Re: Stupid wireless questions
Le mer 04/09/2002 à 10:19, Rogério Brito a écrit :
>
> Well, I have some questions here regarding wireless cards,
> with which I'd appreciate if I got any help.
>
> I'll probably be saving some money the next few months up to
> Christmas to buy me things for wireless access.
>
> 1 - Is the airport card (the one that goes inside the iBook)
> completely supported under Linux?
Yep, it works without any problems...
Install the wireless-tools to set it up (with iwconfig), and you can use
it.
> 2 - If one would purchase a PCMCIA card for a x86 notebook,
> which brands would be recommended, regarding the quality
> of support under Linux (and also availability)?
I'm not an expert, but I think orinoco cards works fine and have an
external antenna plug. It can be usefull...
> 3 - Can anything base station be used in place of Apple's
> expensive base station? Would there be any loss of
> functionality?
I have an airport card in my ibook, and I have used non-apple bases
without problems.It's just a matter of channels. My card is a french
one, so I only have access to channels 10 to 13. If the base is a US
one, on channel 6 for instance (very common), it can't work, you have to
switch it to channel 10. Unless if someone know how to "extend" an
airport card (in which case I am _very_ interested...)
>
> I'm not exactly sure if I understand the concept of a base
> station. To me, all descriptions that I read sound just like a
> dedicated router (and possibly doing NAT) with ability of
> connecting via waves (and possibly through ethernet). Is that
> right?
Sounds like the same to me. However, the firmware in the wireless card
in the base is somewhat different. ( Yes, open a base, and you will
probably see a pcmcia connector with a standard 802.11b card in it ;-).
There is a few more electronics, but the radio part is there...). If the
firmware is the same, you will have to run in "Had-Hoc" mode which is
less interesting...
> If it is, then a base station could be substituted with, say,
> an old computer with another (cheap) wireless card, right?
Yes, but I _think_ (not an expert though), you will have to flash the
card. Instead you will have to be in "Ad-Hoc Mode" which one permit to
clients to talk together without a base. But this mode doesn't support
stats so no signal strength and so on... But I'm sure it's doable...
Yves
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