Too far away from the router... is WiFi a good solution?

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StringCheesian · Post by **StringCheesian** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 2:46 am

Our router (shared by the whole family) is on the opposite side of our large appartment from my bedroom where my computer is.

I dual boot, and for Windows the USB to phone line jack converter that came with the router (for SBC dsl, brand name is 2wire) works ok, but not at all with Gentoo (nor any Linux distro).

So what would you recommend?

BWoso · Post by **BWoso** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 3:23 am

WiFi would be a great solution. I personally have not tried to set up a wireless card but I know many people who have them set up on their gentoo boxes.

StringCheesian · Post by **StringCheesian** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 4:07 am

Ok, can anybody recommend a good linux-friendly wireless networking card?

tSp · Post by **tSp** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 4:33 am

StringCheesian wrote:Ok, can anybody recommend a good linux-friendly wireless networking card?

I have a pci dlink card (unknown model) and also a pcmcia dlink wpc11that both work with orinoco modules and wlan-ng modules - both were automatically detected during gentoo installations. I'll try to find the exact model of the pci card that I'm using....I can assure you they were whatever was cheap at the time I bought them, but that was over a year ago and I have heard some of the dlink stuff isn't linux compatible anymore.

An easier way to find several compatible cards for both usb, pci, etc would be to visit the orinoco and wlan-ng web sites to see what are compatible under linux

tactless · Post by **tactless** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 2:45 pm

I have heard that there are external antennae that connect to a standard NIC via a standard RJ45 ethernet cable - making the PC unaware that it's on wifi. A good solution for high compatibility.
Beyond that - the long distance could mean signal strength issues. I'd try and run a cable first.

psylo · Post by **psylo** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 2:54 pm

StringCheesian wrote:Our router (shared by the whole family) is on the opposite side of our large appartment from my bedroom where my computer is.

I dual boot, and for Windows the USB to phone line jack converter that came with the router (for SBC dsl, brand name is 2wire) works ok, but not at all with Gentoo (nor any Linux distro).

So what would you recommend?

The problem with WiFi inside a home is not the distance but the number of wall between the access point and the PC and what is the composition of the wall (concrete blocks, wood panel, ...). Of course distance is important but outside not inside.

Mben · Post by **Mben** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 3:09 pm

StringCheesian wrote:Ok, can anybody recommend a good linux-friendly wireless networking card?

get a linksys WET11. it is an ethernet bridge. just plug it in to your ethernet nic enter the settings for your ap into the web based configuration page and your good to go. i have a version 1 and it has worked well for me for over a year with a netgear 802.11b router

http://www.linksys.com/products/product ... 02&scid=36

tal82k · Post by **tal82k** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 6:16 pm

StringCheesian, I read online that the 2Wire PC port (I am assuming is HPNA) could be used on linux using the orinoco drivers. There was also another module (I don't remember which but i could find out) that was meant to work on mandrake and I am sure through a little tweaking could work on gentoo. I hope this was helpful.

Paladine01 · Post by **Paladine01** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 9:55 pm

Are you telling me that you are over 100 meters away from the router? Your apartment has more floor room than a football field!?!?!?

I'd get a 100 meter wire if I were you.

StringCheesian · Post by **StringCheesian** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 4:34 am

Paladine01/tactless: My mom doesn't want me to run an unsightly cable through the living room.

tal82k: I read that too, but it's talking about the PCI card. All I've got is the ethernet/usb adapter version of it that plugs in the computer's USB port and the a phone jack. Hmmm... maybe I could install a PCI card for HPNA.

Mben: Cool! And then I could still try out experimental OSs that don't have wireless support yet, like SkyOS, MenuetOS, etc.

psylo: 2 Walls: the one separating my room from the living room, and the one between the living room and master bedroom. I don't know what's in them, but they are interior walls.

MHD · Post by **MHD** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 4:37 am

My netgear wg511 works a dream! (oh and the linksys wrt54g router is a nice bit of gear to)

The wg511 uses the prism 54 chipset which there is plenty of info on... (search then forum)

StringCheesian · Post by **StringCheesian** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 7:06 am

I got a wireless game adapter (Linksys WGA11B) and it's working great! Thank you, Mben, and everyone else!

tactless · Post by **tactless** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 10:05 am

StringCheesian wrote:Paladine01/tactless: My mom doesn't want me to run an unsightly cable through the living room.

