Wanted: Cheap, Linux compatible wireless card

[Leo Mauler]

I should probably add that I got the card so that I could run a "radio VCR" in a 2nd-floor bedroom.  All the other computers are in the basement where there is no good radio reception, so the upstairs computer records radio programs and also sends a streaming signal to a basement computer.

Ubuntu has a four-bar "wireless signal strength" icon on the applet bar, and the cheap wireless PCI card mentioned here never goes below three bars as it transmits its signal about 30 feet to the wireless router, through two cheaply-constructed wooden floors.

--- On Sat, 8/30/08, Leo Mauler <webgiant at yahoo.com> wrote:

> From: Leo Mauler <webgiant at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: Wanted: Cheap, Linux compatible wireless card
> To: kclug at kclug.org
> Date: Saturday, August 30, 2008, 4:57 PM
> --- On Thu, 8/28/08, Matthew Copple
> <mcopple at kcopensource.org> wrote:
> 
> > My son is finally learning to read, and it is 
> > time to put a computer in his room. Unfortunately, 
> > we live in a hundred-year old house, and the idea 
> > of threading several feet of cat5 through bedroom 
> > and hallway is not appealing.  I am putting Edubuntu 
> > on it for him.
> > 
> > Does anyone have suggestions for a cheap, Linux 
> > compatible wireless card? I prefer an A/B/G card 
> > that is WPA compatible. I prefer a USB device if
> > possible, but I won't quibble if PCI is cheaper. 
> > I really don't want to deal with ndiswrapper.
> > 
> > Any suggestions?
> 
> About four months ago I posted about Microcenter selling
> just such a Linux-compatible wireless PCI card, supporting
> wireless standards A/B/G/N and also WPA, for only $19.99. 
> This one worked out of the box on Ubuntu 7.10, and
> didn't stop working when I upgraded the whole system to
> Ubuntu 8.04 LTS today.  Microcenter still had at least a
> dozen left last week, and the boxes still aren't
> shrink-wrapped so you can verify the chipset yourself.
> 
> The Free Software Foundation recommends (among others) the
> RALink-based network card chipset.  It works great on the
> rt2500 driver.
> 
> --- On Wed, 4/23/08, Leo Mauler <webgiant at yahoo.com>
> wrote:
> 
> > I was browsing through the wireless network cards 
> > at Microcenter (93rd & Metcalf) and came across a
> > "generic" (or at least "no brand
> name") wireless 
> > card for $19.99.  The chipset is a RA2561T, the
> > "AWI-926T" model name seems to indicate that
> it 
> > is an "Amigo" network card.
> > 
> > It does 802.11g and 802.11n, and when I got it home
> > Ubuntu found it and used the RALink driver with no
> > difficulty getting it to connect to my 802.11g
> > wireless router.  Cards using the RALink driver are
> > among those recommended by the Free Software
> > Foundation.
> > 
> > I thought I'd mention this in case anyone is
> looking
> > for a cheap, Linux-compatible, FSF-recommended chipset
> > wireless PCI card.  It is one of the few boxes which
> > isn't shrink-wrapped so you can verify the chipset
> for
> > yourself (if you like).