I recently bought a wireless router. A linksys wrt54gl which runs an open source linux based OS. See wikipedia It’s nice to know that people are working on alternative open source firmwares such as openwrt and dd-wrt. For now I will just keep using the default firmware. Maybe someday I’ll switch to openwrt or dd-wrt because I want a particular feature.
I’m searching for a good pci/usb card (for a desktop pc) which supports wpa2 through wpasupplicant. Maybe you can help me. Or maybe my search will help you.
I will prioritize my wishlist to be able to easier find a suitable card.
- pci or usb (pci is preferred)
- works without problems in Ubuntu Dapper
- opensource driver available with proper wpa support through wpasupplicant
- I prefer chipsets from companies which collaborate with the open source community on drivers
- proper wpa2 support using some driver through wpasupplicant
- 40 euros max
- proper wpa2 support through open source driver + wpasupplicant. would be very cool
- 802.11g support preferred
Some links :
- http://www.fsf.org/resources/hw/net/wireless/cards.html
- http://linux-wless.passys.nl/
- http://www.linux-wlan.org/docs/wlan_adapters.html.gz
- http://ralink.rapla.net/
- http://rt2x00.serialmonkey.com
- http://atheros.rapla.net/
- http://madwifi.org/wiki/Compatibility
- https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs
- https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/WirelessCardsSupported
- http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/cat/315
- http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=363633
- http://forum.ubuntu-nl.org/topic/7419
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Open_Source_Wireless_Drivers
These (atheros) models look best currently :
Topcom Skyracer Pro PCI 154 (108Mbps PCI)
Edimax EW-7325Ig (108Mbps, PCI)
Netgear WG311T (108Mbps, PCI)
D-Link DWL-G520 (108Mbps, PCI)
see http://madwifi.org/wiki/Compatibility for details on these cards
List of wireless cards available in the netherlands :
[url]http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/cat/315[/url]
I’m very much interested in opinions and experiences.Which wireless chipset would you choose ? Which wireless brand would you prefer ? Which wireless card would you choose ? Suggestions and help are welcome!
Ubuntu Demon\'s blog 
atheros based pci cards work ootb in ubuntu and support wpa2.
i am successfully using one at my desktop.
Comment by pirast — February 19, 2007 @ 1:21 pm
but it is in restricted..
Comment by pirast — February 19, 2007 @ 1:21 pm
I bought a Sweex USB stick. 15 euro. I think Ralink was mentioned on the box, but in any case it is Ralink.
Comment by Thomas — February 19, 2007 @ 1:35 pm
Sorry I forgot – I bought it at Computerland in amsterdam where it is now sadly 19,95 euro. Could be that not Ralink but RTsomenumber was on the box.
Comment by Thomas — February 19, 2007 @ 2:10 pm
I did a similar search last December and purchased a Linksys WUSB54G v4. It uses the ralink rt2570 chipset.
The drivers included with Edgy Eft work fine with WEP; I haven’t tried WPA2 although I hope to “real soon now ™.”
The only complaint I’ve had so far is that several times in January the device stopped communicating with the AP (a Linksys WRT54G v6). I don’t really know why but it hasn’t repeated lately. Generally doing an “ifdown; modprobe -r; modprobe; ifup” dance got it working fine again.
I’ve done some reading about WPA2 with this device, and there seems to be an issue using wpasupplicant with the Linux driver. The Rutilt tool is said to work as an alternative.
The new rt2x00 driver is said to be getting more stable now and might be worth testing. I think I read that it and wpasupplicant will work together.
As a last resort I will consider using the NDISwrapper which will probably work with wpasupplicant.
I’m interested to know what you choose and how you arrive at your decision.
Regards,
-james.
Comment by James Stansell — February 19, 2007 @ 2:55 pm
Murray Cumming on p.g.o tried-out a few USB wifi adapters recently:
http://www.murrayc.com/blog/permalink/2007/02/17/linux-compatible-wireless-usb-adaptor-results/
Don’t know if this is of much use to you…
Comment by Phil Bull — February 19, 2007 @ 5:10 pm
Thank you very much for all your suggestions.
Does anyone have an opinion about the netgear WG311T with atheros chipset ?
I suspect that this card will work without problems under Dapper. I also think it will work with WPA2. The madwifi driver is open source needs a binary blob that’s why restricted modules need to be installed for the card to work.
* https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HardwareSupportComponentsWirelessNetworkCardsNetgear
* http://www.netgear.com/Products/Adapters/SuperGWirelessAdapters/WG311T.aspx
* http://madwifi.org/wiki/Compatibility
Comment by ubuntudemon — February 19, 2007 @ 5:16 pm
My vote for Atheros. They have never failed me and are among the best supported chipsets in Linux.
Comment by Daniel Guido — February 19, 2007 @ 7:19 pm
Thanks all!
I think I will be going for atheros (madwifi driver). Now I still have to find the best PCI card :
List of wireless cards available in the netherlands :
http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/cat/315
Compatibility information :
http://madwifi.org/wiki/Compatibility
Tips and suggestions are very much welcome!
