[SGVLUG] Wireless questions -- linux support for the latest tech ?

[Tom Emerson]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

I was browsing through fry's tonight, saw the price of 802.11 "g"
adapters has dropped down to dirt cheap, and a whole bunch of "new" and
conflicting adapters with all sorts of claims...

seems there is: g+, mimo, and n (or rather "draft" n -- suppliers
jumping the gun again?)

what works for linux?

the "n" series claimed everything from 5x, 6.5x, 8x, 10x, and even 12x
"faster" than 802.11g, yet none of the boxes had "hard numbers" on the
throughput (one even had a footnoted disclaimer that didn't actually say
anything) -- well, almost none -- one did say 300 mbit, which far
outstrips cable/dsl (but does approach gigabit ethernet)

most, if not all, of these supported their outrageous claim with "when
used with <our brand> of router/access point/equipment" -- shouldn't
these be interoperable?  Many claimed farther ranges -- up to 5x in one
case.  Is that a supportable claim?

None of course said "linux" on the box, and some even implied there is
special windows-based setup software (and/or said software might be
needed for the extended range on the radio -- are we slipping back into
the "winmodem" days again?)

I'm still poking along with an 802.11 "b" card, which is just fine as I
suspect my laptop, running at 1ghz, probably wouldn't benefit from
anything faster than "g", but it looks like I should invest in the next
stage here soon (might even consider a whole new laptop -- any
recommendations on one with built-in "n" or better?)

- --
Top o' the Blog: It's good to be the King...
http://osnut.homelinux.net/mtblog/ya_index.html
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.3 (MingW32)
Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org

iD8DBQFEwE44V/YHUqq2SwsRAh59AJ433t8SUSXeIckFgjzVJhJpvPuSKACgqjyJ
zVIQfM5SftGmWJAduL4vTR0=
=w+ZI
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----