wifi - the lights are on but there's noone home...

[nikkkko]

I have a old deskop computer on which I've recently installed Kubuntu. The only way I can connect this box to the net is by usb wifi and I have three different adaptors to choose from: Netgear WG121, Siemens Gigaset54 and an old SMC2662W. As far as I know, the first two are Prism based and the other I don't know.

From stock Kubuntu install, none of the three work. The lights all turn on but that's about it. (Except that when trying to connect with the SMC I get a "Radio of your wireless card seems to be turned off using an external switch" type message from Wireless Assistant, which is just nonsense as there is no external switch and anyway all the lights are blinking like mad).

Catch 22...

I need internet to download 'make' and 'ndiswrapper' so that I can connect to the internet.

Anyone got any idea where I can go from here?

[nikkkko]

Re: wifi - the lights are on but there's noone home...

I might just add that I have a usb key which I can use for transferring files from one computer to another...

[nikkkko]

Re: wifi - the lights are on but there's noone home...

Ahh forget it.

I stripped a nic card out of another box, hung a 5 metre ethernet cable out the window and ndiswrappered it from there. It wasn't pretty but it worked.

Shame though that Kubuntu/Ubuntu fails on the wireless front.

[mld4165]

Re: wifi - the lights are on but there's noone home...

i have never got it working either. seems many others have the same problem.

sad

mld4165

[tiger99]

Re: wifi - the lights are on but there's noone home...

Actually fitting a network card was the best thing you could do anyway, regardless of what OS you are using, as the USB protocol is entirely unsuited to networking and causes lots of problems, including serious loss of performance, even on Windoze machines with the proper drivers.

I know that many people do it that way, because the manufacturers, and especially their marketing people, like to dumb things down and treat us like idiots who can only manage to insert a USB plug, but even so it is actually quicker and easier to install any kind of networking via straight TCP/IP and Ethernet than is is with USB, as you hardly ever need to load drivers, and the protocol and configuration is well known and understood.

Most cable modems/routers, for example, have a USB port as well as Ethernet. The cost of the cable is about the same, so why do it the wrong way? I really am glad to hear that when you did it the right way, it worked. But the wireless issue is another thing altogether, although maybe something like a PCI wireless card (or PCMCIA card in a laptop) would have worked well, if you happened to have one, as the USB drivers would not be needed.

USB is great for printers, and just about OK for scanners and digital cameras, and that is about all.

[nikkkko]

Re: wifi - the lights are on but there's noone home...

Well that rings true for me. I have never managed to get the kind of performance out of my USB wireless devices as advertised on the box.

However, the hassle of usb drivers and performance is offset by the convenience of simply plugging in the device. I can't remember the amount of times I've moved my computers around, reconfigured the network or moved hardware from one computer to another. Having devices which don't require free slots and screwdrivers is a real bonus.

[tiger99]

Re: wifi - the lights are on but there's noone home...

Ah, but once you have a network card in the machine it is as easy as plugging in USB, if not easier, and most recent machines have a network interface on the motherboard. If it works once, it will still work when you move it, and plug the cable into a different port on the hub/switch, without any fuss or bother. And, you can run the network cable for a reasonable distance, far more than USB.

But what matters for now is that it works, and I am sure it will work reliably. TCP/IP is a well-proven protocol, and the basic configuration, i.e. address, netmask, gateway, DNS servers is standard on any operating system.