Setting up Wi-Fi network Win/Lin

**plonka2000** · 03-04-2005, 05:42 AM

Hi all,

I'm ordering some Wifi kit from ebay today because my new house will not allow me to cable...
Its quite urgent because I host my website at home and my network is important to me.

I'm asking what would be the best and easiest Wifi cards to get installed and working in Linux.

Here are the variables in my life:

1) I currently use Gentoo and Unbuntu.
2) I have 2 laptops and 2 desktops (I will need to get 2 PCMCIA cards and likely 2 PCI cards and a router).
3) I want the fastest transfer speed possible (I dont intend to use 'b', so 'g' only).
4) I use ADSL for internet so that needs to be incorporated into router.
5) I intend to order this kit by the end of today.

Please anyone who can assist me in finding what I need. I'm going through ebay with a fine-toothed comb for good deals but in terms of compatibility, I'm kindly asking for anyone to post here what is best.
Also, if anyone who knows of any good deals on http://www.ebay.co.uk/ could you please post a link to the auction here.

Thanks all.

**plainzwalker** · 03-04-2005, 06:51 AM

Well, from my research its a kinda hard to find 100% compatible ones. So either you can go the ndiswrapper method or you can search harder and buy new. I have wirless working on my desktop machine. I bought an off brand card to test it out and apparently the manufacturer provides a module for it to work under linux. Ralink WiFi cards and then the source for the module RaLink Open Source Project

For a router I would suggest a linksys one most likely, I bought a belden one and it sucks pretty bad, so I just made it a AP and have to connected to my router.

**plonka2000** · 03-04-2005, 07:00 AM

I assume that different manufacturers will work with different cards, etc...?

I mean if I but a Linksys router and netgear cards, will they all work together?

I've been doing searching and I can find a list of supported wireless cards for linux...?

Does anyone know of one?

**plainzwalker** · 03-04-2005, 07:16 AM

Yes, any 802.11x router will work with any 802.11x card, as long as the letter matches. 802.11g routers (most) are compatible with b cards. The newer ones comming out (a and n i believe) most likely wont work with other version, but dont qoute me on that.

I can't remember where I found a list for supported cards. I'll have to looking around and see if I can find one.

**plainzwalker** · 03-04-2005, 07:20 AM

here

and here

and last but not least, this site might be of interest:

Linux Wireless

and if you still dont find anythng, here is a list i got from HERE:

and dont forget, RaLink does support linux and provides a module for it (even though its not on the list).

Wireless network adapters:

[airo_cs driver] [x86]
Aironet PC4500, PC4800
Cisco 340, 350
Xircom Wireless Ethernet Adapter

[netwave_cs driver] [x86]
Breezenet SA-PX
Xircom CreditCard Netwave

[ray_cs driver] [x86,axp]
BUSlink Wireless LAN Adapter
Raytheon Raylink
WebGear Aviator 2.4, Aviator Pro

[wavelan_cs driver] [x86,smp]
AT&T / NCR / Lucent WaveLAN version 2.0
DEC RoamAbout/DS

[orinoco_cs driver] [x86,axp,ppc,smp]
[ this driver supports multiple chipsets and some features may
not be supported for all cards ]
3Com AirConnect
1stWave 1ST-PC-DSS11IS, DSS11IG, DSS11ES, DSS11EG
Actiontec HWC01170-01/802C12
Adaptec ANW-8030
Addtron AWP-100
Airvast WN-100
Ambicom WL1100 PC
ARtem Onair ComCard STD & EMB versions, 128- & 64-bit
ASUS SpaceLink WL-100
Avaya World Card
Belkin F5D6020 [only Version 1]
Buffalo WLI-PCM-S11
Cabletron/Enterasys RoamAbout 802.11 DS
Compaq WL100, HNW-100
Conceptronic CON11Cpro
Corega PCCA-11, PCC-11
Dell TrueMobile 1150 Series
D-Link DRC-650, DCF-650W, DWL-660, DCF-660W
D-Link DWL-650 [older version, NOT new CardBus ones or 650+]
EagleTec ET-WL300NE-CC
Efficient SpeedStream SS1021 [old 16-bit, NOT new CardBus ones]
ELSA AirLancer MC-11
Ericsson WLAN Card C11
Farallon SkyLINE
HP F2136B
HyperLink Wireless
IBM High Rate Wireless LAN
Intel PRO/Wireless 2011
LA4111 Spectrum24 Wireless LAN
Linksys WPC11 Instant Wireless [ NOT the CardBus v4 card ]
Linksys WCF12 Wireless CompactFlash
Lucent Orinoco WaveLAN/IEEE 802.11(b)
Melco WLI-PCM-L11, WLI-PCM-L11G
Microsoft MN-520
NCR WaveLAN/IEEE 802.11
Netgear MA401RA
Nortel Networks eMobility
Planet WL-3550
PLANEX GeoWave GW-CF110, RoadLannerWave GW-NS11H
Proxim Harmony 802.11b
Safeway Wireless
Samsung 11Mbps WLAN
Sandisk Connect SDWCFB-000
Seg Communications XI325H
SMC2632W, SMC2532W-B
Sohoware NCP110 Netblaster II
Tekram AIR.mate PCF 200
ZCOMAX AirRunner/XI=300

