* Robert D. Crawford <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> [2005 Oct 26 06:28 -0500]: > "Michael Perry" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > > Steve Lamb wrote: > > > >> Does anyone have any recommendations for the > >> simplest card to get working with Debian? > > > I think the easiest I have ever done is a orinoco pci adaptor with a > > gold 11b card in it. > > I am not sure if it is an issue with the gold card, or if it affects the > pci version of the cards, but the orinoco name was attached to several > cards. This seems not to be a problem until Proxim started making them > and came out with Rev.4. This one had an Agere chipset that has no > support from the in-kernel drivers. There is _supposedly_ one driver > that can be downloaded from Agere for the 2.4.x kernels, but I could not > compile it. Stay the hell away from the proxim cards.
So far I've had good luck with two different Atheros based adapters and the Madwifi driver. The first I bought a year ago is a Linksys WPC55AG an a/b/g capable PCMCIA card. The second is the built in adapter on an IBM Thinkpad T42. I build the Madwifi driver against the kernel source configured with the Debian kernel config file and the driver loads into the stock Debian kernel with no problems. I generally follow the instructions at: http://www.marlow.dk/site.php/tech/madwifi The only problem I've encountered is here at home with a Linksys BEFW11S AP and WEP. It seems that the wireless tools commands need to be fed in a certain order that I found through experimentation. Tools like Kwifimanager don't seem to be able to negotiate the key so I rely on waproamd and a customized script here at home. On the road with an open AP (hotel, etc.) Kwifimanager works fine. If you need a 100% DSFG driver, then an Atheros based card is probably not for you as Madwifi is built around a proprietary firmware blob that is loaded by the driver. I don't really see it as a problem because it isn't much different than if the blob were burned into the card. The difference here is that the blob can be improved upstream and new features/bug fixes can be applied without having to flash the card--always a somewhat chancy proposition. And the blob approach is pretty much required per FCC regulations on 802.11 devices. Madwifi works well with Kismet which is an added bonus. - Nate >> -- Wireless | Amateur Radio Station N0NB | Successfully Microsoft Amateur radio exams; ham radio; Linux info @ | free since January 1998. http://www.qsl.net/n0nb/ | "Debian, the choice of My Kawasaki KZ-650 SR @ | a GNU generation!" http://www.networksplus.net/n0nb/ | http://www.debian.org -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
