[Lvlug] Choice of PC laptop wifi for use with Ubuntu

[Chris]

Russ wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I got an used laptop that pretty well has all the features I want,
> except the wifi already installed.  Today, I went up to Best Buy and a
> few other shops to have a look at the selection (Belkin, NetGear,
> etc.).  Then there's the choice of protocol (?), by that I mean 'a',
> 'b', 'g', or 'n'.  I saw one that was 'n' only, which I know to be the
> newest but not likely the protocol most in use in Hot Spots.
>
> Please, if any of you have experience with a particular brand of
> plug-in wifi that has worked well with Ubuntu, the information would
> help me greatly.
>
If it is internal your looking for check some auction sites and you'll 
find lots of Intel MiniPCI cards that work great  with GNU/Linux. The 
Intel drivers are open source, but the firmware isn't free (as in liberty).

Ralink is very GNU/Linux friendly with the USB wifi cards. They have 
released the source for both firmware and drivers for GNU/Linux. I read 
something on the FSF.org hardware page that they haven't released the 
firmware source code for something (you might want to double check).

Here is one place you can get the GNU/Linux compatible Ralink USB card: 
http://3btech.net/chrart80wius.html

-- 
Have you tried GNU/Linux lately? http://kglug.org/index.php/Computers