Subject: [ALUG] Newbie needs advice on wireless
Today's Topics:
1. Newbie needs advice on wireless networking (Chris & Barry Chater) 4. Re: Newbie needs advice on wireless networking (Wayne Stallwood) 7. Re: Post-Christmas meal (Jonathan McDowell)
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Message: 1 Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 12:47:09 +0000 From: Chris & Barry Chater <ourpost@tiscali.co.uk> Subject: [ALUG] Newbie needs advice on wireless networking To: main@lists.alug.org.uk Message-ID: <45853C4D.8010504@tiscali.co.uk> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
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.------------------------------
Hi again Thanks for all the replies, loads of good advice. I now think i need to clear up some of the finer points. The slot on the computer is slightly over 2" wide and when a card is pushed in, two black buttons pop out.so i would suppose this is called a PCMCIA card slot.I don't Know if the laptop supports cardbus but it was purchased in 2001 and the old OP system was Windoze millennium.Looked at the link for solwise cards, thanks for that.What i would really like to do is use an Ethernet cable, the problem is no Ethernet socket on laptop, so can anyone recommend a site for PCMCIA Ethernet cards and do they work out of the box with Ubuntu? Also has anyone used a Ethernet usb adapter as i am thinking of one of those but don't know if they work with Ubuntu and don't want to waste money on something that does not work. Also do not think laptop is wireless aware as no antenna,or switch, the processor is a pentium 3. Thanks again Barry Chater
Xircom/intel Realports are no longer available new but work really well on Linux and have the advantage over others that there is no dongle thing hanging out the side the ethernet cable plugs straight in. They can usually be found for next to no money on ebay. However you need 2 PCMCIA sockets to accommodate the height, if you have two release buttons (one above the other) then you have a dual socket and therefore can accommodate one of these. I have had success with little or no effort with various USB ethernet thingies, but sadly cannot tell you which ones as they were unbranded el-cheapo purchased in an emergency from a local computer shop.
On Mon, 2006-12-18 at 19:47 +0000, Wayne Stallwood wrote:
I have had success with little or no effort with various USB ethernet thingies, but sadly cannot tell you which ones as they were unbranded el-cheapo purchased in an emergency from a local computer shop.
Perhaps this is just down to individual hardware, but worth a post of caution in any case. I used a DLINK-USB (DUSB-E100) Ethernet dongle with an old-ish 2.6.12 kernel... Every time the link dropped the only way to restore connectivity was with a rmmod/modprobe dance. (I'm not sure if it was the Dlink DSL-300T on the other end that caused the problems- but that's another piece of kit I wouldn't recommend). Upgrading that machine to Fedora Core 6, and I couldn't get *any* traffic out of the Dlink USB (2.6.18 kernel)... Can't remember now if the link came up or not. Downgrading to the last of the FC5 kernels... and it works. If I had a choice again I'd choose something other than the DUSB-E100. (Of course the "other" might use the same broken chipset/be completely unsupported... but that's life). Regards, Adam
On Tue, Dec 19, 2006 at 12:30:32AM +0000, Mr. Adam ALLEN wrote:
On Mon, 2006-12-18 at 19:47 +0000, Wayne Stallwood wrote:
I have had success with little or no effort with various USB ethernet thingies, but sadly cannot tell you which ones as they were unbranded el-cheapo purchased in an emergency from a local computer shop.
Perhaps this is just down to individual hardware, but worth a post of caution in any case. I used a DLINK-USB (DUSB-E100) Ethernet dongle with an old-ish 2.6.12 kernel...
Every time the link dropped the only way to restore connectivity was with a rmmod/modprobe dance. (I'm not sure if it was the Dlink DSL-300T on the other end that caused the problems- but that's another piece of kit I wouldn't recommend).
Upgrading that machine to Fedora Core 6, and I couldn't get *any* traffic out of the Dlink USB (2.6.18 kernel)... Can't remember now if the link came up or not. Downgrading to the last of the FC5 kernels... and it works.
If I had a choice again I'd choose something other than the DUSB-E100. (Of course the "other" might use the same broken chipset/be completely unsupported... but that's life).
Personally I think it's just that USB is a crap interface, even with Win2k and XP I find it unreliable and, more to the point, unpredictable. -- Chris Green (chris@halon.org.uk)
participants (4)
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Chris & Barry Chater -
cl＠isbd.net -
Mr. Adam ALLEN -
Wayne Stallwood