[NTLUG:Discuss] Re:wifi

[JD]

>
>i have a linksys befw11s4 wireless broadband router that i would like to
>connect to via wifi rather than the wired connection i have now.  i
>borrowed a linksys wmp11v4 card to trial, downloaded the driver from
>linuxant and haven't gotten it working as of yet.
>
>what i would like to do is get a wifi pci card, recognizable by mandrake
>9.2, that will work with the linksys router.  i'm thinking the right
>channel/freq/etc. should allow any card to work with any router but i
>don't want to make that assumption without more information.
>
>any suggestions on specific cards that would work "out of the box"?
>
>------------------------------

I've found that the any card that uses the Prism 2/2.5/3 chipset is well 
supported.  But you have to be really careful about which version of the 
card you purchase.  Vendors have changed the chipset they use - but left 
the model number the same.  That causes lots of heartache as you expect the 
card to be supported - only to find its not longer Prism based.  I've run 
into that with two different cards from two different vendors.  [Anyone 
need a windows-only wireless PCI card ??  Cheap !]

Easiest is the Proxim Orinoco card - most distros have native 
support.  Personally,  I prefer to use the Netgear MA401 [PCMCIA - 16 bit] 
and the MA311 [PCI].  These cards [as any Prism based card] support the 
hostap driver which lets you use the card as an access point.  Cisco cards 
[airo driver] are also well supported - but usually cost more and can't be 
purchased off the shelf at your favorite electronics store.

I own seven wireless NICs.  My Cisco LMC352 provides the best 
performance.  The Netgear cards [MA401 & MA311] provided better usable 
range than the other cards that I own [Belkin F5D6020 and Siemens 
SS1024].  The above cards are all of the 11Mbps - 802.11b variety.  I do 
not have personal experience with 802.11g nor the 802.11a cards.

You'll need the wireless tools on your client PC.  That package includes 
the 'iwconfig' utility to configure the card for its ESSID, encryption key 
for WEP, mode, etc.  Some cards will come up as ethernet [eth0] and some 
will come up as wireless lan  [wlan0].  Once you set the ESSID, the card 
will "auto-discover" the correct channel when it associates with the 
wireless router/access point.

See the Seattle Wireless site for a list of supported cards ... 
http://seattlewireless.net/index.cgi/HardwareComparison

Another good place to look - is the wlan-ng site ... 
http://www.wifi.com.ar/doc/wifi/wlan_adapters.html

Existing cards that do not have a native Linux driver can use the Luxant 
[http://www.linuxant.com/driverloader/] DriveLoader product 
[$$].  Basically this wraps the original MS Windows driver so the card can 
be used for Linux.

BTW - according to the wlan-ng site - the PCI card you mention uses the 
InProComm chipset.  That chipset isn't natively supported in Linux.  Looks 
like you'll have to use the DriveLoader wrapper.  The good news --- there 
is a free trial version of the wrapper on the linuxant.com website.

Regards,
  >>JD<<