Linux and USB Wireless dongles/adapters

[Dapper Dan]

Seriously, though, I think it's unfair to assume every 'complainer' hasn't tried to solve the problem.

Until now, you haven't told us a thing about what you have tried and what you haven't. You haven't let us know what device you are trying to get running or what steps you've taken. You haven't yet asked for help that I can see. If you really want help, start by telling us what the exact device is. It is a usb device? Open a terminal, and with the device plugged in, do:

lsusb -v

Find your device and post that info here if you can please. Once we know what chipset it uses, we can advise you on how best to get it functional.

[ryptyde]

I have had great success with 2 different Belkin Wireless USB adapters, the one uses "zd1211rw" driver and the other "rt73usb" driver. They both were usable upon plugging in.

I have 2 different laptops "Atheros" card in one and "Broadcom" in the other and it was fairly easy getting them going after using an install script a Fedora user created for setting up those wireless cards also good for flash, .mp3 etc.

[kopete]

I have had great success with 2 different Belkin Wireless USB adapters, the one uses "zd1211rw" driver and the other "rt73usb" driver. They both were usable upon plugging in.

If you don't mind, which distros were/are you using in which they 'worked' after plugging them in?

I got my Belkin Wireless USB adapter to work in Debian Lenny after unplugging another usb component from the usb port in the back. I got hint of this oddity from the Ubuntu forums. I don't know what that means, whether it's a bug or what. I unplugged my laser printer (in which I use usb) so that just the adapter was plugged in and rebooted. Upon startup of the OS, I only had to click for the wireless connections, choose mine and login in with the password.

I'm wondering what the experience will be with other distros and/or other kernels (Lenny is currently, 2.6.24) as the wireless usb drivers are built into the kernel and different kernels have updates or whatever which might effect the connection?

[Eirian]

So, is there such a thing as a wireless dongle that works out of the box? I'm interested myself, as I will need to have one in the next couple of weeks and can't afford a lot of downtime.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[daark.child]

So, is there such a thing as a wireless dongle that works out of the box? I'm interested myself, as I will need to have one in the next couple of weeks and can't afford a lot of downtime.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Yes, there are many that work out of the box. I use ralink based cards and the kernel has built in support for these (look for Edimax branded wireless G cards). The netgear WG111v2 also works out of the box. Many Atheros cards work out of the box as well.

[Eirian]

Yes, there are many that work out of the box. I use ralink based cards and the kernel has built in support for these (look for Edimax branded wireless G cards). The netgear WG111v2 also works out of the box. Many Atheros cards work out of the box as well.

Thank you very much. I'll let you know what I end up getting and how it works.