Comment by ubuntudemon — February 19, 2007 @ 7:41 pm
These (atheros) models look best currently :
Topcom Skyracer Pro PCI 154 (108Mbps PCI)
Edimax EW-7325Ig (108Mbps, PCI)
Netgear WG311T (108Mbps, PCI)
D-Link DWL-G520 (108Mbps, PCI)
see http://madwifi.org/wiki/Compatibility for details on these cards
I’m very much interested in opinions and experiences.
Comment by ubuntudemon — February 19, 2007 @ 8:50 pm
i am using the Netgear WG311T without problems, but I guess that there is no difference to the D-Link DWL-G520..
Comment by pirast — February 19, 2007 @ 10:19 pm
to pirast :
Cool. Can you elaborate ?
Are you using the netgear WG311T with WPA2 personal and wpasupplicant in dapper ? Are you using EAS/CCMP ?
Comment by ubuntudemon — February 20, 2007 @ 10:09 am
These (atheros) models look best currently :
Topcom Skyracer Pro PCI 154 (108Mbps PCI)
Edimax EW-7325Ig (108Mbps, PCI)
Netgear WG311T (108Mbps, PCI)
D-Link DWL-G520 (108Mbps, PCI)
see http://madwifi.org/wiki/Compatibility for details on these cards
I’m very much interested in opinions and experiences.
Comment by ubuntudemon — February 20, 2007 @ 11:13 pm
updated
I’m searching for an atheros based PCI card which works (almost) out-of-the-box in Ubuntu Dapper. The card has to support WPA2 personal (ccmp/aes). I have made selection of a few possible cards.
Does someone have any feedback one of these cards ?
Does someone know a good shop in alkmaar,amsterdam or maastricht where I can buy one of these cards and return it if I can’t get it to work ?
More information on these cards :
http://madwifi.org/wiki/Compatibility
Edimax EW-7325Ig (108Mbps, PCI) 25-35 euro
* works for someone on ubuntuforums
* madwifi wiki : AR2414A (a/b/g/turbo) or user comment: AR5212
SMC WPCIT-G (108Mbps, PCI) 25-35 euro
* madwifi wiki : works in debian
* madwifi wiki : AR5212 (Atheros 802.11b/g)
Topcom Skyracer Pro PCI 154 (108Mbps PCI) 30-40 euro
* madwifi wiki : works in Ubuntu
* madwifi wiki : AR5212 (802.11a/b/g)
Netgear WG311T (108Mbps, PCI) 35-50 euro
* uwiki : version WG311TGE (sold as WG311T) works out of the box on Dapper 6.06. Same for WGT311TFS in Edgy;
* popular on ubuntuforums (112 threads)
* popular on madwifi user mailinglist (172 threads)
* madwifi wiki : AR5002G (b/g) (AR5212)
D-Link DWL-G520 (108Mbps, PCI) 40-60 euro
* popular on ubuntuforums (160 threads)
* uwiki : DAPPER: Nearly works out-of-the-box,
* popular on madwifi user mailinglist (344 threads)
* madwifi wiki : has one old or 520+ version (A3) which has TI chipset and doesn’t work
* madwifi wiki : AR5212 (b/g) or AR 2414A-00 (b/g)
Netgear WPN311 (108Mbps, PCI) 45-55 euro
* uwiki : works
* forums : works
* AR5004G (11b/11g/turboG) or user comment : AR5212
Comment by ubuntudemon — February 21, 2007 @ 2:06 am
I understand that you are asking for a PCI or USB wireless client solution but I’m going to point out that there is an alternative that does not require wireless drivers. My desktop systems use this product in Client mode:
DWL-2100AP
http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=292
I’d guess that Linksys offers a similar product. It is so wonderful not having to deal with wireless drivers. My wireless network “Just works.”
Comment by Nick — February 21, 2007 @ 4:35 am
I use D-Link’s DWL-AG530. It works just fine with WEP, but I’ve not been able to get it to work reliably with WPA. I’m currently running Kubuntu Dapper.
Comment by Mark — February 21, 2007 @ 4:55 am
Everyone thanks for the suggestions. Keep them coming :).
To Nick :
Yeah I’m aware of such solutions.
1) they are too expensive
2) I will hunt down an atheros based PCI card which is available in the Netherlands and works with WPA and WPA2. This can also help others.
Comment by ubuntudemon — February 21, 2007 @ 12:15 pm
Did you ever find a card you were satisfied with?
Comment by Will MacGhee — August 23, 2008 @ 6:23 pm
to Will MacGhee :
Yes. The Netgear WG311TFS / WG311T :
* fulfills all my wishes
* it’s a PCI card
* works out-of-the-box
* supports wpa_supplicant
* supports WPA2.
* atheros chipset means madwifi driver : Free Software driver with a binary blob. madwifi will eventually be replaced by ath5k which doesn’t need a binary blob. See http://madwifi.org/ for more information.
For more atheros wifi cards which might work well look here :
http://madwifi.org/wiki/Compatibility
Comment by ubuntudemon — August 25, 2008 @ 10:56 am