----- Original Message ----- From: "Jay Moore" <jaymo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: "For users of Fedora Core releases" <fedora-list@xxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Monday, January 17, 2005 7:21 PM Subject: Re: Which PCI Wireless card > On Fri, 2005-01-14 at 02:12, Nicholas Comino wrote: >> I'm looking to install a new wireless PCI card on Fedora 3 (core >> 2.6.10). I am new to linux, and wondered whether anybody knew one that >> supported linux (or fedora) especially well in terms of a good driver >> that was easy to install. >> >> I would prefer a 802.11g, but am happy to go back to a "b" only. (The >> router handles only b/g so anything faster is out of the question >> unless it is in fact especially easy). I am talking about drivers, not >> the physical installation. M-board is a ASRock K8 combo-z, (using the >> skt754 option with sempron 3100). >> > I posted this a few weeks ago. I've gotten some feedback that it helped > a few folks, so I thought I'd post it agin in response to your question. > It was written for PCMCIA, but much of the same will also apply to PCI > cards. Hope this helps... > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > I think this has been asked many times in this list. It _is_ a FAQ, but <<<snippity>>> > > In summary, if you want a card that's really supported under any > open-source OS with no bullshit voodoo/proprietary/kissmyass binaries > required then you must find a card that uses one of the "supported" > chipsets (i.e. hardware). You will hear the term "Prism chipset" used; > Prism chipsets were (are?) manufactured by Intersil - apparently they > published enough data on their chipsets to allow folks to write drivers. > Most of the other chipset manufacturers (notably Texas Instruments) have > not. > > In this free-market economy we all get to vote... we vote with our > purchases. So - if you buy a WiFi product that has open-source support, > you are "voting" for the chipset manufacturers that support open-source > software - you are telling them all that if they want your business, you > require them to support open-source software. If, on the other hand, you > buy a WiFi product that requires closed-source drivers you are voting > with the "Windows crowd". > > The bad news is that there is no open-source support for the "newer > technology" 802.11a & g WiFi (caveat: AFAIK - someone please correct me > if I'm in error here). Therefore you're limited to a "mere" 11 Mbps > under 802.11b :) The good news is 11 Mbps is still pretty strong, and > most of the AP appliances out there also support 802.11b. > > Well - I've digressed... hope this helps, and don't forget to "vote". > > Jay Thanks for all the help and info. I've followed it up where I can. What I am looking at is a Netgear WAG311T using an Atheros chipset. I'm still waiting for the local shop to reply to an email confirming the exact chipset. That one is a (super?) 802.11g which could reach 108mbps if I had a router that supported that (http://www.netgear.com/products/details/WG311T.php#secure). It is a little more expensive than a d-link with a prism chipset not to mention being a bit of overkill. It is the least expensive atheros chipset I can find (Australian $88). The MADwifi drivers claim to be able to support a/b/g standards (http://sourceforge.net/projects/madwifi/). I'll update you on how it all comes together, but I am definitely voting linux this time around. ~Nick
