I have used ndiswrapper without any problems for quite a while on various kernels. All worked great until I started connection to wpa networks, at which point a variety of irritating but livable problems arose (eg. connection randomly dropping, computer freeze sometimes when changing networks or rmmod'ing ndiswrapper).

I have recently tried bcm43xx instead (having upgraded to 2.6.17), and so far have had less problems. I have read quite a few posts about people choosing ndiswrapper over bcm43xx without giving much explanation.

So my question is, what problems do people have with bcm43xx that are resolved by ndiswrapper.

Brian

For one thing, the BCM43xx driver is currently limited to a speed of 11M, which obviously can be frustrating with wireless networks and such. Having used both of them, it's been my experience that NdisWrapper also produces a longer range, as well. I can't think of much other than that... Personally, 11M is sufficient for my purposes, and I'm seldom in a different room from the router, but there are some people to whom those two points would make a difference.

I think Aranel pretty much hit the nail on the head. No matter how much we would like otherwise, bcm43xx is still under development and I'm sure the need to install firmware is another obstacle for new users.

Then there is the issue of simple momentum. Ndiswrapper is relatively well known and there is a LOT of documentation about how to use it with a variety of cards. If you search for how to run any wireless card in Linux, odds are ndiswrapper is going to be mentioned. On the other hand, bcm43xx is pretty new and the documentation on how to install and use it is pretty scarce.

Thanks for the input. I don't notice it to be slower than the ndiswrapper. On the other hand, it does not drop the wpa connection and I can rmmod reliably without crashing my system, where it was very much hit-and-miss with ndiswrapper.

Brian