Re: WLAN drivers

[Stephen Clark <stephen.clark@earthlink.net>]

Lee Revell wrote:

>On Fri, 2006-02-03 at 12:35 +0000, Alistair John Strachan wrote:
>  
>
>>In my experience, you're simply best going to either
>>http://prism54.org/ (if you can find one still) or http://madwifi.org/
>>(modern cards, likely to be purchasable), and then buying one of the
>>cards on the "known to work" lists. If you buy the wrong revision,
>>return it. 
>>    
>>
>
>Isn't madwifi a proprietary driver?  Are things really so bad that
>people on LKML are recommending users buy this junk?
>
>Lee
>
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>  
>
I'd been waiting for along time to get a wireless card for my Linux 
system at a reasonable price. A couple of weeks ago CompUSA had zyxel 
g102's fo 19.95 and  zyxel  base stations
for 19.95 - no rebates were involved:) So I got one of each. The pc-card 
uses an atheros chip
which is supported by MadWifi. The module includes a binary hal module 
that keeps the
card from being abused - programmed out of FCC specs. Why is so 
different from a card that
has to have firmware loaded on it that in essence does the same thing - 
prevents the driver
writer from programming the card out of FCC specs.

And Atheros stepped up to the table and provide this hal binary piece.

My $.02
Steve