2008-03-13 12:39:56

by Justin Piszcz

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Is there a wireless PCI/e card that is supported in the kernel?

In the past, I used ndiswrapper etc but noticed that would freeze up my
laptop occasionally..

Obviously for a server machine if you are going to add a wireless card you
/probably/ do not want to be using ndiswrapper if it is an important host.

PCI-e: (D-Link DWA-556)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127218

PCI Cards:
This one seems to be the most popular one on newegg:
EDIMAX EW-7128G IEEE 802.11b/g PCI Wireless Card Up to 54Mbps Data Rates
64/128-Bit WEP, 802.1x, WPA, AES - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16833315041
Pros: Ubuntu 7.10 (Gusty Gibbon) picked up this card without any need for
additional drivers. It has been running with 85% signal stregnth with the
router in the next room.
But then:
Cons: Drivers are still under development. The rt2x00 driver is in the
2.6.24 kernel, but it's somewhat buggy. Kernels built from the rt2x00
devel tree do work significantly better. Regardless of the kernel that I
tried, I was unable to put the card into master mode (for creating an
access point).

GIGABYTE GN-WP01GS IEEE 802.11b/g PCI Wireless Adapter Up to 54Mbps Data
Rates 64/128 bit WEP, WPA, 802.1x, AES - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16839121008
Pros: Just dropped it in and it works in 2.6.22-14 Ubuntu Gutsy x86 (just
tested WEP though). This was researched before purchase. Ralink open
sourced their drivers and the rt61pci driver is part modern kernels. Very
good price.

D-Link DWL-AG530 IEEE 802.11a/b/g 32-bit PCI Wireless Adapter Up to
108Mbps Data Rates 64-, 128-, 152-WEP 802.1x WPA.Wi-Fi Protected Access
(64-, 128-WEP with TKIP, MIC, IV Expansion, Shared Key Authentication
Supports Advanced Encrypti - Retail
Good reviews, but nobody mentions Linux.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127136

Any comments or success stories of GOOD working cards without the use of
ndiswrapper?

Justin.


2008-03-13 12:55:35

by Stephen Clark

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: Is there a wireless PCI/e card that is supported in the kernel?

Justin Piszcz wrote:
> In the past, I used ndiswrapper etc but noticed that would freeze up
> my laptop occasionally..
>
> Obviously for a server machine if you are going to add a wireless card
> you /probably/ do not want to be using ndiswrapper if it is an
> important host.
>
> PCI-e: (D-Link DWA-556)
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127218
>
> PCI Cards:
> This one seems to be the most popular one on newegg:
> EDIMAX EW-7128G IEEE 802.11b/g PCI Wireless Card Up to 54Mbps Data
> Rates 64/128-Bit WEP, 802.1x, WPA, AES - Retail
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16833315041
> Pros: Ubuntu 7.10 (Gusty Gibbon) picked up this card without any need
> for additional drivers. It has been running with 85% signal stregnth
> with the router in the next room.
> But then:
> Cons: Drivers are still under development. The rt2x00 driver is in the
> 2.6.24 kernel, but it's somewhat buggy. Kernels built from the rt2x00
> devel tree do work significantly better. Regardless of the kernel that
> I tried, I was unable to put the card into master mode (for creating
> an access point).
>
> GIGABYTE GN-WP01GS IEEE 802.11b/g PCI Wireless Adapter Up to 54Mbps
> Data Rates 64/128 bit WEP, WPA, 802.1x, AES - Retail
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16839121008
> Pros: Just dropped it in and it works in 2.6.22-14 Ubuntu Gutsy x86
> (just tested WEP though). This was researched before purchase. Ralink
> open sourced their drivers and the rt61pci driver is part modern
> kernels. Very good price.
>
> D-Link DWL-AG530 IEEE 802.11a/b/g 32-bit PCI Wireless Adapter Up to
> 108Mbps Data Rates 64-, 128-, 152-WEP 802.1x WPA.Wi-Fi Protected
> Access (64-, 128-WEP with TKIP, MIC, IV Expansion, Shared Key
> Authentication Supports Advanced Encrypti - Retail
> Good reviews, but nobody mentions Linux.
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127136
>
> Any comments or success stories of GOOD working cards without the use
> of ndiswrapper?
>
> Justin.
> --
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I have an intel 3945 mini pci card in my laptop that works well and is
dircctly supported in the kernel. I would look for a card that has a
chipset directly supported by the vendor which intel does.

My $.02
Steve

--

"They that give up essential liberty to obtain temporary safety,
deserve neither liberty nor safety." (Ben Franklin)

"The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty
decreases." (Thomas Jefferson)


2008-03-13 13:13:29

by Matthias Schniedermeyer

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Re: Is there a wireless PCI/e card that is supported in the kernel?

On 13.03.2008 08:39, Justin Piszcz wrote:
>
> Any comments or success stories of GOOD working cards without the use of
> ndiswrapper?

I would use a WLAN-router or bridge.


I recently bought a DSL-router with WLAN functionality and after a
little testing i realized that it also acts like a bridge. Any WLAN
device can reach any wired device on the switch where i connected the
WLAN-router.

No drivers, no hassle, just a wasted IP for reaching the web-interface
of the router. ;-)

Altough i don't know if it is a standard feature or not, it just worked
in my case. :-)

Pro:
- Easy to setup, use & change

Con:
- No direct control within the server



Bis denn

--
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