Finally my wireless networking card arrived last week! I'm now writing this entry from the comfort of my couch completely wireless on my notebook :)
This has been a long journey :)
When I ordered my Dell Insipron 8500, there was an option to purchase a Broadcom 802.11b/g inbuilt mini-PCI wireless LAN card with it (the TrueMobile 1300 card). Unfortunately, there's no support for this card under Linux, and based on what I've read on the internet, Broadcom are being quite blah-zay about it. :(
So, after a lot of research, I ordered a Proxim Orinoco 802.11a/b/g Gold PCI card from a reseller in Goerlitz (there weren't any in Frankfurt). The PCI card is actually a mini-PCI card attached to a PCI card 'caddy'. With a soldering iron and a bit of wick, I was able to safely remove the mini-PCI card from the 'caddy' and plug it directly into my Dell i8500's internal mini-PCI slot. :)
Dell's i8500's have inbuilt wireless LAN antenna, so it was just a matter of connecting them and installing the software.
The Windows driver worked out of the box, automatically connecting me to the Linksys WRT54G Access Point we have in our office. The best part though - this card is based on the Atheros chipset, and Atheros recently released a GPL Linux driver for it (madwifi), awesome :)
At last, 802.11g wireless working under Linux. Kudos to Atheros/Proxim! :)
Hi Bernard,
Yes, the Atheros driver works fine with the Proxim PCI Gold card. Haven't had any troubles with it at all.
Cheers,
Marcus
Posted by: Marcus Crafter at October 14, 2004 10:36 AM