Connecting to BT Hub by USB
 

I have an old pc with no network card (yes really!)

I've connected directly to my BT Business Hub using a USB cable, and it works fine with XP.

When I boot to Ubunutu it doesn't seem to recognise it at all. I can't even go to 192.168.1.254 in Firefox. "Can not contact this address" or similar message (Sorry, I'm back in XP to write this, so I can't quote it exactly).

I've tried pinging that address too, and it does nothing at all - doesn't say it failed, just nothing happens.

Ubununtu is the latest version available to download today (6-Jul-09). 9.04

Should this work, or will I get nowhere without a network adapter?

Thanks,
Ian

What is a "BT Business Hub"? Some sort of home router? If so, I would really suggest getting a network card and connecting to it over Ethernet. USB is really there on a router as a last resort, you should use Ethernet whenever possible. This is doubly true under Linux, where you can have additional compatibility issues.

By the way, it is "Ubuntu".

Thanks for replying so quickly, and sorry - carried away with my "u"s!

The BT Business Hub is a wireless router supplied by BT (British Telecom) to business broadband customers.

I don't really want to spend any money on hardware - it's a very old machine, not really worth servicing. I'll probably just struggle on with XP if USB is a no-go. XP works, if slowly. I just wanted to try out the Linux experience.

The hub wasn't plugged in or configured when I installed Ubuntu - would that make a difference?

Might I need a new driver or something?

An ethernet card costs maybe £9.99 from PC-Whatever. But nothing if you go to your local recycling centre with a screwdriver.
Get one.
Plug it it in. It'll work.

Linux doesn't like "Network over USB", because.... well you can search for it ;)

Ethernet is the painless way to go.

Fair enough - if it won't work, it won't work. I'm just glad I chickened out and kept XP installed! I tried Ubuntu last year with a simple USB modem, and that wouldn't work either, so with this and the installation problems I had, I think I'll leave it. Doesn't feel quite ready yet to be honest.

Thanks for your advice though - you've got a really great forum here.

Well, I couldn't just leave it in the end. I found an old dusty adapter in a box and plugged it in. After a bit of jiggery-pokery in the bios to get it working - it is! Maybe that's how Linux hooks people - make it a challenge, so you can't let it lie. I will love Linux, I will love Linux. :o)

Thanks again for you help

Of course not, that's why you came here. We don't like anybody to give up too soon, but I hope we aren't too pushy & evanglical either.
Congratulations!

Persevere, it really is worth the effort (sometimes very little, very occasionally a LOT).

Whilst I am delighted that you have linux functioning, you are welcome to keep XP somewhere "just in case".

I still have win98 somewhere "just in case", but I haven't used it for some years.

Thanks for your follow-up post, it made me feel good ( You weren't going to "give up", you followed advice, you got it working, you bothered to repost to that effect ).

One day soon maybe you'll be helping newer newbies than yourself here.