Annother Wireless network card annother problem

[vizion communication]

Thanks very much for the input. It is really helpful.

Does anyome have any more to add -- I am going to get
somehardware in the next 24 hots so all information would be
appreciated. Is there anyone with experience of USB client
devices on FreeBSD.. it would have some advantages for my
application because one can run a usb cable for a fair
distance. Which raises another hardware isssue which is not
exactly on topic (sorry guys)- does anyone know who I can
order the tools/fittings/cables I need to construct longer
usb cable runs?

David



----- Original Message -----
From: "Doug Barton" <DougB at FreeBSD.org>
To: "vizion communication" <vizion at ixpres.com>
Cc: <john at critchley.biz>; "FreeBSD Stable"
<freebsd-stable at FreeBSD.ORG>; <freebsd-mobile at freebsd.org>;
"Will Andrews" <will at csociety.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2003 2:42 AM
Subject: Re: Annother Wireless network card annother problem


> [ Followups set to freebsd-mobile, where this kind of
stuff is usually
> discussed. ]
>
> I asked this same question recently, and since I said I'd
report on my
> results I'm a bit overdue. :)
>
> I had several people give unqualified recommendations for
Cisco Aironet
> cards (350 is the current incarnation), but since my
wireless needs are
> modest, I decided to go with the other strong
recommendation, the netgear
> MA-401. When I bought it at Fry's it was on sale, AND had
a $10 rebate
> (over now, sorry, I got it on the last day).
>
> I had very good experiences with it at both of the
conferences that I
> attended recently. The wi man page has very good
instructions on how to
> use it in various circumstances.
>
> In fact, I liked this card so much that I bought the
Netgear MA 311
> mini-PCI version (which is basically just the same
Intersil Prism 2.5 guts
> as the 401 glued to a PCI card) so I could set up my
little wireless
> network at home. The good news is that once I updated the
firmware, it was
> quite easy to set up hostap mode with this card following
the instructions
> in wi(4). The bad news is that flashing the firware
involved shuffling
> cards between boxes so that I could get it in a windows
box. AFAIK, there
> is no unix firmware flasher.
>
> Following disussion on the -mobile list, I used the
Intersil firmware and
> Windows flasher available at
>
http://www.demarctech.com/products/reliawave-rwz/reliawave-r
wz-200mw-prism2-5-pcmcia-card.html
> I didn't have a lick of trouble updating either card. It
all went quite
> smoothly. I used the prism25-156.zip version, which as far
as I could see
> is the latest.
>
> I ended up spending less than $150 for the whole setup, so
if you're
> looking for a cheap way to play with WiFi, I can
definitely recommend this
> option.
>
> The other piece of info I thought I should pass on is that
a few people
> (including the guy at Fry's, who actually had a clue) told
me that the
> newer linksys products are definitely to be avoided.
Apparently they are
> having quality control issues in their factory or
something, but the guy
> at Fry's said he's been getting a ton of returns on
linksys lately, but
> almost none on the netgear stuff. A couple other people
warned me about
> the linksys stuff too, but since the price was right on
netgear, and since
> people had several good things to say about the MA 401, it
was an easy
> decision.
>
> As for 802.11a, I was told by several people in a position
to know that
> it's not going to be available in FreeBSD for "a while."
>
> I hope this is useful. Thanks to all those who were kind
enough to send me
> information, and answer my goofy questions. If I've
screwed something up,
> or if someone has better info, please feel free.
>
> Doug
>
>
> On Mon, 14 Apr 2003, vizion communication wrote:
>
> > OK What client cards do work?
> > For each of the following:
> >
> > 802.11a
> > 802.11b
> >
> > Media:
> > PCI
> > PCMCIA
> > USB
> >
> > OS:
> > FreeBSD 4.7
>
> --
>
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>