Hi folks! First post here, so please don't bother if it's not the right place to post those kind of questions. I'm currently running a 4.7-release (upgrade to 4.8 planned but not yet started) on my production box. As I would like to setup a small WLAN (major use for my notebook, other clients are possible) I need to know which cards are really supported. The handbook is IMHO not clear about that (the chipsets are documented but how do I know which card is using what chipset as the manufacturers doesn't really name the chipset?). I've got a list of possible WLAN NICs and am wondering if somebody has any experience using one of them with FreeBSD 4.x? Netgear WG511 (Cardbus) or WAG511 (Cardbus, 5 + 2.4 GHz) SMC 2802W (PCI) or 2835W (Cardbus) D-Link DWL G520 (PCI) or DWL G650 (Cardbus) Belkin 802.11g/+ (don't have a product name by hand, PN PCI: F5D7000, PN Cardbus: F5D7010 - not yet on market) All of these cards are 802.11g devices (54 MBit/s). What about support on FreeBSD for these devices? Any experience? I would like to setup one FreeBSD box (4.7 / 4.8 or even 5.0/5.1) as a router and have at least one notebook connected wireless (running both Win2k and FreeBSD). As I was reading that the high speed wireless devices are having a better operating range compared to 802.11b devices, I don't want to install 802.11b devices. TIA, Volker
> From: "Volker" <volker@vwsoft.com> > Date: Fri, 30 May 2003 13:29:34 +0200 > Sender: owner-freebsd-stable@freebsd.org > > Hi folks! > > First post here, so please don't bother if it's not the right place > to post those kind of questions. > > I'm currently running a 4.7-release (upgrade to 4.8 planned but not > yet started) on my production box. > > As I would like to setup a small WLAN (major use for my notebook, > other clients are possible) I need to know which cards are really > supported. The handbook is IMHO not clear about that (the chipsets > are documented but how do I know which card is using what chipset > as the manufacturers doesn't really name the chipset?).You just hit the nail on the head.Several manufacturers have changed chips with no change in packaging. D-Link does have a web page telling you how to figure out which chip your card has for firmware update reasons, but that does not help when you are buying one. To far too great an extent, it's a matter of trying it and seeing f it is recognized. (Yes, this sucks, but I don't know what we can do about it.)> I've got a list of possible WLAN NICs and am wondering if somebody > has any experience using one of them with FreeBSD 4.x? > > Netgear WG511 (Cardbus) or WAG511 (Cardbus, 5 + 2.4 GHz) > SMC 2802W (PCI) or 2835W (Cardbus) > D-Link DWL G520 (PCI) or DWL G650 (Cardbus) > Belkin 802.11g/+ (don't have a product name by hand, PN PCI: > F5D7000, PN Cardbus: F5D7010 - not yet on market) > > All of these cards are 802.11g devices (54 MBit/s). > > What about support on FreeBSD for these devices? Any experience?Eliminate any 802.11g cards Any card that supports this is not going to work. The reason is legal. Those cards may be programmed to operate an any of a wide range of frequencies and powers and any release of the register definitions could result in transmissions on frequencies not allowed in that location. This could result in large penalties to the manufacturer, so they will only release the specs under an NDA that is totally incompatible with open source. In the industry there has been talk of cryptographic techniques for setting such things, but there are not current or near future products that will support this. I read a good article on this about a month ago, but I don't remember where. I think I got the pointer on /.> I would like to setup one FreeBSD box (4.7 / 4.8 or even 5.0/5.1) > as a router and have at least one notebook connected wireless > (running both Win2k and FreeBSD). > > As I was reading that the high speed wireless devices are having a > better operating range compared to 802.11b devices, I don't want to > install 802.11b devices.Sorry. Maybe some day, but not any time soon. R. Kevin Oberman, Network Engineer Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) Ernest O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) E-mail: oberman@es.net Phone: +1 510 486-8634
On Fri, 30 May 2003 13:29:34 +0200, "Volker" <volker@vwsoft.com> wrote:> ... > I'm currently running a 4.7-release (upgrade to 4.8 planned but not > yet started) on my production box. > ... > Netgear WG511 (Cardbus) or WAG511 (Cardbus, 5 + 2.4 GHz) > SMC 2802W (PCI) or 2835W (Cardbus) > D-Link DWL G520 (PCI) or DWL G650 (Cardbus) > Belkin 802.11g/+ (don't have a product name by hand, PN PCI: > F5D7000, PN Cardbus: F5D7010 - not yet on market) >Nobody's commented on it yet, so maybe I'm out of touch, but I thought Cardbus support in 4.x was not quite mainstream-ready? Last time I looked, anyway (admittedly, 4.5-ish, iirc), it was only really supported in "-current", with the NEWCARD stuff only sort-of backported. 802.11a and 802.11g devices are all either PCI or Cardbus (no 16-bit PCCard), so for 4.x you'll likely want to go the PCI route. Unless I'm completely misinformed on the state of that backport, of course <g> -- is NEWCARD stable in 4.x now, folks? I don't read -mobile very often...> ... > As I was reading that the high speed wireless devices are having a > better operating range compared to 802.11b devices, I don't want to > install 802.11b devices.That's a bit vague, or at least overbroad. :-) I'd recommend reading up on the state of that world a bit more... :-) Comparable 802.11b kit probably has as good or better range & penetration characteristics than 802.11a (2GHz vs 5GHz) if you compare current generation products (i.e. similar receiver sensitivities, etc.) - Brian