Re: Which wireless cards "just work" under Ubuntu?

On Tue, 06 Mar 2007 03:06:17 +0000, Paul Ciszek wrote:

In article <zj4Hh.887$S%2.2@xxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Stefan Patric <tootek2@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Mon, 05 Mar 2007 19:58:12 +0000, Paul Ciszek wrote:

I am thinking of going to Ubuntu. When I asked someone how hard it was
to make a wireless networking card work under Ubuntu, he said "Just buy
one of the cards that is known to work. It's simpler that way."

So, which wireless cards "just plain work" under Ubuntu? As in, I pop
the installation disc in the drive, maybe set a few radio buttons during
the installation, and Ubuntu magically acknowledges the existance of the
wireless card and knows how to use it.

I should have said: this is a desktop machine, not a laptop.

Look for wireless cards that use RealTek, Atheros and Orinoco chipsets.
You should be able to just plug it in, boot, and the system will
load the proper driver. You will still have to configure the network
yourself, but Ubuntu has a wizard to help you, I think.

FWIW: You won't need to use the card's CD, because it's only for
installing Windows' drivers and utilities.

I should have been clearer on that: I was refering to the Ubuntu CD,
installing Ubuntu on a system that already has the card.

Well, if the wireless card has the aforementioned chipsets, Ubuntu should
load the proper driver for it, and ask you during the install to enter the
settings to configure your wireless network, i.e the ESSID, encryption
key, if you're using one, etc. (I'd turn off encryption on your wireless
router until after the OS install. It will make things easier. Add the
key to the system config after the install is complete.)

Stef
.