Newbie needs advice on wireless networking
Hi I have just installed ubuntu 6.10 on a 5 year old Packard Bell Laptop and would like to connect to my Netgear router via wireless or RJ45/Usb connector. Not being to technical minded i don't want to get into source codes etc at the moment.So i would like a wireless pci card that works out of the box, or a usb wireless adapter that does the same. Failing this i could plug a usb/Rj45 connector and use a long lan cable. Have trawled through through various Linux sites, only to find that the equipment that works only seems to be sold in the USA or is discontinued. I would really like some guidance of which way to go on this as i I would really like to get on the internet with Linux. Can not really see the point of praising Linux on a Windoze Machine. This is my second installation of Linux, have tried Core 6 but found Ubuntu easier for me to use, love the games. I do hope someone will help a nearly silver surfer get surfing with Linux ( hope the waves are not too high)! Thanks Barry C
On Sun, Dec 17, 2006 at 12:47:09PM +0000, Chris & Barry Chater wrote:
I have just installed ubuntu 6.10 on a 5 year old Packard Bell Laptop and would like to connect to my Netgear router via wireless or RJ45/Usb connector. Not being to technical minded i don't want to get into source codes etc at the moment.So i would like a wireless pci card that works out of the box, or a usb wireless adapter that does the same. Failing this i could plug a usb/Rj45 connector and use a long lan cable. Have
Hi, Does the laptop not have an ethernet socket already? if not does it have a pcmcia cardbus slot? if so you could just get a pcmcia ethernet card and run a cable to your computer. If you want to go wireless then I /think/ that atheros based cards are supported out of the box with ubuntu, and you can get a pcmcia cardbus (make sure your laptop can support cardbus, i think all laptops post-2000 can, but it's worth making sure) card with an atheros chipset from here http://www.solwise.co.uk/wireless-pcmcia-5-wcb101ag.htm failing that they do a "normal" pcmcia prism 2.5 but it costs nearly 50 quid and only supports 802.11b. Also, are you sure that the laptop has a mini-pci slot that supports wireless? (you said pci, but i'm not aware of any laptop that has ever had a full size pci slot, unless it was specialised equipment) 5 year old machines didn't always have antennae available even if they had mini-pci slots in the first place and I'm not sure if Intel wireless cards are even supported on old chipsets although they are quite well supported in Ubuntu. Thanks Adam -- jabberid = quinophex@jabber.earth.li Avoid ID cards, renew your passport: http://www.renewforfreedom.org/
On Sun, 2006-12-17 at 14:55 +0000, Adam Bower wrote:
O Also, are you sure that the laptop has a mini-pci slot that supports wireless? (you said pci, but i'm not aware of any laptop that has ever had a full size pci slot, unless it was specialised equipment) 5 year old machines didn't always have antennae available even if they had mini-pci slots in the first place and I'm not sure if Intel wireless cards are even supported on old chipsets although they are quite well supported in Ubuntu.
The intel mini-pci Wireless cards should work on just about any chipset that has the socket. However in Laptops that are not wireless aware as well as the lack of an antenna you sometimes have an additional problem with power management. Modern wireless aware laptops have a switch for the wireless radio (sometimes this is a physical switch or sometimes it is a soft switch done with a key combination). Without this there is a chance that the Mini-PCI slot will not enable the radio. There are workarounds (involving tiny bits of insulating tape on the minipci edge connector) that I have performed before but to be honest if your minipci slot lacks the antenna wiring and the Wireless Switch then I'd go for the PCMCIA/Cardbus option. I'd also second Adam's suggestion of hooking up your Laptop via a Ethernet cable if it is equipped with a Network socket. If you are new to Linux then this will be easier to get working initially. If fact assuming ubuntu has detected any built in Ethernet adaptor and DHCP is enabled on your Wireless Router (it is by default) then it should just work when it is plugged into your router.
On Sunday 17 December 2006 12:47, Chris & Barry Chater wrote:
Hi I have just installed ubuntu 6.10 on a 5 year old Packard Bell Laptop and would like to connect to my Netgear router via wireless or RJ45/Usb connector. Not being to technical minded i don't want to get into source codes etc at the moment.So i would like a wireless pci card that works out of the box, or a usb wireless adapter that does the same. Failing this i could plug a usb/Rj45 connector and use a long lan cable. Have trawled through through various Linux sites, only to find that the equipment that works only seems to be sold in the USA or is discontinued. I would really like some guidance of which way to go on this as i I would really like to get on the internet with Linux. Can not really see the point of praising Linux on a Windoze Machine. This is my second installation of Linux, have tried Core 6 but found Ubuntu easier for me to use, love the games. I do hope someone will help a nearly silver surfer get surfing with Linux ( hope the waves are not too high)! Hi Have you tried http://www.linuxemporium.co.uk/products/wireless/ and also the latest version of Linux Mint, (Edgy with codecs) released today has: Quote, "Better Wifi support
Bea comes with mintWifi, which purpose is to allow you to configure your wireless card without an Internet connection. mintWifi comes with the following: * Ndiswrapper and Ndisgtk * Cabextractor and unshield * Tutorials to install and configure your Wifi card * A collection of Wifi drivers to support about 40 different wireless card models" http://lt.k1011.nutime.de/20061220.html Kind Regards - Nick Daniels
participants (4)
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Adam Bower -
Chris & Barry Chater -
Nick Daniels -
Wayne Stallwood