Best USB wireless adapter?

WineCurmudgeon · posted: 2010-09-29 14:17

I installed 8.5 on a Compaq 1250 laptop with 188 megs of RAM, an ancient Celeron processor, and a 3.1 gig HD. It's a dream; even better than Puppy.

The catch is finding a way to add an Internet connection, since it doesn't have a port for a wired connection. That means I need to find a USB wireless adapter, and I've had little luck in the past with finding regiable USB adapters for Debian-related distros. Any suggestions? I'm willing to try an ndis wrapper; I think I can do that, though I would prefer not to (if only because I'll have to use a second computer if I need to do any downloading).

The other catch is that the connection has to work consistently. The computer will be used by my wife, who tolerates my Linux geekness as something that keeps me out of trouble, and does not want to have to mess with something to make it work.

Thanks for your help.

rokytnji · posted: 2010-09-29 16:34

The one I use is a cheapo and I do not think it is available any more from Newegg. EDIT: Oh, I found it,
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url was:"http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833180017&cm_re=wireless_usb_adapter-_-33-180-017-_-Product"
linktext was:"http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product"
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2nd Edit: forgot to mention. above wireless usb works on my AntiX 8.5 install out of the box after putting wlan0 in wicd preferences.

I pay attention to what chipset is used inside the USB adapter when I buy it plus readers comments on how easy it hooked up under Linux.

Other Thoughts: Hefty little unit. Comes with a short extension cable which is needed in most cases. On the other hand, this reduces the likelyhood of bumping and damaging the plug or the computer port. My Linux (2.6.27.29) laptop immediately recognized it and loaded the rtl8187 module. It takes a while to negotiate a connection with my router. Transfer speeds are fine for Internet work, but LAN transfers seem slower than other adapters I have used.

If you want to read linux comments on a piece of hardware. Click on reviews. Scroll down the page halfway and below customer reviews you will see a emty search box with a go button next to it. To filter out windows comments. Just type in linux and hit go button.

I have good luck with any wireless adapter with atheros based wireless as well as ralink.

Go to below irc channel and ask away on what they might reccomend. It won't hurt to ask.

Linux wireless user IRC channel

We have an IRC channel where you can stumble in and ask any question you like as silly as it may sound.

Server: irc.freenode.net
Channel: #linux-wireless

You can look through here also.

========= SCRAPER REMOVED AN EMBEDDED LINK HERE ===========
url was:"http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Devices/USB"
linktext was:"http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Devices/USB"
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Half of the wireless cards (PCMCIA and PCI) I use are not available any more or I would post em. But none I use require ndiswrapper to work. I think my recommended way of searching above has worked for me. Hopes it works for you.

Good luck with it.

WineCurmudgeon · posted: 2010-09-30 12:51

Thanks for your help, rokytnji. I'll order the item you mention -- $12! -- and report back.

rokytnji · posted: 2010-09-30 20:26

Just to give you a idea of what you should read after installing USB adapter. No driver will be needed. Driver is in Kernel, Go to AntiX Control Center (crossed wrenches on Icewm toolbar) . Go to Network>Connect wirelessly (wicd)>preferences>wireless interface (it should be empty) type in box

Code: Select all

wlan0

then go to external programs. I have the dhclient box ticked, Automatic may work for you though, Different gear I have than you do (router and ISP). So experiment to find what works best for you.

In Wicd Network Manager Window. Hit the refresh button and your wireless network should show.

