Re: Using WLAN with Gentoo Linux

On 29 Oct 2002 21:38:14 +0100
Per-Erik Westerberg <[email protected]> wrote:
> Instead of filling my home with wires I'm thinking of going wireless
> even though I currently only have one Desktop PC. I am connected to
> the net with a cable modem at the moment and that modem is in the
> opposite corner of the apartment so I have a long cable running
> through the whole place lying on the floor and I would like to get rid
> of that and also experiment a bit with WLAN in order to get some
> experience.
>
> What are you using? Any big problems to get it to work?

I don't have a lot of experience with different hardware in Linux, but I
have used a couple USB and pcmcia wireless cards.  Based on my
experience, I highly recommend Orinoco cards (Silver, at least).  They
are a little more expensive than the D-Link and Linksys-type cards, but
they work better (stronger signal at distances further from the AP). 
And don't even get me started on the 2 USB adapters I have started.  I
bought a D-Link first (got it from Tiger Direct for $35), and it would
confuse my *D-Link* AP, and I would have to reboot it every hour or so,
or whenever I did heavy transfers.  The Linksys USB adapter is better. 
I haven't had to reset the AP since I used it, but I do get a 10 second
or so break in my connection every now and then.

One other thing to consider.  IEEE 802.11a uses 2.4 GHz, and 2.4GHz
phones will interfere with your connection when they are being used.

-- 
Chad Huneycutt