Im looking into buying an Orinoco Gold pcmcia card for my laptop for the purpose of using kismet. I have read though that not all Orinoco Gold cards support the patched drivers that enable monitor mode. How can I tell which cards support the patched drivers? I am planning on getting one on ebay, and dont want to end up with a card that does not work.

Ask for the FCC ID number. The Classic cards using the Hermes chipset have an ID starting with "imr."

So an FCC ID of IMRWLPCE24H means it is one of the good ones? I will be able to run kismet fine on it?

Ths site seems to be down right now, but here's the link: https://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/oet/c...ericSearch.cfm

The number you show should be fine. Also, Prism, 2.5 or 3 cards will work with Kismet using either the patched orinoco_cs driver or the release candidates for that driver. Examples are the SMC 2532B-W and Linksys WPC11 v3.

The SMC and several variants (all rebadged Zcomax cards) are high power - 100 or 200mw - and come with a removable antenna for connecting externals. Same with Demarctech, Engenious and Senao.

The ORiNOCO is a fine card, just wanted you to know about options.