I'm about to build a Fedora Core 5 system which I will want to connect to our home network by wireless. We presently run a Linksys WRT54G wireless router with WMP54G PCI cards in our WinXP boxes - this works fine.

But there doesn't seem to be a lot of vendor support for PCI adapters for Linux. Can anyone recommend a card to purchase, plus details on where to get a driver and install instructions? Preferably, I'd like to stick with WMP54G cards if a driver is available, and someone knows how to get it to work. Alternatively, I'm prepared to purchase a card from any of the well known home market vendors. I'm a newbie to Linux - advice from someone who has been down this path and sorted out the issues would be much appreciated!

TIA,
Jon

http://www.linux-wlan.org

HCL:
http://www.linux-wlan.org/docs/wlan_adapters.html.gz

Has your WMP54G listed. Refer to links on sidebar for FAQ.

This was just really weird, so I decided to post this...I am also using Fedora Core 5, have the exact same router, and have the exact same question.

Carl,
I haven't pursued this since my original post. We now have a FC6 box which is cabled to our router, rather than connected by wireless as was originally planned. I had a quick look at the sites mentioned by Blindsight, and there appear to be drivers for all the well-known vendors. Check them out - if you already have a card, there is probably a driver for it.

HTH, Jon

Same here...

*que twilight zone music*

I had the same problem. My son is almost 13 and I want him to learn open source as he learns computers. His machine is distant from my Belkin Pre-N wireless router.

I had no luck with ndiswrapper using my current cards. I have made most of the mistakes and seen most of the cryptic error messages chronicled here. However, thanks to the great help here and the O'Reilly "Linux Unwired" book, I did get things running (poorly) with the BCM43xx driver. The connection was slow, unreliable, and weak.

Netgate.com (recommeneded by the local Linux User Group) is knowledgeable about open source wireless, and solved my laptop problem with one of their Atheros PCMCIA cards. I called to buy another PCMCIA card, PCI adapter, with an antenna kit to solve the desktop range problem. Instead, they recommended a wireless bridge, which I ordered. It is a fantastic, although somewhat costly, solution. ($125 - cheaper than a copy of Vista) http://www.netgate.com/product_info....roducts_id=361

The high power, high range, bridge has an embedded operating system. It has many capabilities, but I am using it as a virtual ethernet cable outlet. Setup was easy. You plug in the long-cord power supply, and connect your machine to the bridge with the included ethernet cable. Soon, I had a very powerful and fast connection where I used to have a weak and slow connection with the Belkin Wireless G card and BCM43xx driver.

One nice thing is that the unit is portable and has no drivers. Linux, or any machine, just sees it as an ethernet cable. The bridge doesn't know what it is connected to, and could care less if I upgrade to a new kernel or different distro. I could use it to network a printer if I wanted. It would be great on vacation with an RV, especially with a bigger antenna.

The only drawback I can see, aside from the price, is that that the high power of the unit means that it sucks more power and runs hotter than a PCI wireless card.

But Netgate has saved the Linux day for me. Internet access is an absolute must these days, and like a lot of people, it was not practical to have my house wired (I had a company come out to look - they wouldn't even bid.) I feel like this was one of my best computer purchases ever, and I am happy to support a company that supports open source. Anybody looking for a PCI solution may want to consider a bridge.

Bob

Wireless bridges are great, and are about the most painless way to connect to wireless if you have an ethernet port. And, like you, I have found Atheros cards to be essentially trouble free and easy to setup with madwifi.

Well, you guys can put your ads up for these wireless bridges, but I'm not buyin' this whole little charade. I have a WiFi card that works fine on Windows, but I need it to work for Linux as well. Nice try, though.

I have the same router and have the same problem. Under windows I have a machine that is running a Linksys wmp11 card. Spoke at great length to Linksys.

They do not support Linux. In 2002 they released (now discontinued) a usb adapter WUSB11 that supports Linux if you can find version 2.5. The current version 4 does not.

I think it probably would be better to look at other brands. The machine I installed Linux on is being used just to test Linux. Otherwise it is strictly a windows machine and I probably will not spend any money on it.

I have been a linux used for several years and found this question that I found an answer for. I have used several of these cards and they always work. It comes with drivers for linux and windows, but with the new kernels, I've never had to use the disk. The Sabrent wireless-G 802.11G pci adapter works great on Mandriva 2010, but you have to install with a wired connection since the updated kernel has the drivers. If you have installed the system and have the current kernel, it's plug and play.

Thank you, kcirts41, but I want to stick with out existing PCI cards if possible, rather than purchasing cards from other manufacturers. An earlier response has indicated that Linksys do not support Linux, which seems short-sighted on their behalf. Thank you for your advice.