Code: Select all

harry@biker:~$ inxi -F
System:    Host biker Kernel 2.6.32-1-mepis-smp i686 (32 bit) Distro antiX-M8.5-686-update 27 July 2010
CPU:       Single core Intel Pentium 4 (-UP-) cache 256 KB flags (sse sse2) bmips 3590.64 clocked at 1794.549 MHz 
Graphics:  Card nVidia NV6 [Vanta/Vanta LT] X.Org 1.7.7 Res: 1280x1024@60.0hz 
           GLX Renderer Software Rasterizer GLX Version 2.1 Mesa 7.7.1 Direct Rendering Yes
Audio:     Card-1 Intel 82801BA/BAM AC'97 Audio Controller driver Intel ICH at ports 1c00 1840 BusID: 00:1f.5
           Card-2 Ensoniq ES1371 [AudioPCI-97] at port 2040 BusID: 02:0e.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Version 1.0.21
Network:   Card Intel 82801BA/BAM/CA/CAM Ethernet Controller driver e100 v: 3.5.24-k2-NAPI at port 2000 BusID: 02:08.0
Disks:     HDD Total Size: 100.1GB (2.9% used) 1: /dev/hda IC35L040AVVA07-0 40.0GB 
           2: /dev/hdd SAMSUNG SV6003H 60.1GB 
Partition: ID:/ size: 5.9G used: 2.3G (42%) fs: ext3 ID:/home size: 20G used: 428M (3%) fs: ext3 
           ID:swap-1 size: 1.08GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap 
Info:      Processes 104 Uptime 3 min Memory 69.6/1135.5MB Runlevel 5 Client Shell inxi 1.4.12 
harry@biker:~$ lsusb
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 04b3:310c IBM Corp. Wheel Mouse
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0bda:8189 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8187B Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps Network Adapter
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
harry@biker:~$

Edit: forgot to mention. That wireless adapter from Newegg has dropped in price to $9.99 for the next 3 days.

WineCurmudgeon · posted: 2010-10-01 19:29

Driver arrived today, but no luck at first try. I'm going to mess with WICD and see what I can see. I'll keep you posted. Thanks again.

WineCurmudgeon · posted: 2010-10-01 20:53

No luck. The system recognizes the USB stick, which shows its green light, and it shows up when i do lsusb. And I have run through the various DHCP combinations and wext combinations.

Any thoughts?

rokytnji · posted: 2010-10-01 21:52

Post lsusb readout so we can see if we are on the same page here.

No need to mess with wext either. This Unit was plug and play for me.

Ceni picks it up also.

WineCurmudgeon · posted: 2010-10-02 15:07

Success! The problem, rokytnji, was WICD. It's corrupt somehow and is not installed properly (or so the installer said when I tried to reinstall it from synaptic and from the deb file).

When I used Ceni, the adapter connected without trouble at all, and I now have a functional, reasonably quick laptop that by all rights should have been junked years ago. That's why Linux is so much fun. Thank you for all your help.

My next challenge -- fix WICD!

rokytnji · posted: 2010-10-02 20:06

Sounds like you are experiencing the wicd bug which wants a demo user added to install correctly. I have had to fix this myself also. Been awhile though as the AntiX 8.5 Upgrade Iso which I run does not have this bug.

You can add a user named demo using the Mepis Assistant. Then apt-get purge wicd.
Then apt-get install wicd. It has been a common problem in this forum. Just do a search here for wicd. Anti has replied numerous times to this wicd related question.

Glad you figured Ceni out. You can keep using that till you fix Wicd or just use it instead of Wicd and uninstall Wicd completely. Ceni is a solid network manager. The only reason I don't use it is it ramps my EEEPC processor to 100% and freezes. So I use Wicd Instead. A lot of other members here prefer ceni to Wicd. Anti being one of them. Glad he included all the connection choices in AntiX though. Makes network troubleshooting much easier.

Told ya it was plug and play. Enjoy the USB wireless. It works on most other Linux Distros also across the board with a 2.6 kernel.

Happy Trails, Rok

WineCurmudgeon · posted: 2010-10-02 20:19

Thanks again. I need to buy a bunch of those Encore adapters, especially if they are only $7.

I prefer WICD, if only for the GUI, which is easier to deal with when you're setting up a machine for someone who uses Windows most of the time. So I'll do the demo user thing.