Re: wireless adapter/card recommendations?

[John C <zcar@satx.rr.com>]

Micha Feigin wrote:
> On Tue, 09 Jan 2007 17:11:41 -0600
> John C <zcar@satx.rr.com> wrote:
>
> > celejar wrote:
> > > On 1/9/07, John C <zcar@satx.rr.com> wrote:
> > > > Hi folks,
> > > >
> > > > I'm in the process of changing my home network from wired to
> > > > wireless and am trying to find a card for a desktop that will
> > > > work effortlessly with etch/sid.
> > > >
> > > > Preferably one whose drivers are already available as part of
> > > > debian.
> > > >
> > > > So far I've not done well and purchased one that did not work. It
> > > > turned out to have a Marvel Technology chip that is unusable
> > > > (education can be expensive).
> > > >
> > > > What I'm looking for is a wireless adapter that will work with a
> > > > 802.11g 54Mbps router. I'd prefer an internal PCI card, but an
> > > > external USB would also be fine.
> > > >
> > > > Any and all suggestions would be welcome before I go shopping again.
> > > >
> > > > Thanks.
> > > > John
> > > 1) This [0] is an unbeatable resource.
> > > 2) Madwifi [1] is terrific code, albeit unfree (it's in Debian
> > > non-free). Cards that claim support for 108 Mbps probably use Atheros
> > > chips that are supported by Madwifi, since 108 is a proprietary
> > > Atheros extension to the 802.11g standard (you don't have to enable
> > > 108 [Turbo], of course]. I believe something similar holds for 125
> > > Mbps and Broadcom chipsets.
> > >
> > > Celejar
> > >
> > > [0] http://linux-wless.passys.nl/
> > > [1] madwifi.org
> > Thanks everyone for the responses.
> >
> > It doesn't look like anything wireless works right out-of-the-box 
> > with Linux - at least not yet.  But the link above looks like a 
> > good resource.
>
> I use a msi, pci ralink based card. It works fine. There is a free driver, not
> in the kernel, experimental, but works for me in ad-hoc mode, didn't try master
> mode. There is a debian package for the serialmonkey driver
> http://rt2x00.serialmonkey.com aptitude search ~dralink
>
> I have a usb card based on ralink (from level 1) but that either locks the
> machine or doesn't work.
>
> A safer approach is probably to get a wireless router so there is no software
> problem, but you still need support for each of the wireless machines.
>
> > I think I'll go shopping now.
> >
> > John

Well, just to continue the saga,

I've been shopping ....

I now own two wireless PCI adapters. Neither of which wants to 
talk to my wireless router.

I bought a Zyxel ZyAIR G-302.  Hey! It had a Penguin on the box 
that made me feel all warm and fuzzy. How could I resist?

Unfortunately when I opened the box there was little support for 
linux users. It does however have a RealTek RTL8185L chip which 
is supposed to work using the serialmonkey driver mentioned 
above. No luck so far. Any one have one working?

I would have preferred a ralink chip since they appear to be 
better supported. But buying wireless adapters is like buying a 
box of Cracker Jacks... You never know what the prize inside is 
until you open the box.

After a few days of frustration, the closest I've come is with 
ndiswrapper and the windows XP drivers that were on the 
installation CD. Everything *appears* to be working, but I can 
not get the card to talk to the router. I've tried DHCP, manual 
settings and to eliminate a possible hareware problem I even went 
so far as to boot a windows 2000 partition on the same computer 
to see if it works with windows... it does. Gawd, that was painful.


My current plan of attack is:

1) Take the first card I bought (TRENDnet TEW-423PI) and smash it 
with a sledgehammer... It does not deserve to live.

2) Drink a few gin and tonics.

3) Box all this wireless garbage up until I calm down.

4) Drink a few gin and tonics.

5) In two or three months, I'll try again.

Thanks all
John