vizion communication
2003-Apr-14 17:20 UTC
Annother Wireless network card annother problem
OK What client cards do work? For each of the following: 802.11a 802.11b Media: PCI PCMCIA USB OS: FreeBSD 4.7 Recomendations please Thanks David ----- Original Message ----- From: <john@critchley.biz> To: "vizion communication" <vizion@ixpres.com> Sent: Monday, April 14, 2003 2:04 PM Subject: Re: Annother Wireless network card annother problem> > > > I am just about to put a system together to use a proximPCI> Sorry, no. > > I would like to get something working, but it seems youhave to go out> of your way to pick hardware that will work. > > -jc >
I use a Dlink DWL-520 PCI card with the wi driver and this works just fine. I currently use it as a base station (HOSTAP mode) but it also works as a client (using an Apple base station) or in Ad-Hoc mode. I've also used the DLink DWL-650 PCMCIA card in a laptop which also works fine. These two cards use the "Prism2.5" chipset and any other Prism2.5-based cards should work as well. These cards are 11Mpbs 802.11b. I've been using various 4.x versions, starting about 4.5. NB: the (very similar-sounding) DWL-520+ and DWL-650+ (22Mbps) parts are _not_ the same. They are not Prism2.5 based, and I have no idea if they work in FreeBSD at all.
[ Followups set to freebsd-mobile, where this kind of stuff is usually discussed. ] I asked this same question recently, and since I said I'd report on my results I'm a bit overdue. :) I had several people give unqualified recommendations for Cisco Aironet cards (350 is the current incarnation), but since my wireless needs are modest, I decided to go with the other strong recommendation, the netgear MA-401. When I bought it at Fry's it was on sale, AND had a $10 rebate (over now, sorry, I got it on the last day). I had very good experiences with it at both of the conferences that I attended recently. The wi man page has very good instructions on how to use it in various circumstances. In fact, I liked this card so much that I bought the Netgear MA 311 mini-PCI version (which is basically just the same Intersil Prism 2.5 guts as the 401 glued to a PCI card) so I could set up my little wireless network at home. The good news is that once I updated the firmware, it was quite easy to set up hostap mode with this card following the instructions in wi(4). The bad news is that flashing the firware involved shuffling cards between boxes so that I could get it in a windows box. AFAIK, there is no unix firmware flasher. Following disussion on the -mobile list, I used the Intersil firmware and Windows flasher available at http://www.demarctech.com/products/reliawave-rwz/reliawave-rwz-200mw-prism2-5-pcmcia-card.html I didn't have a lick of trouble updating either card. It all went quite smoothly. I used the prism25-156.zip version, which as far as I could see is the latest. I ended up spending less than $150 for the whole setup, so if you're looking for a cheap way to play with WiFi, I can definitely recommend this option. The other piece of info I thought I should pass on is that a few people (including the guy at Fry's, who actually had a clue) told me that the newer linksys products are definitely to be avoided. Apparently they are having quality control issues in their factory or something, but the guy at Fry's said he's been getting a ton of returns on linksys lately, but almost none on the netgear stuff. A couple other people warned me about the linksys stuff too, but since the price was right on netgear, and since people had several good things to say about the MA 401, it was an easy decision. As for 802.11a, I was told by several people in a position to know that it's not going to be available in FreeBSD for "a while." I hope this is useful. Thanks to all those who were kind enough to send me information, and answer my goofy questions. If I've screwed something up, or if someone has better info, please feel free. Doug On Mon, 14 Apr 2003, vizion communication wrote:> OK What client cards do work? > For each of the following: > > 802.11a > 802.11b > > Media: > PCI > PCMCIA > USB > > OS: > FreeBSD 4.7-- This .signature sanitized for your protection
On Monday 14 April 2003 16:52, vizion communication wrote:> OK What client cards do work? > For each of the following: > > 802.11aDon't have any.> 802.11bI have a NetGear MA401RA and a NetGear MR814 Router/Firewall/Access Point. They work quite well together. I also have a Lucent Orinoco Silver PCCard and a Belkin F5D6020 PCCard. I don't use the Belkin much because my battery life is noticeably shorter than with the NetGear card. I have an Aironet 320 PCI card, but it's currently shelved. It was my access to the Internet for 2+ years, until November 2002. Flawless.> Media: > PCI Yes > PCMCIA Yes > USBHaven't tried one yet. I hope they work, that would make networking even itty bitty boxes pretty easy.> OS: > FreeBSD 4.7 Well, 4.8 now, but it was 4.7 for a while. > > Recomendations pleaseThe other node on my wireless network at home is a Sharp Zaurus PDA running Linux. It has an AmbiCom CF 802.11b card that was recognized and came up the first try with no futzing. Now I just need to get a SmartDigital memory card so I have enough storage space to sync my CRAZY mail inbox onto it. Augh! -- Where am I, and what am I doing in this handbasket? Wes Peters wes@softweyr.com