**plonka2000** · 03-04-2005, 07:34 AM

I've found these pages, if anyone is interested:
http://www.fdlinux.com/wirelesscompat.html
http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Jean_Tourrilhes/Linux/
http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Jean_...s.drivers.html
http://www.linuxquestions.org/hcl/index.php?cat=10

These are especially interesting:
http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/talk/node/74
http://www.joot.com/dave/writings/ar...ux-howto.shtml
http://tuxmobil.org/pcmcia_linux.html

I'll add new lists or information I find.

Does anyone else recommend anything in particular?

**plonka2000** · 03-04-2005, 07:46 AM

Here are some more:
http://www.chinalinuxpub.com/doc/www...mp11-linux.htm
http://www.linuxhomenetworking.com/l...mp11-linux.htm
http://www.faqs.org/docs/Linux-HOWTO...ess-HOWTO.html

Because I also use Ubuntu, this is useful:
http://www.ubuntulinux.org/wiki/WiFiHowto

**Icarus** · 03-04-2005, 08:13 AM

different makers and different ranges don't matter too much with wireless, in the end it's all packets. B's will work just fine with G's and vise versa, it will be limited to the slowest speed is all.

I have an old Lynksys WPC11 version2 card that uses the old prism drivers, but my laptop came with a Intel Pro Wireless 2100 (b) and Intel has been activly developing the drivers for Linux, also the 2200(g) card...but these are mini-pci cards so if your laptops don't have the mini-pci ports they won't do you much good.

It looks like you are on the right track though

**plonka2000** · 03-07-2005, 10:21 AM

Hi All,

I thought I'd just update on what I got.

In the end I purchased a Linksys router, PCMCIA Card and PCI Card from PCWORLD (UK). Walked into the store and bought them in the end...

All three models have the "35% faster" plastered all over, which I was pleased about...

I used my Windows PC to configure them at first as my internet is not yet setup in my new place so I cant download a config (yet).

It was working quite well, however, it didnt run at 108mbs as I was originally promised by the PCWORLD staff... So I'm taking it back tommorow.

Today, however, I ordered replacements from http://www.misco.co.uk in the shape of these:

1x NETGEAR DG834GT 802.11G 108MBPS WIRELESS ADSL ROUTER MODEM WITH FREE WG111T 108MBPS USB ADAPTOR (You get a FREE 108mbs 802.11g USB ADAPTOR!!!

)

2x NETGEAR WG511 802.11G 54MBPS WIRELESS PC CARD HALF PRICE OFFER (Got 2 as they were on special

)

1x NETGEAR WG311T 54/108MBPS 802.11G WIRELESS PCI CARD

The item numbers are 94818, 47758 and 45950 respectively.

Hopefully, these will arrive tommorow and I will then return my PCWORLD kit. I always preferred Netgear kit anyway.

Can anyone provide any advice on how to setup these items (Especially the PCMCIA cards) or point me in the right direction?

Thanks all.

**plonka2000** · 03-09-2005, 06:15 AM

Well all my Netgear kit arrived yesterday.

Last night I setup the PCI card in my Desktop (Which I'm currently in the middle of re-installing both Win&Lin).

I had a quick stab at setting up one of the PC CARDs in my T41, and it showed up with lspci but it was late and I was tired and my internet connection wasnt turned on yet either so I couldnt download anything.

However, my internet is on now and I'll be doing it at some point today...

For the moment though, all seems well.

From first looks, I'd recommend Netgear Wireless kit... and I'll be posting a simple HOWTO in this thread when I've got the PC CARD setup.

**plonka2000** · 03-10-2005, 04:07 PM

1st part
Most of the info here was pieced together from here.
If you have problems deciphering my instructions, refer to the above page for developer clarity.

Obviously, this HOWTO can be used with other supported devices, and I guess with other distrobutions if you change the wording a little.
For me, my PCMCIA Netgear WG511 is being installed onto my IBM-T41 laptop running Gentoo 2.6.10-gentoo-r6.

