Need 802.11b/g access point

[Almost-retired]

Hi folks;

I need an access point (I think that is what its called) that is faster, and about 10,000x more secure than just plugging an elderly wap11 into my switch (or eth1 on this mobo) is.

I have this card installed:
01:06.0 Ethernet controller: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88w8335 [Libertas] 802.11b/g Wireless (rev 03)
        Subsystem: Netgear WG311v3 802.11g Wireless PCI Adapter
        Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 11
        Memory at fcfe0000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
        Memory at fcfd0000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
        Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 2

And I have all the wireless drivers associated with the libertas available, but modprobeing the mwl8k driver only seems to get a report from cfg80211 in the logs, but nothing else.

Jan  5 12:42:27 coyote sudo:     gene : TTY=pts/4 ; PWD=/usr/src/linux-2.6.37 ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/sbin/modprobe mwl8k
Jan  5 12:42:27 coyote klogd: [ 4196.001601] cfg80211: Calling CRDA to update world regulatory domain
Jan  5 12:42:27 coyote klogd: [ 4196.052222] cfg80211: World regulatory domain updated:
Jan  5 12:42:27 coyote klogd: [ 4196.052226]     (start_freq - end_freq @ bandwidth), (max_antenna_gain, max_eirp)
Jan  5 12:42:27 coyote klogd: [ 4196.052229]     (2402000 KHz - 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
Jan  5 12:42:27 coyote klogd: [ 4196.052232]     (2457000 KHz - 2482000 KHz @ 20000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
Jan  5 12:42:27 coyote klogd: [ 4196.052235]     (2474000 KHz - 2494000 KHz @ 20000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
Jan  5 12:42:27 coyote klogd: [ 4196.052238]     (5170000 KHz - 5250000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
Jan  5 12:42:27 coyote klogd: [ 4196.052240]     (5735000 KHz - 5835000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)

And I did not even see that in the logs when I rebooted to 2.6.37, but I do see, in an lsmod listing, this:
Module                  Size  Used by
mwl8k                  22943  0
mac80211              124332  1 mwl8k
cfg80211               99091  2 mwl8k,mac80211

This is the same thing I tried to get harddrake to setup, and posted a link to that snapshot, where it insists on using ndiswrapper even after synaptic has removed it.

So, what do I do next since no hint as to how to disable the ndiswrapper button in harddrake has been offered?

Is there any hope, or do I bin $90 worth (2) of these Netgear WG311v3 cards that I was told had Atheros (linux supported chipsets) on them & go buy something else that probably won't work either?  This is getting frustrating at best.

Thanks.

--
Cheers, Gene
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
 soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)

[muungwana]

Its kind of hard to get what you are trying to do from your post, lets start afresh, shall we?

An "access point" usually means a wireless gateway to a network.

you have a wireless card(Netgear WG311v3) connected to your computer, what do you want to do with it?

Do you:

1. Want to use this card to share the computer connection with others wirelessly? This will make the computer an access point(wireless gateway) because other computers will be able to a join the network the computer is connected to wirelessly.

2. Want to use the card to connect to an access point so that you can join a network wirelessly probably on your way to the internet.

Most people usually do the second on. You would do the second one if you have a laptop for example at an airport and you want to access their wireless network to check your mail or something.

[Hootiegibbon]

Almost-retired,

A mentioned in a previous thread, the native marvel module is a work in progress, and does not support the marvel libertas card you have, I have copied the content of   the linux wireless documentation site  below.

The only current way to get the card you have online is via Ndiswrapper, the native module for that card will probably appear over the next couple of kernels

The card will work via ndiswrapper if the XP driver is used (possibly win98 or win2000) to get things going, ndiswrapper will not be able to use the vista or win7 versions.

 

mwl8k

mwl8k is a mac80211 driver for for Marvell 88w8xxx TOPDOG PCI/PCIe wireless parts. This initial version supports the 88w8687 802.11b/g PCIe part on channels 1-11, and only STA mode is currently implemented:

http://marc.info/?l=linux-wireless&s=mwl8k

Supported modes of operation

STA
AP
MONITOR
Supported chipsets

88W8366 SuperJay Marvell TopDog 11n 3x3 chipset
88W8863 SuperFly3 Marvell TopDog 11n 2x3 chipset
88W8687 Jay2e Marvell TopDog a/b/g Chipset
Device Firmware

Working

Mailing List

linux-wireless

If these were purchased froma store and you were advised that they were atheros chipsets - take them back and exchange - with wireless cards manufacturers chop and change the chipsets of any given wireless sevice ( they normally have a revision number - yours is rev 03) this is very frustrating but is done at the manufacturer level.

Give the correct Ndiswrapper driver a chance, it may not be a native solution, but it is the only option for now.

Jase

[Almost-retired]

In this case, I want to set this card in my computer up to allow access to my local network, and thence to the internet through my switch and router.

As for ndiswrapper, I have a bcm4318 card in my lappy, and I have yet to get 10 minutes of non-stop connectivity out of either of the B43 modules, nor out of the ndiswrapper install.

That is the next thing I change, hopefully to some card linux _does_ support natively.  If anyone has a clue as to what pcmcia card I should search for to put in the laptop, I would also be grateful.  It currently also has pclos on it, but it may be the 64 bit version.  It would not even turn the radio on and scan for local activity when I had it in Orlando about the 1st of December.

Thanks for any help.

--
Cheers, Gene
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
 soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
A bachelor is a man who never made the same mistake once.

[muungwana]

if you want to connect to your wireless network using the card then your problem is a normal/regular one of having difficulty in joining a wireless network.

The post above me seem to suggest this thread is a continuation of another thread,why was this thread started and it is a continuation from what thread.

those logs shows the card is recognized by the system so it should work, why is it not working again?

[Almost-retired]

While it appears that the regulatory stuffs from c fg80211 is reported in the dmesg & logs, no actual device is being created by udev.
There were patches for AP usage of this chipset posted to lkml the last day or so of 2010, and I was hoping they had made it into 2.6.37, but it now appears they were not included.  Maybe by 2.6.38-rc2 they may be in the patchset.  I rarely build an -rc1 as I'm not capable bleeding _that_ profusely and enjoying it.

Thanks.

--
Cheers, Gene
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
 soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
I don't do it for the money.
                -- Donald Trump, Art of the Deal