Wireless on Linux, Part 1 – Guide
Linux administrators can enjoy the same fun and satisfaction when connecting clients without having to rewire as well. Carla Schroder provides a tutorial on how to do just that.
For network administrators who are constantly dealing with new clients, the process of connecting them is a lot less stressful when they use cables that are color-coded and labeled. This makes it easy to know which cable goes where, and it’s satisfying to crimp them correctly. For some geeky network administrators, the only thing that feels better is gripping the cables tightly in their hands. ..
Wireless Ethernet is nothing new. It’s affordable and works flawlessly. Today we’re going to take a look at which brands and devices work on Linux. Next week, we’ll dive into the deep and mysterious world of chipsets, configurations, and troubleshooting. ..
Security and drivers, or lack of them
Wireless has a glaring pitfall: security. And then there’s the usual Linux trap – finding compatible hardware. Let’s take a moment to point fingers of shameful disapproval at hardware vendors that don’t provide Linux drivers for their products. Don’t joke to me about not being interested enough; there is certainly a substantial market for Linux – and Unix / BSD / Mac OS X -. How do vendors think all those millions of Linux machines are networked together? Magic? And Unix was the great networking operating system decades before Windows was born.
A large group of talented volunteer programmers who work tirelessly to write Linux device drivers apparently don’t even want to take advantage of the free work that’s available from the pool of talented volunteers. This is a shame, because it shows how much effort these manufacturers are putting into creating devices that are not actually usable.
Traps are irritating, but not insurmountable. Drivers need to be aware of the traps and avoid them. Hardware selection is important to avoid traps. ..
If you’re having trouble getting your new wireless router or wireless chip set to work with your computer, don’t be afraid to try returning it. The world of wireless chipsets is a chaotic hodgepodge – a single model line can have any number of different chipsets. Firmware revisions are apparently randomly assigned to chipsets, which causes variations in the features and performance. Since most vendors place the responsibility for determining Linux compatibility on the customer and offer little or no assistance, it can be difficult for them. Keep returning products until they work well. ..
wireless protocols
There are currently three wireless protocols available: 802.11b, 802.11a, and 802.11g. Some devices come with multimode support, but only one of these protocols is compatible with any of the others – 802.11g is compatible with 802.11b. ..
802.11b is rated as the slowest, with a theoretical rate of 11 megabits per second. However, 802.11a and 802.11g are both rated as being more powerful, with a theoretical rate of 5 and 10 megabits per second, respectively. If you’re looking for the best supported protocol for your needs, I would recommend 802.11b over either of the other two options.
The average person’s range of motion is limited in up to 150 feet indoors. To increase your range, try begging for help from someone who can extend your reach.
A rifle range is rated at 75 feet indoors. Outdoor ranges for all three are considerably longer, depending on the terrain. A good signal with a clear line of sight can travel a few kilometers.
The 2.4 GHz band is a crowded spectrum that is used by wireless phones and microwaves. This means that you can’t use it to send or receive messages over the internet, as it’s not as well-suited for this purpose.
A 5GHz band is where there is less interference, making it a great place to use your phone.
According to a study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, b is rated at 11 megabits per second, while a and g provide a theoretical 54 Mbps. ..
The devices are the most expensive, at least.
The theoretical maximum speed for a wired network is 100Mbps. However, real-world performance is usually half to two-thirds of that, as there is a certain amount of TCP overhead, plus interference from walls and other things. Plus, distance always equals minus Speed. ..
Don’t be alarmed when your new wireless connection only delivers speeds of 5-7 Mbps (802.11b) or 20-30 Mbps (802.11g / a). This is the way it is; more users means slower performance.
Adding Wireless to Wired Easily and Cheaply
But in practice, adding a wireless node to a wired Ethernet can be more complicated than it seems. First, you need to install and configure an access point somewhere on the LAN. Then you need to install and configure a wireless NIC on the client machine. Finally, you need to add the access point and NIC to the network.
Newer Linux distributions such as Red Hat 9, Mandrake 9, Lindows 4 and SuSE 8.1 automatically recognize and install drivers for wireless network cards. All you have to do is configure the network settings. Lindows has a handy page listing all the wireless NICs that work with it, as well as some that don’t; this list should apply to any Linux.
You don’t need a lot of fancy software to get your wireless network up and running. Just buy a Linksys WAP11 for about $90 and a Linksys WMP11 (for desktops) or a WPC11 (for notebooks) for about $60. Plug them in, configure them, and you’re done.
There are many brands of routers that work well and are also reasonably priced. I mention Linksys simply because that’s what I’m most familiar with. All the usual suspects – D-Link, NetGear, SMC – have 802.11b Linux-compatible devices, and any 802.11b WAP that uses browser-based configuration should work with Linux. ..
When shopping for a wireless base station, you’ll want to consider the type of wireless network it will be used to support. There are three types of networks: 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a. 802.11g networks use the same radio frequencies as 802.11b networks, so they can share channels and antennas. They’re good for small homes and offices that only need a single network connection. 802.11b networks use different radio frequencies than 802.11g networks, so they can’t share channels or antennas. They’re good for larger homes and offices that need more than one network connection but don’t have enough space to install more than one type of wireless router. 802.11a networks use the same radio frequencies as wired Ethernet networks, so they can connect to them directly without any extra hardware required. They’re good for large homes and offices that need more than one network connection but don’t have enough space to install more than one type of wireless router or access point ..
Final note
This guide is about how to use wireless networking on Linux. If you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to ask us in the comments below or on our social media channels. Also, please share this guide with your friends and family so that they too can benefit from the wonders of wireless networking.