The first thing I did was make sure that my device was recognised by lspci:

Code:

# lspci
0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corp. 82855PM Processor to I/O Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82855PM Processor to AGP Controller (rev 03)
0000:00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 01)
0000:00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 01)
0000:00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 01)
0000:00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-M) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01)
0000:00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 81)
0000:00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corp. 82801DBM (ICH4-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01)
0000:00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82801DBM (ICH4-M) IDE Controller (rev 01)
0000:00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) SMBus Controller (rev 01)
0000:00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 01)
0000:00:1f.6 Modem: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 01)
0000:01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility M7LW [Radeon Mobility 7500]
0000:02:00.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI4520 PC card Cardbus Controller (rev 01)
0000:02:00.1 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI4520 PC card Cardbus Controller (rev 01)
0000:02:01.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corp. 82540EP Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Mobile) (rev 03)
0000:03:00.0 Network controller: Intersil Corporation Intersil ISL3890 [Prism GT/Prism Duette] (rev 01)

The very last line lists my WG511. This is good, and means it is recognised in hardware.

If you wish to further test to make sure that is exactly it, simply eject your PC CARD, then run lspci again to see whats missing.

If there is nothing missing, thats not good and you want to make sure your PCMCIA is configured properly in your kernel.
Now that that works, onward...

Install 'ndiswrapper'.
My version is 1.1, which is currently in the '~x86' unstable branch. To set it permanently, put this line in your /etc/portage/packages/packages.keywords:

Code:

net-wireless/ndiswrapper ~x86

After all that is done, emerge ndiswrapper.

Code:

# emerge ndiswrapper

NOTE: if you get an error at this point, telling you to add/remove kernel modules, this is fine.
All you need to is recompile your kernel. You need use these commands:

Code:

# cd /usr/src/linux

and

Code:

# nano -w .config

In nano, use CTRL+W to find the line(s) you require then edit them.
Eg: To turn a kernel option off, set it like this:

Code:

# CONFIG_4KSTACKS is not set

Eg: To turn a kernel option on, set it like this:

Code:

CONFIG_NET_RADIO=y

Next you will need to recompile to make these changes effective:

Code:

# make && make modules && make modules_install && make install

Once that is done, emerge ndiswrapper and it will work.

To configure ndiswrapper, you need to check for the right driver you need here.
Once you have downloaded the appropriate driver from your manufacturer, you need to install it.

NOTE: To get my WG511 driver installed, I had to DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL the 3.0 netgear driver from here.
After I downloaded it, and after much wrestling with extracting the cab files using 'cabextract' and 'unshield', I found that actually installing the .exe file on a Windows PC and browsing to C:\Program Files\NETGEAR\WG511\Driver listed all the required files:
netIL511.cat
netIL511.inf
netwg511.cat
netwg511.inf
WG511ICB.sys

I copied them over to my laptop using Samba, browsed to the directory which the files were and ran this command to install them:

Code:

# ndiswrapper -i netwg511.inf

After that installed, I ran this command to get a listing of my ndiswrapper devices:

Code:

# ndiswrapper -l
Installed ndis drivers:
netwg511        driver present, hardware present

Kool, it works.

**plonka2000** · 03-10-2005, 04:09 PM

2nd part:
Now that my WG511 is installed and the drivers are installed for it, I needed to install 'wireless-tools':

Code:

# emerge wireless-tools

Specifically, out of the wireless tools, I will need 'iwconfig' and 'iwlist', but we'll get to that later.

Now I need to do this to make sure the driver is loaded:

Code:

# modprobe ndiswrapper

If you get an error, it means that the driver is not loaded. Syslog is run by 'dmesg', which you may need to emerge and configure.
Check your system log, it will show your error. If the driver loads successfully, you should see something like this:
ndiswrapper version V loaded ('V' is your version)
My version is 1.1, which is in the '~x86' unstable branch.

Now run 'iwconfig'. This is my output:

Code:

# iwconfig
eth0      no wireless extensions.

lo        no wireless extensions.

sit0      no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:off/any
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.457 GHz  Access Point: 00:00:00:00:00:00
          Bit Rate:2 Mb/s   Tx-Power:32 dBm
          RTS thr:2347 B   Fragment thr:2346 B
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality:100  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:145   Missed beacon:0

This shows my config is working.

