ndiswrapper, drivers with limited futures?

q6z4k · 06-19-2006, 09:53 PM

Hi!
I'm using ndiswrapper to get my wireless to work! It doesn't work with kismet, its a broadcom card. As far as I know, win drivers doesn't support passive mode (the mode that alows kismet to find networks in passive way). I want to buy a new card, where I could plugin external antena, but nothing too expensive. Please give me a suggestions what card could run on Linux without ndiswrapper and will be able to run with kismet? what could be the cost for this cind of card? Sorry, I'm a real newbie to networking! Thank you!

chief_officer · 06-20-2006, 02:51 AM

I have struggled with this issue for months. I have solved this issue by purchasing a 802.11b card with Prism chipset. There are a couple of things I can tell you from my experience:

1. Prism cards are recognized with orinoco chipsets. You have to manually solve this issue. I couldn't solve it yet. If I can, I will post it.
2. If I were to buy a card again, I would go with a card that has Atheros chipset.
3. If your chipset is Broadcom 43xx series, then those chipsets are supported by kernel version 2.6.17-rc2. There is a website about this, which I can direct you to: http://bcm43xx.berlios.de/

FYI, I still hold my USR MaxG pcmcia card at hand waiting for support from kernel and kismet.

Shioni · 06-20-2006, 09:45 AM

Thank you very much!! Yes, I have the 43xx series. My card is Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g, but as far as I know, they might not work:

Quote:

Note:
Support for newer cards (4318 chipset) is still being worked on. Please be patient while we figure out what they changed. It should work at lower rates (11M) for now.

So I guess I will have to search for a new card anyway.. is there any list with Linux supported cards? Thank you!

rickh · 06-20-2006, 09:52 AM

Quote:

...is there any list with Linux supported cards?

Here's one.

Shioni · 06-21-2006, 09:38 AM

Thank you!! So it means, if I compile 2.6.17 kernel, I will get the drivers for my card? Stupid question, but what does 2.6.17-rc2 mean?? I found a kernel 2.6.17.1, will this do? Thank you!

cathectic · 06-21-2006, 12:32 PM

bcm43xx's work fine in Monitor mode on Linux - the problem they have is with transmission power on the BCM4318 (IIRC< the developers are struggling to control the transmission power, so at the moment, transmission range is ~2 metres according to some reports and it only works at 11M).

So to summarise, since Monitor mode is passive, bcm43xx should work fine for what you want (the only thing of note is that it does not yet support packet injection).

(2.6.17-rc2 refers to 2.6.17 Release Candidate 2 - this has now been superceded by 2.6.17/ 2.6.17.1).

Shioni · 07-24-2006, 03:20 PM

Thanks!
I finally got thous bcm43xx running, but when I scan for a wireless networks, nothing comes up!! So that means, that the distance between wireless router and my wireless card can't be higher than 2 meters?