Re: [gentoo-user] Recommend me a good PCMCIA wireless network card

[Colin <signofzeta@gmail.com>]

On Jul 24, 2005, at 2:54 AM, Greg Bur wrote:

> On 7/23/05, Ian K <omega_2_1@yahoo.ca> wrote:
>
>> Hi there,
>> I have an older laptop that I want to add to my network,
>> (its a 802.11B one) and I was wondering what brands/models
>> would work the best under Linux. Im fairly flexible, and would
>> really not like to tinker with too many drivers. Any good ideas?
>> Thanks!
>>
>
> I've always had good luck with cards that use the Orinoco chipset and
> the only time I've had to tinder with drivers was when I wanted to get
> Kismet working with the card.  You should be able to pick one up for
> under $50.  Check out http://www.proxim.com or
> http://www.buffalotech.com for more details.

Just remember, if the laptop isn't going too far, a good length of Ye  
Olde Cat5e is a much cheaper solution.  That being said...


Yeah, I picked up a great Orinoco (branded as Enterasys) at  
Rokland.com last month for roughly $50.  Atheros chipset, 802.11a/ 
SuperA/b/b+/g/SuperG... very nice.  It works in Windows (with the  
driver CD), Mac OS X (with the shareware OrangeWare driver--totally  
worth the $15 shareware fee) and, naturally, Linux (with MADWIFI).   
It picks up Channels 1 through 14, and can put out up to 100 mW of  
power (40 mW on A networks).

There's no antenna jack, though, but I hear most PCMCIA Orinocoes can  
be modded to include some kind of external jack;  I'm not that  
desperate for power, but with dial-up at home, I might do that mod  
and build a yagi antenna, get in my car, and... well, you get the  
idea. :-)

Still haven't had any luck with KisMAC (the OS X port of Kismet),  
though.  It finds my card but doesn't detect my wireless network...  
I'll figure it out eventually.
--
Colin
-- 
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