Linux Format forums

Re: Linux Wireless Adaptors

spottedcat — Tue Mar 07, 2006 4:07 pm

Author: spottedcat

Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 4:07 pm

I have one of the Belkin PCI cards which has worked without any trouble in a Windows box for several months now. I haven't tried it in a Linux installation yet, because the OOTB drivers in Ubuntu and SuSE don't support WPA. I don't really want to use WEP - it seems a retrograde step. I'll wait.

As far as customer reviews are concerned, I'm very cynical about negative ones. They often say more about the reviewer than the product. Looking for a DVD rewriter to match my silver PC case, I found a customer review which marked the NEC ND-3540A down because although the front face was coloured silver, the tray inside wasn't - it was beige. I bought the NEC. It matches the case fine. It works fine too. The interior is beige. Who cares?

RE: Linux Wireless Adaptors

noelob — Tue Mar 07, 2006 12:06 pm

Author: noelob

Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 12:06 pm

Hi,

Has anyone had any connection problems with the belkin devices advertised on linux emporium. Im interested in gettin a few (Im running mandriva) but ive noticed some customers have on amazon dont think too highly of these devices

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/electronics/B00008XYJ3/customer-reviews/qid%3D1141732099/sr%3D1-12/ref%3Dsr%5F1%5F3%5F12/202-8882349-2971850
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/electronics/B0006374PK/customer-reviews/qid%3D1141732048/sr%3D8-1/ref%3Dpd%5Fka%5F1/202-8882349-2971850

Thoughts?

Kind regards,
Noel

RE: Linux Wireless Adaptors

crispibits — Sun Jan 08, 2006 10:45 pm

Author: crispibits

Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 10:45 pm

I can verify that rt2500's work OOTB with Ubuntu 5.10, but have found that after the last kernel upgrade it went a bit wonky. the connection seemed to oscillate. I grabbed the latest CVS from serialmonkey.com and all seems ok again now. Hope this helps someone...

RE: Linux Wireless Adaptors

nelz — Sun Jan 08, 2006 8:07 pm

Author: nelz

Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 8:07 pm

I'm using the USB version of the device Dave2 recommended. It uses a different chipset and driver, zd1211, but works perfectly.

RE: Linux Wireless Adaptors

Rhakios — Sun Jan 08, 2006 2:53 pm

Author: Rhakios

Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 2:53 pm

I was interested in the fact that they are supposed to run OOTB with Ubuntu 5.10 (except the USB) and SuSE 10, at least according to the site I linked to. I wonder if the latest Mandriva also has the drivers.

RE: Linux Wireless Adaptors

Dave2 — Sun Jan 08, 2006 12:56 pm

Author: Dave2

Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 12:56 pm

As mentioned in a previous topic, I'm currently using one of these which uses the same rt2500 chipset. They can be a bit of an arse to get going, as the drivers aren't part of the kernel and so you need to download the drivers and kernel source (quite hard when you have no network connection ) and then compile the modules, but once that's done they work nicely.

RE: Linux Wireless Adaptors

Rhakios — Sun Jan 08, 2006 12:40 pm

Author: Rhakios

Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 12:40 pm

Meanwhile, I think it is best to spend your money on those manufacturers who do provide some measure of support for OSS and hope the others get the message.

RE: Linux Wireless Adaptors

shifty_ben — Sun Jan 08, 2006 12:46 am

Author: shifty_ben

Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 12:46 am

Nice to see some manufacturers supporting OSS. Hopefully more will follow suit, if enough manufacturers do it will mean one less hassle for users.

Linux Wireless Adaptors

Rhakios — Sun Jan 08, 2006 12:39 am

Author: Rhakios

Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 12:39 am

Just browsing around tonight, I notice that Linux Emporium are selling Linux compatible 802.11g wireless devices.
This might be useful to anyone looking for compatible hardware.
They don't seem too expensive, I might venture a purchase when I see how much I can afford at the end of the month.