Ok...so I'm still very new to linux *and* wireless stuff. I am stuck in a nasty situation of not being allowed by my apartment complex to have a new cable modem outlet installed in the spare bedroom. I can't run wire on the wall either cause the cable modem is downstairs.

(sorry for the wordy intro)...anyways, I was wondering if, by getting a wireless router/wireless bridge combo, I could circumnavigate the problem of linux support of the new wireless pci cards. It seems logical enough to me since you would just be plugging in a cat5 from the bridge to the computer so you wouldn't have to worry about new hardware configuration, but then again I *am* a n00b! Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the patience and help...cheers!

I'll move this into the Wireless Forum..

i have several xp boxes hooked up to a cheap walmart linksys wireless B hub both my linux boxes run wireless to it with no problem. I use a cheap prism2 wireless card (pcmcia) with no problems. if you put a linksys card into your desktop, be sure to enable pcmcia since it uses a pci to pcmcia bridge internal on the card

Yes, a router / wireless bridge will definitely work. I have one of my remote Linux PCs connected via a Linksys WET11 wireless bridge.

The nice thing about a bridge is no drivers need be installed/configured (can be a pain in the neck) in your Linux box. The WET11 is fully configureable via your web browser.

One other advantage of using a wireless bridge if you are paranoid about security is you can remotely change the WEP settings from another PC in the network (even those connected via ethernet cables) via a browser. No need to go to the remote PC to setup the the new WEP keys.