top of the client on the front side. The first step is to pry open your USB client by pulling up on the top, and using slight pressure, pull down on the bottom base. This should separate the base from the plastic top, allowing you to pull apart the 2 core components as shown in the screenshot below:




















The 2 major USB client components, the cover and the PC card holder.(Click to Enlarge)

As you can see, inside the USB client is a small PC board that holds the Agere Orinoco PC card. You do not need to remove the card to add an external antenna. Take the cover, and find the LED lights on the front. Follow the seam up to the top of the cover, and drill a 1/4" hole in the top or use a Dremel tool to cut out an opening. Once you cut the opening, you should use a larger drill bit and drill out the middle of the 2 plastic fins under the top cover. If you look directly into the hole you drilled in the top front, you will see what we mean, These fins will block the pigtail from making a proper connection into the top of the PC card, and if you do not remove the fins or drill them out, the USB client will not fit back together properly.

The Orinoco USB client components after we took it apart. (Click to Enlarge)

Next, remove the plastic plug from the end of the Orinoco PC Card (the antenna plug), and then put the end of the pigtail through the hole you drilled in the top, and plug in the Lucent pigtail. Put a piece of tape over the end to hold the pigtail in place. Snap the cover back on the USB base and hook up your external antenna. Power up the USB unit and enjoy the increased signal strength from your Access Points.






















The Orinoco USB client with external antenna pigtail attached (Click to Enlarge)

The Orinoco USB attached to pigtail and mobile antenna for sniffing/wardriving. (Click to Enlarge)

Once you do this, you should be able to plug in any external antenna that is compatible with the Agere pigtail. For more information on external antenna's and pigtail cables, we suggest you visit Hyperlink Technologies. Why would I want to do this? Well, we prefer to use the USB client to do all our wireless sniffing. This is because the USB client, along with (3) Belkin 10 foot USB extension cords allow the USB client to be up to 30 feet away from the laptop, giving us more flexibility with the external antenna. Without the USB client, we have a 19" Agere pigtail, hooked directly up to very thick LMR-400 cabling, which is very rigid. Using the 30 feet of USB extension cables gives us 30 feet of distance, without sacrificing any loss of signal that you would get with LMR cabling or even a longer pigtail. Try it, we think you will agree!

*** Please keep in mind that opening your Orinoco hardware and drilling holes, etc, can void your warranty. We take no responsibility for you if you screw things up. This is merely a guide if you decide that you wish to try this.