What to buy for wireless desktop.

[whvann08]

Just wanted everyone opinion on what to get for wireless desktop.  I have and old pc that I am putting 2009 pclos on and want to know what is better brand wise and should it be PCI or USB.   I have tried  a USB adaptor that I did buy in my laptop with 2009 running live but it did not see it. it was a netgear.    I am not looking to spend too much on the old pc but I would like to use  it for work and need wifi to work.

Thanks
Henry

[T6]

hello and welcome to the forum!

some adapters are known to be unfriendly with linux even with the right drivers

sometimes all you need to do is open pclinux control center/network and internet/setup a new network interface/wifi and then select a windows driver

the most common devices have the windows driver already loaded in pclinux so all you need to do is select the driver and possibly will be loaded automatically, if it is not listed all you need is a inf file that comes with the driver for winxp/vista, usually you find it easily when you browse the driver cd of that device

some devices will use the linux driver if available but depends on the model you have

to be sure about that usb device you have, please connect it and open konsole, write lsusb and post the results

[bicol_willem]

Just wanted everyone opinion on what to get for wireless desktop.  I have and old pc that I am putting 2009 pclos on and want to know what is better brand wise and should it be PCI or USB.   I have tried  a USB adaptor that I did buy in my laptop with 2009 running live but it did not see it. it was a netgear.    I am not looking to spend too much on the old pc but I would like to use  it for work and need wifi to work.

Thanks
Henry

I have great success with USB from Edimax. Cheap and it works (They use Ralink chips).
However,  found the latest NOT working with 2009. It seems that a neer kernel is needed for these. Works OK with 2010 though. So, why 2009 and not 2010? Can't your old PC brings on the min.of 512 mb ram?

[Rudge]

Just wanted everyone opinion on what to get for wireless desktop.  I have and old pc that I am putting 2009 pclos on and want to know what is better brand wise and should it be PCI or USB.   I have tried  a USB adaptor that I did buy in my laptop with 2009 running live but it did not see it. it was a netgear.    I am not looking to spend too much on the old pc but I would like to use  it for work and need wifi to work.

Thanks
Henry

Just curious, why would you choose to put 2009 on it? It is an obsolete version at this point.

To keep on topic, I have never had a problem with edimax cards

[thorper]

I would recommend Belkin G wireless adapter. I have one on my laptop and one on my desktop. They just work out of the box.

[whvann08]

What about Linksys or Netgear pci adaptors  I have found that the usb is not friendly with linux.  I have seen the linksys range plus does it work well with linux.  That is what I am looking at because where I work the signal is weak in my building.   the range plus claims to help with week signals.

thanks
Henry

[T6]

to gain strength you need a internal pci card and that card must be capable to detach the antenna, then connect to it  one of those

http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=ANT24-0700

there it says that it must be used with the router but we used it on a dlink card and worked perfectly for a couple of years

it wasn't linux so no idea if it is linux compatible(the card, the antenna is)

this antenna will give you a signal boost with a really big coverage, we used it to share a very poor signal between two buildings separated by a street at 100 meters more or less

about usb devices i have a encore with a sis 163u chip that works with windows drivers perfectly but this model is not sold anymore, i mention it to let you know that many devices work with linux, even on usb ports

[ruel24]

I don't know about the support for their adapters in Linux, but I have a DLink DIR-655 router and it can't be beat. It has 3 external antennas that give it incredible speed and coverage. Internal antennas are inferior and you won't get as good reception. This is something Linksys and and Netgear got wrong.

[bicol_willem]

What about Linksys or Netgear pci adaptors  I have found that the usb is not friendly with linux.  I have seen the linksys range plus does it work well with linux.  That is what I am looking at because where I work the signal is weak in my building.   the range plus claims to help with week signals.

thanks
Henry

Hmm, I have better luck with USB wireles adaptors. There is one important thing that makes a USB adapter atractive: If you want to connect a PC and using a PCI wireless adapter, it can be that the machine is positioned in a way that signal is weak or not present. A USB extension cable solves this in a simple way.

[Was_Just19]

Been using Belkin Wireless G USB dongles here for a few years .......  using the rt73 driver.

Depending on location of PC the USB dongle can be positioned for best reception by using an extension USB cable.

Just a thought though ...........  most of those USB dongles require USB2 or a powered hub as they draw quite a bit of juice and USB 1.1 may not be able to supply it.

Check you PC ......

[j-retired]

I prefer the PS2 versions - all of them just work, you can use cheap KVM switches for 2 or more machines, and you never get locked out at start-up.

j

[bicol_willem]

I prefer the PS2 versions - all of them just work, you can use cheap KVM switches for 2 or more machines, and you never get locked out at start-up.

j

Wow... never saw such a thing .... Asked quickly around with my favorite shops .... No-one knows! So what is it? How does it connects?

[whvann08]

Well my box is old.  usb1.1 and I had a usb adaptor in it that did not work.  maybe I didn't install it the way i should have but..  I have taken it back and got the pci linksys now and hope it will work.  If not I will have to choose between the netgear or the belkin  that is about all that is sold around here.

henry

[j-retired]

I prefer the PS2 versions - all of them just work, you can use cheap KVM switches for 2 or more machines, and you never get locked out at start-up.

j

Wow... never saw such a thing .... Asked quickly around with my favorite shops .... No-one knows! So what is it? How does it connects?

I'm using a Logitech S510.  Most of the modern ones are USB only, but if you look around there are still some PS2 types - often actually USB but with an adaptor.  The receiver on this one has the separate mouse and k/b ps2 plugs.
(I presume you did mean this, not the KVM unit, which allows connection of one monitor and keyboard to many machines, switching round by special key codes such as <ctrl><ctrl><1> or <2> or <3> etc?)

[Was_Just19]

I prefer the PS2 versions - all of them just work, you can use cheap KVM switches for 2 or more machines, and you never get locked out at start-up.

j

Wow... never saw such a thing .... Asked quickly around with my favorite shops .... No-one knows! So what is it? How does it connects?

I'm using a Logitech S510.  Most of the modern ones are USB only, but if you look around there are still some PS2 types - often actually USB but with an adaptor.  The receiver on this one has the separate mouse and k/b ps2 plugs.
(I presume you did mean this, not the KVM unit, which allows connection of one monitor and keyboard to many machines, switching round by special key codes such as <ctrl><ctrl><1> or <2> or <3> etc?)

Is that not a wireless/mouse keyboard setup and not what the OP was asking about?