Wireless cards and Ubuntu make me cry. Been there. It's a kludge on top of a clusterfuck.
Consider a wireless-to-Ethernet bridge instead, something like this one. This connects to the Ethernet port, and the system thinks it's on a wired network; no wireless drivers required.
Every time I get some funky old machine to do Frankenstein projects on, I'll install Unbuntu and then lose two days trying to get wireless to work. Either the chipset is proprietary and unsupported, or it's some vintage hardware that doesn't play nice with WPA2 networks, or it's just flaky as heck and doesn't feel like connecting. So I usually end up digging out the WiFi bridge anyway, and it's always worked, saved my butt many a time.
Ooh, good feedback. Exactly what I was looking for. How do you configure the bridge, if you need an encryption key? The same kind of null IP address most routers use?
Oddly, when I installed Ubuntu on my Acer Aspire laptop, it recognized the wireless just fine -- but doesn't recognize the Ethernet port!
After looking into it, I discovered that this was a known issue, and stopped worrying about it.
Yes, exactly like a router. Browser-based configuration screen using a fixed IP address.
Having an external box isn't the most elegant solution, space- and cable-wise, but once configured it's been rock solid reliable. Some bonus perks are that there's no need to enter a Keychain password every time the wireless connection is made, and the box can be moved to other systems (and used driverlessly) should the need arise. More than once I've had guests visiting who wanted to get on the WiFi, but their antiquated cards didn't handle WPA2. I have a USB WiFi adapter but it's useless if they can't get on the net in the first place to download a driver (if even available for their OS). Plug in the box and hand them an Ethernet cable, and it's worked Every Single Time.
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Consider a wireless-to-Ethernet bridge instead, something like this one. This connects to the Ethernet port, and the system thinks it's on a wired network; no wireless drivers required.
Every time I get some funky old machine to do Frankenstein projects on, I'll install Unbuntu and then lose two days trying to get wireless to work. Either the chipset is proprietary and unsupported, or it's some vintage hardware that doesn't play nice with WPA2 networks, or it's just flaky as heck and doesn't feel like connecting. So I usually end up digging out the WiFi bridge anyway, and it's always worked, saved my butt many a time.
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Oddly, when I installed Ubuntu on my Acer Aspire laptop, it recognized the wireless just fine -- but doesn't recognize the Ethernet port!
After looking into it, I discovered that this was a known issue, and stopped worrying about it.
Reply
Having an external box isn't the most elegant solution, space- and cable-wise, but once configured it's been rock solid reliable. Some bonus perks are that there's no need to enter a Keychain password every time the wireless connection is made, and the box can be moved to other systems (and used driverlessly) should the need arise. More than once I've had guests visiting who wanted to get on the WiFi, but their antiquated cards didn't handle WPA2. I have a USB WiFi adapter but it's useless if they can't get on the net in the first place to download a driver (if even available for their OS). Plug in the box and hand them an Ethernet cable, and it's worked Every Single Time.
Reply
Load third party OSS firmware (e.g. Tomato, DD-WRT) on it and have it run in wireless Ethernet bridge mode.
Takes a bit to set it up, but once you do, you'll have one of the most versatile pieces of wireless networking equipment out there.
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