[Gllug] How does Linux cope with Wireless internet?

[Mike Brodbelt]

On Wed, 2006-04-26 at 11:03 +0000, Alex McMahon wrote:

> I am looking into setting up a network and am considering wireless
> networks. However I have never used wireless networks with Linux. If I
> buy a PCI wireless network card will it recognise it straight away?

No.

>  Would it be more difficult than standard wired ethernet?

Yes.

OK, less sarcastically, wireless support in Linuz is a bit of a mess.
Many cards aren't properly supported, drivers being reverse engineered
and not totally there yet, partly binary (madwifi), generally awful but
convenient (ndiswrapper), or not fully supporting the features of the
card. There are still arguments going on in kernel land about which
802.11 stack should become the default, and while I'm sure it'll get
there in the end, it's not there yet.

I think the best cards to get right now are probably ones based on the
Ralink chipsets - Ralink provide GPL drivers and there's a list of cards
available here:-

http://ralink.rapla.net/

I would personally buy one of those, you'll be supporting a vendor that
provides GPL drivers, and you'll get a relatively trouble free
experience.

> office computer connected to ADSL+Switch+wireless (all in one device)
> 5 computers connected to 8 port switch (using wires), then connected to wireless access point in other room.
> 2 rooms communicate wirelessly, everything else is wired.

Of course with that setup, you won't actually need a wireless PCI card
anywhere....

> See http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/5623/networkdesign1pw.gif
> for network design image
> 
> Is this a bad idea? Any suggestions for a better layout?

You don't need an access point at both ends, you can make do with an
AP/ADSL box, and then something like a Linksys WET54G at the other end:-

http://tinyurl.com/cuhgc

Mike

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