This is the beginnings of a FrequentlyAskedQuestions list for the IrcChannel (#wireless on the Open Projects Network).
1. Wireless Network Card Questions
1.1. Will my D-link DWL-650+, 3Com USR2210 (or other Ti chipset 22 Mbps hardware) work in Linux or *BSD?
- No. They use a currently unsupported Ti chipset. Please tell D-link that Linux support would be greatly appreciated.
1.2. What is the best card?
This is a highly subjective question. In my opinion the best all around wireless card is a Lucent/Orinoco Silver or a Gold card. They have good OS support, external antenna jacks, and have one of the highest recive sensitivity on the market. If you are looking to make a HostAp machine, you might want to look into the Zcomax Prism2Card or the [http://www.netgate.com/NL2511.html Senao 200mW cards].
1.3. I'd like to try doing ___________ with 802.11b. Will it work?
- Dunno, maybe. Wireless networking depends on so many different factors that it's impossible to say for sure. Try it and let us know.
1.4. Do 802.11a cards work under Linux or *BSD?
- Nope. As with other unsupported chipsets, contact the manufacturer, then return the hardware.
1.5. I'm trying to use my ________ (prism2 chipset card) under linux, and I can't figure out wlan-ng, help!
You might want to try using HostAp ( http://hostap.epitest.fi/ ), it is a driver that supports ad-hoc, infastructure and master modes, and uses the linux wireless extensions, so you can configure it with iwconfig, unlike wlan-ng.
1.6. What driver should I use for Linux?
For lucent/orinoco cards, orinoco_cs, for Prism2/2.5/3 HostAp is strongly suggested, for cisco/aironet cards, airo_cs.
1.7. What is the best antenna?
- There is no right answer to this, please look up the radiation patterns of antennas your are interested in and see if they will fit your needs. Parabolics are good for long distance links, Helicals, Waveguides and Yagis are generally good for medium distance links, Sector antennas are good for medium distance links or large area coverage, and Omni antennas are good for large area coverage.
2. Connecting to Networks
2.1. How do I connect to a wireless network?
This is different in each operating system, see AssociationWithNetworks and find your operating system's instructions.
3. Network Configuration help
3.1. What commands do I need to use?
The NetworkCommands page lists commands used to configure IP address information once you have your radio associated with the access point.
3.2. How do I setup my network to automatically get an IP address?
This is currently covered in NetworkCommands.
Help with windows specific stuff in NetworkCommands and AssociationWithNetworks would be greatly appreciated. I have pictures and commands for the orinoco software under windows that I can take care of, but anything else is fair game. Further wikiizing this page (like the lucent cards), and any further FAQ's would also be welcome
--ForrestEnglish