It doesn't have to be unsightly... well, actually, it just doesn't have to be in sight. Get a long cable, and run it along the corners of the room. Better yet, you can get an electrician to run the wire through the walls, and have it end up in a nice ethernet socket. My friend did this... so cool - you got yer power socket, phone socket, cable socket, and ethernet socket!

sushyad · Post by **sushyad** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 11:20 pm

I have a wireless card and a USB adapter working with my Gentoo boxes pretty nicely:

1. Netgear pcmcia card connected through a Belkin pci-to-pcmcia adapter.
2. DLink USB wireless adapter. Gentoo worked out-of-the-box with this one.

I don't recall the exact model of the items, but I can check when I get home.

As far as the signal strength is concerned, I had the access point behind two 8 inch concrete walls about 10 meters from the wireless mythtv box, and still /proc/net/wireless posted signal strength around 50.

nightcanton · Post by **nightcanton** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 2:59 am

I would would like to know which USB adapter that was. I've gotten a Linksys WMP54G and a Netgear WG311 pci cards working with wireless. But they took a few tweaks. But the USB adapter out of the box...if it was G it would be a better solution.

StringCheesian · Post by **StringCheesian** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 8:49 am

nightcanton wrote:I would would like to know which USB adapter that was.

It's called a 2Wire PC Port, and it's not wireless. One end plugs into your USB, the other into the phone jack, and it uses the phone line to network with the router (aka HPNA or HomePNA). I had never heard of such a thing until I saw it. It's pretty cool, and the PCI card version of it supposedly works with linux, but not this stupid USB adapter.

But that's ok. The wireless game adapter I bought is working fine.

sushyad · Post by **sushyad** » Fri Sep 10, 2004 4:21 pm

ok, when I said out-of-the-box, I meant bare minimum configuration

DWL-122 USB wireless adaptor works beautifully. I would recommend this one to anyone.

You will need to follow these steps to get it working:

1. If you have 2.6 series kernel, you will need to emerge at least pre 17 release of linux-wlan-ng:

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USE="usb" emerge linux-wlan-ng-0.2.1_pre20.ebuild

In case you get an error about sandbox, use

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FEATURES="-sandbox" USE="usb" emerge linux-wlan-ng-0.2.1_pre20.ebuild

2. Configure your wireless settings (I have mine setup for WEP):

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nano /etc/conf.d/wlan.conf

Modify SSID_wlan to insert your wireless SSID (from your wireless router settings):

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SSID_wlan0="<Your Domain here"

Create your domain settings file:

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cd /etc/conf.d
cp wlancfg-DEFAULT wlancfg-<YourDomain>
nano wlancfg-<YourDomain>

and change the parameters to use WEP or not:

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lnxreq_hostWEPEncrypt=false     # true|false
lnxreq_hostWEPDecrypt=false     # true|false
dot11PrivacyInvoked=true        # true|false
dot11WEPDefaultKeyID=0          # 0|1|2|3
dot11ExcludeUnencrypted=false   # true|false, in AP this means WEP is required.

PRIV_GENERATOR=/sbin/keygen     # nwepgen, Neesus compatible
PRIV_KEY128=               # true if 128 bit key, otherwise false
PRIV_GENSTR="<your WEP key string>"

Now, add wlan0 to /etc/conf.d/net

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nano /etc/conf.d/net

Add this somewhere:

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iface_wlan0="dhcp"

or static ip if you want.

4. Create /etc/init.d/net.wlan0:

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cp /etc/init.d/net.eth0 /etc/init.d/net.wlan0

5. Add this to your /etc/modules.conf:

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alias wlan0 prism2_usb

6. Add services to the default levels:

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rc-update add wlan default
rc-update add net.wlan0 default

7. To test things out:

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modprobe prism2_usb
/etc/init.d/wlan start
/etc/init.d/net.wlan0 start

If everything is fine, you should see if wlan0 in your ifconfig output.

I hope I have not missed out something. I tried to explain it well for someone not too familiar with linux. Do not hesitate to ask any questions if you have any doubts.

patrickbores · Post by **patrickbores** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 6:51 am

These instructions are good, but I'm getting errors loading the modules:

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WARNING: Error inserting p80211 (/lib/modules/2.6.7-gentoo-r14/kernel/drivers/net/p80211.ko): Invalid module format
FATAL: Error inserting prism2_usb (/lib/modules/2.6.7-gentoo-r14/kernel/drivers/net/prism2_usb.ko): Invalid module format

I'm going to go searching...

Jeremy_Z · Post by **Jeremy_Z** » Sun Oct 03, 2004 10:10 am

You might have changed your gcc version .. try recompiling the kernel, then the modules. I had the same prob.

Too far away from the router... is WiFi a good solution?

Too far away from the router... is WiFi a good solution?

Re: Too far away from the router... is WiFi a good solution?