1) Installed Slackware 12.2
2) Edited /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1.conf to get my Atheros wireless card up and running.
3) The end result is really pathetic. Browsing is ridiculously slow.
4) MadWifi won't compile on the 2.6.27 kernel...
5) MadWifi is the super fast default on Kubuntu 8.10 but the new distro is really buggy and crashes.

/facepalm

I haven't been able to find any info on why it's so slow or how to fix it. Getting my connection working was only half the battle apparently. I like Slackware the most because it doesn't force me into KDE w/o any real access to root *cough*Ubuntu*cough*.

/begforhelp

Info not relevant

I have PCMCIA card with atheros chipset but I use it really rarely. Previously I was using kernel 2.6.24.4 and Madwifi-0.9.4. Everything worked fine. A month ago I switched to kernel 2.6.27.7 and fount the compilation problem (__skb_append). This problem have already been reported to madwifi so maybe newest svn snapshot should already be fixed.

But in my case new kernel module ath5k works fine. I didn't notice any major slowdown. But as I said I use this card only rarely.

I've blacklisted ath5k and installed the windows driver with ndiswrapper. Seems better so far, but I just did it, so I haven't really tested the speed.

I'm currently using Slackware 12.2 and a Atheros Wi-fi card (Atheros AR2424 from dmesg). I had the same problems compiling madwifi 0.9.4 and ath5k was working disastrous. I got the latest sources from the madwifi svn, compiled smouthly and it works great.

open a terminal, type
blacklist ath5k, compile, install, insert de ath_pci module and you are up and running.

Cheers

Yes, the svn version is the way to go with the new kernel in Slackware 12.2. But I was able to compile the 0.9.4 drivers with two patches. You can find them here and here. Also compiles on kernel 2.6.28.

YES. I should have tried that after my experience with 12.2 and the old NVIDIA driver. Thanks.