Next, I need to scan for available wireless networks. If your wireless device shows up as something else than 'wlan0'.
Where I'm writing this howto, I have no wireless network around me so this was my output. I assume its looping back my card to itself:

Code:

# iwlist wlan0 scan
wlan0     Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: 02:04:23:72:3D:C7
                    ESSID:"NETGEAR"
                    Protocol:IEEE 802.11b
                    Mode:Ad-Hoc
                    Frequency:2.462 GHz (Channel 11)
                    Quality:0/100  Signal level:-16 dBm  Noise level:-256 dBm
                    Encryption key:off
                    Bit Rate:1 Mb/s
                    Bit Rate:2 Mb/s
                    Bit Rate:5.5 Mb/s
                    Bit Rate:11 Mb/s
                    Extra:bcn_int=100
                    Extra:atim=1

NOTE: If you know what the name of your Wireless network is you can do this:

Code:

# iwconfig wlan0 essid ESSID

(Where 'ESSID' is your Wireless LAN name)
THEN do:

Code:

# iwlist wlan0 scan

Right, I think thats it.

I will post some more when I get my lappie home... At work until 9pm today... Joy.

I hope someone gets some enjoyment from this, as I couldnt find a HOWTO anywhere.

**plonka2000** · 03-10-2005, 06:40 PM

3rd part
Well now that the card is configured and you've (hopefully) found your wireless network, all we need to do is complete the installation and make this permanent.

I recommend running both 'ifconfig' and 'dhcpcd' because you will get to check out your network card config before grabbing an IP address.

Code:

# iwconfig wlan0
wlan0     IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:off/any
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.457 GHz  Access Point: 00:00:00:00:00:00
          Bit Rate:2 Mb/s   Tx-Power:32 dBm
          RTS thr:2347 B   Fragment thr:2346 B
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality:100  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:2   Missed beacon:0

Then:

Code:

# iwlist wlan0 scan
wlan0     Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: 00:0F:B5:57:22:B6
                    ESSID:"mywlan"
                    Protocol:IEEE 802.11g
                    Mode:Managed
                    Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
                    Quality:0/100  Signal level:-60 dBm  Noise level:-256 dBm
                    Encryption key:off
                    Bit Rate:1 Mb/s
                    Bit Rate:2 Mb/s
                    Bit Rate:5.5 Mb/s
                    Bit Rate:11 Mb/s
                    Bit Rate:6 Mb/s
                    Bit Rate:9 Mb/s
                    Bit Rate:12 Mb/s
                    Bit Rate:18 Mb/s
                    Bit Rate:24 Mb/s
                    Bit Rate:36 Mb/s
                    Bit Rate:48 Mb/s
                    Bit Rate:54 Mb/s
                    Extra:bcn_int=100
                    Extra:atim=1

Then:

Code:

# ifconfig wlan0
wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:09:5B:EF:40:20
          BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:1 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:247 (247.0 b)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
          Memory:10800000-10801fff

Then:

Code:

# dhcpcd wlan0

Then to make sure the configuration works:

Code:

# ifconfig wlan0
wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:09:5B:EF:40:20
          inet addr:192.168.0.3  Bcast:192.168.0.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::209:5bff:feef:4020/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST NOTRAILERS RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:2 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:5 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:837 (837.0 b)  TX bytes:888 (888.0 b)
          Memory:10800000-10801fff

This now shows that my 'wlan0' card is picked up an IP address from my wireless router. HOORAY!!!

**plonka2000** · 03-10-2005, 06:42 PM

4th (final) part
Now the final check to confirm:

Code:

# iwconfig wlan0
wlan0     IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:"mywlan"
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.437 GHz  Access Point: 00:0F:B5:57:22:B6
          Bit Rate:54 Mb/s   Tx-Power:32 dBm
          RTS thr:2347 B   Fragment thr:2346 B
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality:100/100  Signal level:-42 dBm  Noise level:-256 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:2  Invalid misc:15   Missed beacon:0

HOORAY!!!

And finally, an extract straight from the ndiswrapper website:

Once everything works fine you can write the correct modprobe settings to load ndiswrapper automatically when wlan0 interface is used, by running

Code:

# ndiswrapper -m

Note that this doesn't automatically load ndiswrapper module at boot time. If you want the module to be loaded automatically at boot time, you should configure your module setup, which depends on the distrbution. Most distributions will load all modules listed in /etc/modules at boot time. Mandrake 10.x uses /etc/modprobe.preload. For them, you can add a line

Code:

ndiswrapper

in /etc/modules.

And THATS IT!!!

Your wireless card should be working fine. In fact, I've written this whole 3rd and 4th section on my laptop, from the other side of the house.

I hope this helps someone, and please let me know if it does... Thanks.

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