[NTLUG:Discuss] help getting wireless working

[Terry Henderson]

On Sat, 30 Oct 2004 06:36:28 -0500, Stephen Davidson
<gorky at freenet.carleton.ca> wrote:
> Kevin Hulse wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> >>>hello group.
> >>>i was looking for someone to help me to get
> >>>
> >>>
> >>wireless working or at least
> >>
> >>
> >>>started on the write path ill pay 60 bucks per
> >>>
> >>>
> >>hour.
> >>
> >>
> >>>jim
> >>>
> >>>
> >
> >For starters, build, install and attempt to isnmod
> >any wifi driver kernel module for the wifi NIC
> >hardware
> >that you think you are going to use. Wifi
> >compatibility
> >is tricky. You may have to build your own module or
> >depend on a binary one. Claims of support may not
> >necessarily pan out. A source module might not build
> >or
> >a binary module might be dependent upon a particular
> >distribution release.
> >
> >You also have to worry about attennas and signal
> >strength. You should look into what cards are the
> >strongest in this area and what hardware can be
> >augmented with after market mods. For example: my
> >wifi router has 3rd party antennas on it to boost
> >it's signal strength.
> >
> >I've had good luck with the dlink Atheros G laptop card.
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >https://ntlug.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
> >
> >
> >
> Hi Guys.
> Build, install, insmod????  If the guy is like me, (and with an offer to
> hire/pay someone for this, it sounds like he is) he doesn't have time
> and the expertise to be fooling around with building modules and
> drivers.  He just wants it to work.  (This is why I go with SuSE, it
> just works, usually).  And as was pointed out in another thread on this
> list, not all wireless cards work in Linux.  So, for starters, he needs
> to determine if this is a firm that is MS only, or if there are Linux
> wireless drivers available.  And that has always been a tough nut for ME
> to crack.

It's MS only, if there are no Linux drivers.  See following sites and
others on the Internet to see if any of the many devices are what you
[as a Linux user] would want to buy:

http://www.prism54.org/supported_cards.php
http://madwifiwiki.thewebhost.de/wiki/MadWifi

Or, just use a bridge instead of a PCI or PCMCI device and you'll not
need any driver software.

> 
> You guys need to start coming up with an easier solution for the
> corporate and home users, other than "build your own code".  An idea
> would be to start building binaries (rpms would be great!) that anyone
> can just download and install for the different wireless cards.
> Something with a Wizard would be really nice.
> 
> Regards,
> Steve
> 

As to the question of ease of installation of software?
"an easier solution"  than "build your own code"

I guess that boils down to whether a person is willing to use a
keyboard or not.  To compile from source, one has to type in 3
commands.

./configure
make
make install

I realize that's pretty tough, [my fingers are aching already], but to
me, it's easier than wizards, (I'm more of a coffee drinker than a
wizard person).

But I will agree with you on one point, binaries are [a little] easier, i.e.
rpm -ivh package-name.rpm 

Actually, I'll agree with you on a second point, SuSe is a very nice,
user friendly distribution.

:)