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

[Michael Proctor-Smith]

On 7/20/06, Tom Emerson <osnut at pacbell.net> wrote:
> -----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?)

There is still no 802.11n standard at this point I think.
802.11 Radios are interoperable while using the standard. But then
engineers at the chipset manufactures, some time find ways to break
the spec and increase throughput. The mac layer of the chipset detects
that both the client and access point chipset support "advanced"
features and then use them. They do stuff like use more then one
channel or do other stuff. A lot of the "g" chipsets are now supported
under linux, but ofcoase as always it is about find the name and
version of the chipset not then manufacture on the box.

No proposed wireless standand I have seen is going to come close to
matching gigE or 2gigE as I do not think there is unswitched gigE
anywhere.