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Re: fun stuff - dvd - 802.11g



Alvin Oga <aoga@ns.Linux-Consulting.com> writes:

> i've just gotten the distro to recognize the Netgear WG311 pci 
> 802.11g card  ( have a linksys card too but havent tested it yet )
>
> 	- note that its "g" 54Mbps  ... vs the slower 802.11[a/b]

Nitpicking, 802.11a is also advertised as 54mbps, but runs on a
different frequency than 802.11b/g.  So on a mixed b/g network, you
can wind up with the g clients slowing down to b rates to accomodate
the slower hosts; since 802.11a runs on a separate frequency, it
always runs at full speed.  I also know there are some
interoperability problems with 802.11g (I had trouble earlier this
summer trying to use a Dell-brand 802.11b card vs. some big-name
802.11g APs), but those might be cleaned up with newer hardware.

The downside of 802.11a under Linux is that

> 	- i got it working with the athros drivers from madwifi
> 		http://www.sourceforge.net/madwifi

there's only one manufacturer of 802.11a chipsets (Atheros), and one
driver for it, which works well enough for most purposes but isn't
DFSG-free.

> 	- now the trick is to setup another box just like it
> 	and the two machines should be able to talk to each other
> 	over 802.11g  ...

I don't know whether things besides 802.11b support "ad-hoc"
networking.  But access points are comparatively cheap these days, and
they pretty much all advertise 802.11g support.

> 	- not that WEP is NOT secure ... ( its been cracked )

Google-search for "end to end argument"; this doesn't concern me
terribly (though my housemates think I shouldn't have a completely
open 802.11b AP).

> and the other fun stuff... i just bought my first dvd .. w/out having
> a player or system setup ...
> 	- played w/ ogle, xine, mplayer, few others..
>
> 	- after a few hours of fiddling ( installing various packages )
>
> 	- "dvd player" is now working .. so now i need a new set of
> 	real speakers and real audio amps

Which software package did you wind up using?

-- 
David Maze         dmaze@debian.org      http://people.debian.org/~dmaze/
"Theoretical politics is interesting.  Politicking should be illegal."
	-- Abra Mitchell



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